The inaugural Lockn’ Festival kicked off yesterday at the Oak Ridge Farm in Arrington, VA. Traffic was backed up for miles as thousands of excited fans slowly filed into the festival over the course of the day. The music schedule was pushed back thirty minutes as the grounds began to fill up, and most were finally on site by early evening.

The music got going at 4:30pm as Kyle Hollingsworth and Jason Hann took the stage for quick jam with a melodica and hand drum, respectively. The two then took off just as Keller and The Keels made their way on to the Oak Stage. The trio played a set that primarily consisted of rootsy and bluegrass covers. The group chose an eclectic array of songs to put their spin on, playing everything from the Grateful Dead’s “Ramble on Rose” and Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall” to Marcy Playground’s “Sex and Candy” and Butthole Surfers’ “Pepper.”

Warren Haynes Band then came out on the adjacent Ridge Stage for the day’s second true set. The band played a pretty standard show, with takes on classics like Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come” and Jimi Hendrix’s “Spanish Castle Magic.” They even threw some lyrics from “All Along the Watchtower” into a rendition of Steely Dan’s “Pretzel Logic.”

As promised, The String Cheese Incident got started with their set immediately following the Warren Haynes Band’s performance. The show began with a “Desert Dawn” that never went into the dubstep interlude that has become so common. However, if this fact convinced you that the band would shy away from their electro-heavy tunes then you would have been mistaken. An untzy, trippier-than-usual “Colliding” turned the middle of the set into a psychedelic jam and dispelled any notion that the band’s Lockn’ sets would stick to the old school material. As expected, Keller Williams sat in for a fun “Best Feeling” toward the end of the set before it wrapped up with “Texas.”

Warren Haynes then returned to the Ridge Stage—this time with Gov’t Mule. The first half of the set featured some Mule classics like “Steppin’ Lightly” and “Broke Down on the Brazos,” as well as a take on their original “Banks of the Deep End,” which Haynes wrote with Joseph Linitz and Phish bassist Mike Gordon. Grace Potter, who was billed as a special guest for the set, joined the band in the middle of “Dear Prudence.“The singer stuck around for renditions of Fleetwood Mac’s “Gold Dust Woman,” Crosby, Stills & Nash’s “Find The Cost of Freedom,” Neil Young’s “Southern Man” and the band’s debut performance of “Whisper In Your Soul,” which appears on their forthcoming album Shout! (Potter performs on the album’s alternate take). Warren Haynes Band members Alecia Chakour, Nigel Hall, Terence Higgins, Ron Holloway and Ron Johnson then sat in for an encore “Soulshine” to close the show.

The String Cheese Incident then returned to the Oak Stage for the night’s final main stage set. Things got dancey right off the bat as the band started the set with “Rosie.” Next came a “Black Clouds” that sandwiched a rendition of The Jackson’s disco hit “Shake Your Body.” An extended “Drums” segment went into “Can’t Wait Another Day” before SCI played their Eastern-infused electro-jam “BollyMunster.” The show then wrapped up with a “Sirens” that jammed into a rare “Impressions,” which was followed by a cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir.” This was the tune that the group ended up dubbing out, though it was a bit different from the wompy “Kashmir” that they originally played at Electric Forest 2011. The set then wrapped up with “Just One Story” before they returned for an impressive “Group Hoot” and a low key “Barstool.”

While no late-night shows were officially scheduled for Lockn’, fans were surprised to find that a late night stage area called The Triangle had been set up in the camp grounds. Those that wanted to keep the party going into the night were treated to a set from Pegi Young & The Survivors at the Triangle.

In addition to the GA sets, there was also a special acoustic Warren Haynes set for Super VIP members. The set featured takes on originals like “Railroad Boy” and covers of tunes like Radiohead’s “Lucky,” Elton John’s “Madman Across the Water” and blues classics like “Hurts Me Too.”

The Lockn’ Festival will continue today with sets from Furthur, Zac Brown Incident and String Cheese Incident, Jimmy Cliff, Dirty Dozen Brass Band/Soul Rebels and more. Fans that were unable to attend can stream many of the festival’s sets.

You can check out some great photos of last night’s performances over at Relix.com.

Here’s a look at last night’s setlists

Thursday, September 5, 2013, String Cheese Incident, Arrington, VA, Lockn’ Festival

Set I: Desert Dawn, Black and White, So Far from Home, Mouna Bowa > Stuck in Traffic Boogie > Colliding, Song in my Head, Best Feeling* > Still Stuck in this Traffic Jam > Texas

Set II: Rosie, Black Clouds > Shake Your Body> Black Clouds, Drums > Can’t Wait Another Day, Bollymunster, Sirens > impressions > Kashmir > Just One Story

E: Group Hoot, Barstool

(*) with Keller Williams

Thursday, September 5, 2013, Gov’t Mule, Arrington, VA, Lockn’ Festival

Steppin’ Lightly, World Boss, Broke Down On The Brazos > Tributary Jam, Captured, Banks Of The Deep End, Scared To Live, Dear Prudence*, Gold Dust Woman*, Whisper In Your Soul*, Find The Cost Of Freedom* > Southern Man*, Thorazine Shuffle > Funny Little Tragedy > Thorazine Shuffle Reprise

E: Soulshine^

(*) with Grace Potter
(^) with Alecia Chakour, Nigel Hall, Terence Higgins, Ron Holloway & Ron Johnson; without Jorgen Carlsson