Daily Nebraskan

So, Lollapalooza was cancelled. Clear Channel decided not enough people were buying advance tickets to justify the costs of the tour.

The choice made for the need to make some quick decisions concerning the summer touring seasons for the bands associated with Lollapalooza 2004.

String Cheese Incident was one of those bands. Rather than chalk the summer up as a loss, the band decided to schedule some tour dates. The band will be playing this Friday in Omaha at the Civic Music Hall, 1804 Capitol Ave.

“We were looking forward to Lollapalooza,” said Keith Moseley, bassist for the band. “Perry’s (Farrell of Jane’s Addiction) enthusiasm is very infective, but we’ve rallied and put together our own little tour.”

Moseley said he was impressed with many aspects of Lollapalooza and SCI worked to keep many of those options available for the mini-tour.

Members of Headcount.org will be on-site to help assist young people in registering to vote and SCI will be sponsoring food drives to help feed the hungry.

“We want younger people to be involved in community efforts and this is a critical election,” Moseley said.

SCI has been touring in support of its last studio album, “Untying the Knot,” which has been out for ten months. Customarily known more for its live show than for its studio efforts, Moseley said the studio process allows the band to grow as a musical force.

The band expects to release its next album in the summer of 2005. In the meantime SCI is happy just to be out on the road playing shows without any outside distractions.

The band recently settled a lawsuit with Ticketmaster regarding the right to sell concert tickets to their fans without charging Ticketmaster handling fees.

“We’re happy to announce that we have gone back to selling a reasonable amount of tickets to each show to members of our fan club,” Moseley said .

The fan club Moseley speaks of isn’t the only way SCI tries to make the concert going experience as easy as possible for its fans. SCI also partners with Madison House Travel so fans can make travel arrangements and purchase concert tickets all at once.

With 15-minute noodlings and spontaneous jam sessions mid-set, SCI is usually lumped into the multi-genre melting pot, which is the jam band contingent. But fans of the band find different reasons for enjoying the music SCI creates.

“I saw them in October 2003 and they smoked, plain and simple,” said Mark Gugs, a fan from Hackensack, N.J.

“I don’t get the people who complain, they play good consistent jammin’ rock music.”

Ticket’s for Friday’s all-ages show are $26.50 and can be purchased through Ticketmaster. Doors open at 8:00 p.m. for the 9 p.m. show.

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