String Cheese Incident (SCI) has been compared to jam-bands such as Phish and the Grateful Dead, but Carnival ’99, SCI’s fourth release, showcases their original style and creative combination of an assortment of musical genres including bluegrass, jazz, classical, Caribbean and other styles. Carnival ’99 is composed of highlights from SCI’s 1999 performances. The band can truly be appreciated live where fans can experience what SCI likes to call an incident. These incidents are the focus of SCI’s music allowing fans to completely participate in the show via the use of hula-hoops and hullucinogens.

Carnival ’99 is a two CD set composed of 15 live songs recorded at venues from New York to California and north to Canada. Overall, Carnival ’99 has some great tracks that provide an accurate example of SCI’s range of musical ability. “Missin’ Me,” “Bar Stool” and “Black Clouds” are good tunes on the first CD that are accompanied by the traditional “Shenandoah Breakdown” and “Hey Pocky Way,” a Meters cover. Unfortunately, the second disc begins with the spoken-word “Lester’s Rant” and the tiresome jam “Footprints,” but continues with a great bluegrass tune, “Hold What You Got,” and “Jellyfish” with its unusual lyrics. The two discs still don’t adequately demonstrate an incident—only a trip to see SCI can do that.