SAN FRANCISCO--On Monday night (12/31), folks from around the country flocked to the Superhero Costume Ball at San Francisco's Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. Some dressed as Batman, Wonder Woman, Underdog, Captain America and Wolverine, others simply donned goofy garb that had nothing to do with the superhero theme.

These passionate followers came to dance to the wild tunes of Colorado jam-band the String Cheese Incident [ tickets ], playing one of the nation's biggest New Year's Eve concerts.

Capping off a three-night stand at the venue with this solid, sold-out performance, the band provided plenty of Cheese for the occasion, playing approximately four hours of music over the course of the evening. Add opener Keller Williams to the mix and you had tunes flowing basically from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m.

The String Cheese Incident opened the show with a joyous cover of Steppenwolf's "Magic Carpet Ride." The band put more energy into its first set than some acts do during their entire tour.

The second set began just before midnight with a colorful costume parade through the crowd. Creatures on stilts walked next to women in neon as puppets jumped above the crowd. The band took the stage shrouded in darkness and began a trippy sonic exploration through "Rivertrance."

The countdown came, the clock struck midnight and the balloons dropped from the ceiling. The young crowd was in cheesy ecstasy as it danced among the red and green and gold spheres to an exuberant rendition of "Round the Wheel."

One of the things that separates the String Cheese Incident from most of the jam-band pack is mandolin player Michael Kang. Moving through songs such as "Come As You Are" and "It Is What It Is," Kang produced spiraling leads worthy of any heavy-metal hero.

On New Year's Eve, the band made a convincing claim to the throne of the jam-band kingdom, a throne that has sat empty since the genre's top dog, Phish, went on hiatus in late 2000. As the band swirled through a mixture of bluegrass, Afro-pop, classic rock and Grateful Dead-influenced jams, it was easy to imagine it keeping the throne warm until Phish regroups.