Umphrey's McGee has always been a band that delivers a great show when the situation warrants it. They turn in their best performances on New Year's Eve, at the end of a long run in a city, at a late-night tent at a festival, and of course, when they throw their fans a party. For the last four years, none of their shows have warranted a big performance more than their annual UM Bowl. Last Friday night, Umphrey's McGee treated their most loyal fans to a very unique concert experience and they delivered a very impressive show indeed.
At a normal concert, you might get 2 sets of music totaling about 2.5 hours, if you're lucky. At UM Bowl, you are treated to 4 sets (or quarters, if you will) taking over 5 hours, with a few timeouts. You are also introduced to the 21st century equivalent of shouting "Freebird" at a band, only this actually works. The band set up a text line, and during the third and fourth quarters, put instructions up on big screens telling people to give them ideas for where to take the jam next, or options to vote on what song will be played next. This is definitely one of the coolest ways I've seen a band interact with their crowd during a set.
This is a unique show that caters to their die-hard fans (panders, maybe?), but it is also a neat musical trick they are able to pull. Nearly everything played on the night was influenced by the crowd, and the crowd knew it. Going in to it, the crowd knew it would be basically impossible to not hear all kinds of fan favorites. By allowing so much fan interaction, they are able to take the credit for a great show and the audience has to take the blame for a bad one.
So what does all of this get you? Two sets of nearly straight improvisation (one set the band guided, one set the audience did). One set of covers, rarities and other favorites the fans voted on beforehand. Finally, you get a set where the audience was often split between itself and more interested in the outcome of a vote rather than the music on stage. Sure, as an Umphrey's fan, this was a very fun set of music to experience, however the interactive element lead to many awkward transitions, as was the case in the audience-lead jam. A regular Umphrey's show will have much smoother segues between songs, something that is really a trademark of the band.
Surely, with all this voting on songs, there were some cool moments -you must be thinking. First of all, don't call me Shirley, and secondly, of course there were. The second set started off with Orion by Metallica. Very cool, but not surprising enough you say? How about the theme from the Mos Eisley Cantina (yes, you must specify the cantina) in Star Wars. All that was missing was a big blue elephant looking alien playing a horn. This set also featured one of my favorite things to see live, the second half of Abbey Road. Unfortunately, this version didn't feature "The End", but it was great nonetheless.
The third set, which was the audience lead jam, was as brilliant as it was awkward. Several moments were great, like when someone's suggestion was just "Gin and Juice", but then quickly got awkward as it segued into "Beach Boogie". Hey, they can't all be winners. The redemption was on with "Warrior Marching into Battle" (yea, these got a little weird), but the definite peak of the set was the "Tribal Drum Jam", where percussionist Andy Farag found his piece of stage real estate very crowded.
The audience was given one additional treat which was universally loved. Before each quarter started, and before the encore, they showed parts of a Forrest Gump parody they made up, lovingly called gUMph. Joel Cummins(Keyboards) plays the role of Gump, and everyone makes an appearance as various characters. The video culminated in Cummins running across the country and to the venue, through the crowd and up on stage to perform the encore, "Runnin' on Empty". A fun (and a little cheesy) way end to a marathon concert.
So how was the UM Bowl experience? Fantastic, to hear it from a veteran of over 50 Umphrey’s McGee shows, but I am a little biased. A show like this isn’t for a casual fan. That’s what the other 100+ shows every year are for. So I suggest that you go check them out this summer at Northerly Island. They play on Saturday, August 17th, and who doesn’t like an outdoor venue on the lakefront in the summer in Chicago? All I can say is that I hope that everyone is as lucky as I am to see their favorite band play such a unique show for their most devoted fans.
