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 17^th, 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.

On a wonderful summer evening, I had the privilege of visiting one of the best venues in the Chicago area.  The Ravinia Festival in Highland Park is a pillar of the outdoor concert community, and I can't believe I considered myself a seasoned concert-goer without ever stepping foot on the grounds.  From an extensive lawn where nobody seems bothered that they cannot see the stage, to the wonderful pavilion where there isn't a bad seat - everyone is bathed in amazing acoustics.  What better band to drive those acoustics than the perfectionists, Steely Dan.

The show started with an instrumental called "Dizzy's Bidness" that consisted of most, and then the entire backing band.  As the two men that make up the heart of Steely Dan, Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, entered the stage the needle was dropped and the band broke into the 1977 album "Aja".

I've become quite a fan of bands covering an entire album at a show, and Friday night's performance of "Aja" did not disappoint.  The tightness of this band and the familiarity with the material really showed as it was a faithful reproduction of the album that reached #3 on the US charts.  Though Fagen's vocals are slightly declining with age, he showed no fear in belting out each song with as much energy as he could possibly muster.  He was quite obviously having more fun than anyone else at the show.  Fagen was given a vocal assist by three lovely backup singers he endearingly referred to as "The Embassy Brats".

After the completion of "Aja", Fagen, Becker and crew broke out material from across the spectrum of the band.  This included an interesting prelude to "Hey Nineteen", where Becker informs the audience of the importance of keeping a hip flask handy.  Prior to this, Becker had been so intensely focused on the music that he seemed as if this little speech was the first time he noticed the audience.  Song after song rocked on, and it became more and more apparent just how great the musicians are that Fagen and Becker have surrounded themselves with.

There were a total of 13 musicians on the stage for the entire show, playing in sync the entire time.  This lead to an extended cover of James Brown's "Papa Don't Take No Mess" where Becker once again stepped up to the mic in order to introduce every single member of the band.  It was a well deserved salute and maybe a bit too long of a rest before the awesome conclusion that was in store.

The set came to a raucous conclusion with "My Old School" and "Reelin' In the Years".  The last song finally got the crowd on their feet - one of my pet peeves at a show is when everyone is sitting down, but the venue doesn't strike me as the kind of place where everyone gets up and dances.

The band was back on stage nearly as quickly as they exited, with Fagen informing us that they still had 7 minutes to play.  The band broke into "Kid Charlemagne" and the crowd went nuts all over again.  As the show wrapped up, Fagen and Becker exited the stage, and the band played everyone off with the theme from "Last Tango in Paris".  This provided excellent framing for a fantastic show.  The band played for a solid two and a half hours and didn't let up once.  Now that I've crossed Steely Dan off the list of my bands to see, my next objective is to see them again as soon as possible!