Stream Journal: On Tour with Umphrey’s McGee

Stream Journal: On Tour with Umphrey’s McGee | Boston, MA

Rob Slater on November 1, 2014

Greetings from beautiful Las Vegas, where Phish just laid down one of their finest Halloween shows in years. Heard good things about the mashup throwdown back East, and watching the TourGigs replay on this sunny Vegas day has been a joy. Here’s my takeaway.

Set One

Set I: 1348 > In The Kitchen, Ocean Billy > 1348, Hajimemashite > Mail Package, Bad Friday, Educated Guess, Walk This Sweet Funk Emotion

How They Played

The setlist construction on this tour has been on point, particularly in the last few nights. Tonight’s first set is another notch in the setlist flow belt despite lacking in the improv department. If you went to take a sip of your beer as the band came on, odds are you missed the first part of “1348.” Here and gone in the blink of an eye. Thankfully “In the Kitchen” got the ball rolling as the group laid into a smooth, tight groove highlighted by Brendan’s steady rhythmic playing and the drummers, who laid waste to this jam, allowing Cinninger to be the stunt guitarist we all dream of being one day (Spoiler: It’ll never happen).

The pairing of “Ocean Billy” and the end of “1348” (remember, there was a beginning) served as a nice complement to one another as the heaviness of “1348” allowed the band to build up a powerful head of steam before dropping into the big rock ending. “Haji” came out for the first time this tour and we all got “Mail Package” out of the way. Which brings us to “Bad Friday.”

This song is so good, that somewhere Kanye West is taking credit for writing it. It’s so good that nurses are using it to cure Ebola. You get the point. Much like the last version played on this tour, and every other version ever, this one gets there and then some. A pulsating, pounding, in-your-face exhibition that is simply impossible not to dance to. After “Educated Guess,” it was time for the first mashup of the night. While certainly very much on the nose, I’m always a fan of the mashups that lean more towards the straightforward side. Chunks of songs everyone knows that explode into a jam. That’s why “Come As Your Kids” will forever reign supreme. This one falls right in line with that idea, making it a keeper.

MVP

Credit to Mr. Bayliss in this first set. Everyone played incredibly well, locking in when needed, but Brendan’s rhythm work in the few jams that there were was crucial to the overall success of the operation.

Playback Value

You’ll be playing back this mash for a while. It’s a keeper.

Set Two

Set II: The Triple Wide > Tiny Cities Made of Ashes > The Triple Wide, Give It To Me Mama Jama, All In Time > Glory > Ocean Billy, Nothing Too Fancy > All In Time, Puppet String, National Loser Anthem, Tonight

Enc: Lenny, Strangletage

How They Played

On paper, this set looks beastly. But if you went looking for improv in the usual places, you’d come up empty. The trick (because Halloween) to this one is that the band inserted the jams into the places you’d least expect. “All In Time” > “Glory” > “Ocean Billy” plays out more like a medley, if we’re being real about it. Still well-played and very energetic, just what the good people of Boston want on Halloween, but you’re not going to find 20-minute jams here.

Instead, you can look to “Give It To Me Mama Jama” which had a really nice funk jam tacked onto the end of it. The Rick James/Carl Carlton mash is one you’ll be bobbing your head to on the way to work on Monday. The “All in Time” segment, as mentioned, wasn’t super noteworthy but those are all songs welcomed at any show I attend, so I remain jealous. “Puppet String” was the centerpiece of the set, really, as it bobbed and weaved between heavy riffs and funkier sections. Sort of a theme throughout the night, really.

The penultimate mashup brought us another product of the tried and true formula: the more familiar, the better. Radiohead’s “National Anthem” came together with a down-tempo take on Beck’s “Loser” and Phil Collins’ epic “In the Air Tonight.” Yes, they did that super cool drum part that you always air-drum along to in the car, and Jake rapped the genius of Beck’s verses perfectly. All of this done in the somber, airy vibe of “National Anthem” was the band’s brilliance at work.

And then we get to “Strangletage.” Yes. This is what mashup season is all about. A relentless, thrashing, completely ridiculous outpouring of energy that closes the night on an unreachably high note. Over and out, Boston.