Show #1999 is like turning 20 years old. You can’t drink yet, but it’s still cool to be 20. Show #1999 is quite an accomplishment, but we all know #2000 is looming. That’s what this show felt like, a nice appetizer but with full understanding that the main course is coming tonight.

Quick programming note: Joel, Kris and Andy joined opener Dopapod for an appropriate cover of Prince’s “1999.” Watch it below and then let’s get into some Umphrey’s.

Set One

Set I: Educated Guess > Example 1 > Walletsworth, Resolution > White Man’s Moccasins, Cut the Cable, 1348, Señor Mouse

How They Played

Well, it certainly takes some stones to kick off a run celebrating 2000 shows with one of your newest songs. But that’s just the type of band they’ve been since day one, so maybe it was fitting. “Educated Guess” is turning into somewhat of a monster after appearing like an untameable beast early on in its career. The complex new track hasn’t found a permanent home in the Umphrey’s set just yet, but watching it pop up in different settings has been quite fun. No telling when it’ll settle down.

“Example 1” always seems to be that unexpected song that goes ahead and steals the set. It almost did so here, coupled with a “Flying” jam and a pair of Bayliss solos on both ends of the tune before transitioning into “Walletsworth.” This tour feels like its been light on Bayliss solos, which is too bad, but he got his early on last night.

The set closes with a five-song run featuring two of my favorite pairings in “Resolution” > “White Man’s Moccasins” and “1348” > “Senor Mouse.” The former is one that just works. Two songs that date back to the early 2000’s that just seem to fit perfectly with one another as (following two thoroughly fleshed out jam sections in “Resolution”) the band slipped right into “White Man’s Moccasins” out of “Reso” with embarrassing ease. After “Cut the Cable,” which is too good not to mention, the band dipped into more improv with “1348.” The unfinished tune featured more ominous, dark jamming, with the band seemingly spent after all of the emotions of the night before. Thankfully, they brought the set to a close on an upbeat note, as “Senor Mouse” made a rare appearance.

MVP

Jake really paced a lot of these jams, particularly executing “Flying” within “Example 1” along with pushing “Reso” and “Moccasins” to satisfactory places. The “1348” improv also featured some stellar minor key playing from him, painting one terrifying musical landscape.

Playback Value

This show is dark all around, but this first set is particularly moody. You’ll find all of the emo-UM you can handle in “Resolution” and “1348.” Seek those out and then bring yourself back up with a cheerful “Senor Mouse.”

Set Two

Set II: In The Kitchen, Blue Echo -> Partyin’ Peeps, Tribute to the Spinal Shaft^ > Puppet String -> Conduit, The Trooper, Puppet String

Enc: Wappy Sprayberry > 1348

How They Played

Much like the Chicago Bulls, Umphrey’s prided themselves on dragging this set into the muck with thick, syrupy, dark jamming right out of the gate with a very unique and noteworthy “In the Kitchen.” Things got spacey and weird and Jake teased “Roundabout” briefly before Bayliss, barely at a whisper, returned to the “Kitchen” lyrics. “Blue Echo” didn’t lighten the mood any with those trepidatious psych-rock riffs. The -> into “Peeps” was not a generous setlist notation, it was a true transition. This “Peeps” radiated so much positivity that Bonnaroo is reconsidering it’s tagline. Not even they can hit this level of happiness as Bayliss and Cinninger wailed on their guitars in the signature rock ending.

It’s lazy to call any “Tribute” standard, but that’s what we have here. There were some nice moments, sure, but the real impressive part of this segment is the -> into “Puppet String,” the second expert transition of the night. “Puppet” is one of those tunes that the band is in complete control of, with each member able to come in on their own and never lose time with the other. This was a norm for the night, really, with the band completely locked in from the jump.

Speaking of the norm for the night, the dark jamming continued in “Puppet” as the band dabbled in some futuristic jamming as ONCE AGAIN Jake and Joel teamed up to bring doom and gloom to the song before transitioning into a much needed, upbeat “Conduit” with a full-throttle guitar jam.

“The Trooper” made just its second appearance ever as the Iron Maiden cover featured stunt guitar work from Cinninger and yet another impossible feat from Kris Myers as the drummer handled lead vocals and drums. No one knows how Myers seems to pull this off time after time. It’s one of life’s great mysteries, really. While the ending to “Puppet String” was sort of awkward and misplaced, the ending to “1348” in the encore out of a decent “Wappy Sprayberry” was done right. Onto 2000.

MVP

With so many dark train ride jams, the drummer had to make sure to keep the band moving along and he did just that. Myers was fantastic in nearly every tune during this set, highlighting “In the Kitchen,” “Blue Echo,” “Puppet String” and of course handling lead vocals on “The Trooper.”

Playback Value

If you love emo-UM, this set is for you. The whole damn thing. Start with “Kitchen” and descend into the depths of your sadness through “Puppet String.”

NEXT UP: UM2K.