moe. and Umphrey’s McGee Launch Co-Headline moe.mentUM Tour with Collaborative Encore
moe. and Umphrey’s McGee, image via YouTube
Last night, moe. And Umphrey’s McGee set off their highly anticipated moe.mentUM co-headline tour with a performance at Harrisburg, Pa.’s XL Live. The storied jam contemporaries introduced their 17-show joint outing with back-to-back sets that showed off the depths of their individual achievements, then joined forces for a collaborative encore that brought live debuts from each other’s catalogs.
Moe. began the evening with a nine-track mix of reliable fan favorites, beginning with 2001’s “Crab Eyes.” After winding through longtime hallmarks like “Haze” and “Billy Goat” and more recent staples“Ups and Downs” and “Giants,” the band closed on a medley of “Puebla” and “Pit.” Umphrey’s McGee followed by racing into their frame with a segued pairing of “Drink My Drank” and “Mantis,” then moved into an impressive non-stop sequence of “Fenced In,” “The Linear,” “Hurt Bird Bath,” “August,” “Hiccup,” and “All In Time.”
After UM’s main set, the band welcomed moe to the stage for an encore that combined the quintet and sextet into a massive 11-piece ensemble. The bands then put their combined talents towards two core tracks from their respective catalogs, with the members of moe. supporting their first take on UM’s “Partyin’ Peeps” and UM joining moe. for a live debut of the classic “St. Augustine.” To close out the show, the bands looked beyond their own oeuvres for a cover of Wang Chung’s new wave earworm “Dance Hall Days,” a reliable homage for Umphrey’s that moe. had never performed before.
The moe.mentUM tour will continue tonight with a move to New York’s The Rooftop at Pier 17, followed by 15 further stops through Aug. 15. Find tickets and more information at moe.org and umphreys.com.
