Photo Credit: Brian Stollery

On Tuesday, Dec. 31, Umphrey’s McGee turned the page to another new year with a dazzling New Year’s Eve series finale at Boulder, Colo.’s Boulder Theater. To set the final show in their year apart from the exceptional standard of performances they held in 2024, the Indiana sextet delivered a three-set program packed with surprises. Through the course of the evening, they continually raised the bar with rarities, sit-ins and a heaping helping of live debuts, amounting to a fitting finale for the year and a promising start to 2025.

Umphrey’s McGee assumed the spotlight for night two with “Blue Echo,” a reliable crowd pleaser from their 2002 sophomore offering Local Band Does OK, then transitioned into that album’s standout selection “Hurt Bird Bath.” The band then jumped forward to 2011 with “Miami Virtue,” amplifying the tongue-in-cheek Death By Stereo album opener with an appearance from longtime friends and collaborators Mad Dog’s Filthy Little Secret; the horn section, this year featuring Michael “Mad Dog” Mavridoglou on trumpet and Nick Gerlach on saxophone, have bolstered UM’s New Year’s Eve shows for the better part of two decades.

After merging into “Ocean Billy” and wading through “Water,” Umphrey’s called Mad Dog and Gerlach to the stage again for “Suxity,” which they debuted alongside the horn section (then featuring Mad Dog, Jeff Coffin, Chris Ott and Josh Quinlan) at NYE 2019. To wrap up the first frame nicely, the sextet let loose a titanic jam as they shifted back into “Blue Echo.”

The band set off set two with King Crimson’s 1974 prog classic “Red,” then slipped into “Red Tape” before calling on the horns again for “Booth Love” and a debut of Glenn Frey’s “The Heat is On.” Umphrey’s went all out on “Wizard Burial Ground,” then dropped another fan favorite with “Wife Soup.” The band brought their second debut of the night with a boisterous take on Elton John’s 1972 boogie “Honky Cat” and masterfully blended disparate styles to conclude the second set with a roaring reprise of “Red.”

By the third set, with the new year rapidly approaching, UM were locked in and ready to deliver their boldest performances of the year-end series. The band got the ball rolling with “Bright Lights, Bigger City,” yet another throwback to their early discography, then built steam into a long-awaited bust-out of Daft Punk’s “Voyager,” which they performed only five times before in 2012. The momentum from this electronic space odyssey charged a sprint through “Domino Theory” and “Andy’s Last Beer,” which brought the horns to the stage once again. The combined octet counted down the minutes to midnight with “Attachments,” then carried on a tradition by erupting into “Auld Lang Syne” as 2025 rolled in.

A moment passed as the audience welcomed another year, then the band carried on with “Speak Up,” another cut debuted alongside Mad Dog’s Filthy Little Secret at NYE 2012. After the ensemble let loose a debut of Jamiroquai’s “Canned Heat” as a floor-filling frame finale, they sent their fans off into 2025 with an encore of “Wappy Strawberry” and a freshly debuted cover of Buddy Miles’ “Them Changes.”

Umphrey’s McGee will return to the road in mid-January for their winter tour, which begins with a Jan. 16 performance at Athens, Ga.’s Georgia Theatre. For tickets and more information, visit umphreys.com/tour.

Read on for the complete setlist from New Year’s Eve, via allthings.umphreys.com.

End show. End year. pic.twitter.com/dPBH8EGmyd

— Umphrey's McGee (@umphreysmcgee) January 1, 2025

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Umphrey’s McGee
Boulder Theater – Boulder, Colo.
12/31/24
Set I: Blue Echo > Hurt Bird Bath, Miami Virtue* > Ocean Billy, Water, Suxity* > Blue Echo
Set II: Red > Red Tape, Booth Love*, The Heat Is On+, Wizard Burial Ground, Wife Soup*, Honky Cat^ > Red
Set III: Bright Lights, Big City > Voyager, Domino Theory, Andy’s Last Beer*, Attachments* > Auld Lang Syne*, Speak Up*, Canned Heat%
Encore: Wappy Sprayberry > Them Changes#
Notes:
* with Mad Dog’s Filthy Little Secret
+ debut, Glenn Frey; with Mad Dog’s Filthy Little Secret
^ debut, Elton John; with Mad Dog’s Filthy Little Secret
% debut, Jamiroquai; with Mad Dog’s Filthy Little Secret
# debut, Buddy Miles; with Mad Dog’s Filthy Little Secret
Show Notes:
Mad Dog’s Filthy Little Secret horns were: Michael “Mad Dog” Mavridoglou on trumpet and Nick Gerlach on saxophone
last Voyager 2012-09-01 (1,040 shows)