Umphrey’s McGee Revive “I Am the Walrus” at Summer Tour Finale
Umphrey’s McGee, photo by Geoff Tischman
Umphrey’s McGee stepped onstage in Livingston, Mont., on Saturday, Sept. 20, for their second night at Pine Creek Lodge and the final performance in their summer segment of their exhilarating Cruising Altitude tour. Since January, the pioneering jam-fusion ensemble has trucked back and forth across the country–and off to Morocco-with unstoppable momentum. Along the way, they’ve experienced countless memorable moments, including the departure of longtime drummer Kris Myers and the arrival of Scotty Zwang, his already acclaimed replacement. Saturday’s performance brought this chapter and the group’s proper tour dates for the remainder of the year to a close with a fittingly celebratory send-off.
Umphrey’s McGee set off night two at Pine Creek lodge with the tried and true show opening pairing of “Preamble” > “Mantis,” which wrapped in a jam riffing on Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid.” After standalone treatments of “White Man’s Mocassins,” “Bright Lights, Big Cty” and “Alex’s House,” the band raced through the remainder of the set with a high-flying medley of “Hiccup,” “Mantis,” “Hangover” and the Smashing Pumpkins’ Siamese Dream classic “Cherub Rock,” covered for the first time since September 2023.
Umphrey’s second set at the highly-hyped UMontana finale focused on a tighter rotation of songs and freely improvisatory jams stitching them together. Following the two-decade setlist staple “All in Time’ into “Der Bluten Kat” and the sprawling centerpiece of “Seasons,” drawn from their 2018 surprise album it’s you, the band doubled back and wound through the first two cuts for a signature palindrome set. Surprises continued as the quintet set into their encore with The Beatles’ “I Am the Walrus,” covered for the first time since 2018. This crowd-pleasing curveball veered off into “Pay The Snucka” before a grand finale of “The Triple Wide” finalized one of the most impressive touring years in UM’s recent history.
While Umphrey’s do not have another tour planned for the last portion of 2025, they won’t stray from the stage for long. The band will reappear from Oct. 24-26 for a mini-residency at Brooklyn, N.Y.’s Brooklyn Bowl, then jump to Indianapolis for another at the Vogue Theatre Nov. 6-8. They’ll cap off their year with a New Year’s event at Atlanta’s The Tabernacle, then continue into 2025 with two nights at Chicago’s The Salt Shed with Andy Frasco & The U.N. Find tickets at https://www.umphreys.com/tour/
