As the second set of Umphrey’s McGee’s Wednesday night Winston-Salem show came to a close, it appeared that Brendan Bayliss tossed his copy of the night’s set list into the audience. It might have been with a bit of disdain, as the band had just missed a few key turns on the way to what would have been another great show at the venue. It’s likely no coincidence that they ditched the planned encore as well. Though every Umphrey’s show has moments of interstellar improvisation and confounding instrumental hijinks, there were a few awkward moments and troublesome transitions that kept this show from reaching expected heights.
The first set began with huge instrumental spaces that appeared in the opening “Robot World” and “Ringo”. Big, propulsive jams unfurled with typical patience and resolve over a wild 25 minutes. Bayliss and fellow guitarist Jake Cinninger had their usual lightsaber duels of solos and ideas with bassist Ryan Stasik stepping ever more forward into their chaotic mix. The set rounded out solidly, with a “Nothing Too Fancy” sandwich that enclosed concise, lyrical songs like “13 Days”, “Hourglass”, and “Intentions Clear”. Still, something seemed amiss. The guys exchanged more than a few quizzical looks during messy moments of the set and never left their comfort zone, adhering rigidly to the planned set list.
Set two did feature some high points, such as a studied and twisty “Plunger” > “Kula” > “Plunger” sequence and the always groovy “Booth Love”. “Booth Love” opened up into the biggest jam of the set and saw Cinninger join keyboardist Joel Cummins to add a wild electronic twist to the proceedings. However, it took a late-arriving “Conduit” to pull the set out of a weird spot brought on by “Cemetery Walk 2” and “Can’t You Hear Me Knockin’”. There was a lot of quality playing during the climax of the Stones cover, but the ungainly song selection and stuttering pace of the show could not be fully remedied, even after a jubilant “Bright Lights” set closer.
An emotional reading of “Hajimemashite” wound up charging into a somewhat sloppy cover of “Immigrant Song”, and that served as the encore for Umphrey’s McGee’s 5th visit to the Camel City. As uneven and rickety as the show was at times, the crowd provided deafening ovations at every pause and seemed satisfied as ever as they made their way into the cool Carolina night.
