Review: Umphrey’s Halloween Run

Following Brendan’s lyrical section, Joel busted out the Halloween theme on keys, and the band began a bounce back-type jam that was the foundation of their exploratory Jimmy Stewarts through 2007. Kris Myers destroyed the “B” section of this jam on drums and turned the intensity to 11 as it evolved into likely the best version of the song yet. The Linear debuted back in January, and provided instant proof to the faithful that the band had not expended all their magic back in Illinois.

Being able to see Myers play on a raised platform adds infinitely to enjoying an Umphrey’s show and should be mandatory. Red Tape was next up, complete with Jake playing Chicago’s 25 or 6 to 4 prominently in the mix. Tribute to Spinal Shaft, a classic old-school favorite, featured Chris Wood on his standup bass at the helm in place of Stasik. It was a successful sit-in, which placed Wood in a rare group of performers that didn’t fail to find their place joining the prog-rockers.

Then the Rage hit, literally. Bulls on Parade cover? No, the first mash-up of the weekend. Lyrics to the Beasties’ Mark on the Bus quickly followed the unmistakable Bulls intro making for a true mash of the two, and culminated with a fiery roar of the Bulls lyrics from Myers. Front Porch was next and featured an outstanding synthed-out jam from Joel, as well as Jake playing with Stasik’s new toy this fall tour, the Taurus 3 Moog Bass. Bayliss reminded us that it’s “already Halloween in Ireland,” as they cooled it down before the unit closed the set with Cemetery Walk II. That entire set was a tour de force, one of the best examples I’ve ever witnessed of the power these six bring when firing on all cylinders in unison.

The second set on the 30th opened with In Bloom from Nirvana, a cover they’ve done a handful of times prior. It was a solid version, with Bayliss nailing the vocals.  In Bloom segued into Booth Love, another 2010 debut that’s all about the groove. It was a great chance to go deep into that ’70s funky rhythm and take in the [Umphrey’s LD Jeff] Waful eye candy. Jake’s riffs had that Run Like Hell Floyd sound echoing through.  Rocker (Part II) showcased more of Cinninger’s rapid-fire mechanics, followed by the same from Myers and some nice harmonies as they joined Bayliss. They stretched out well in this one, with In the Kitchen eventually emerging from Andy Farag’s chimes.

Probably their most recognizable tune in UM’s catalog, it’s always to fun to hear Bayliss contemplate “if we’d see any of you tomorrow” with a crowd almost entirely certain to return for Round Two during In The Kitchen. This one saw more excellent, exploratory jamming, very patient but never uneventful. It sounded like the soundtrack for traversing a psychedelic landscape in a low-flying helicopter. No explosions, no crashes or hairpin turns, but a serious slow build that had good speed behind it before a slow descent.

Ms. Tinkles, another well known classic from Anchor Drops, raged hard and true. More “improg” served up inside this roller coaster of a score that soared before a beautifully dissonant disintegration of what was built within. The transition to Andy’s Last Beer was perfect Halloween fare, haunting destructive notes. And seriously, what’s scarier than knowing you’ve had your last beer?

Higgins continued the brooding sound with the low dub beat and lyrics of frustration and disappointment. Yes, you guessed it, another launch pad for improvisation. The psychedelic dub slowed to a halt, overtaken by a beautiful whale call effect, more ethereal than the one Trey is famously associated with. More gentle, like sonar, less piercing.  A nice duel to close between Cinninger and Bayliss, and on a dime it was back to Tinkles for a showboat ending to the second set. Push the Pig started the encore, followed by the completion of All In Time to close the night.

On to Halloween, the night where every jamband flexes their ability to don the musical talents of their most admired influences and peers. Since 2008, Umphrey’s has used mash-ups as a vehicle to push their creativity to the limit for the time-honored tradition of live covers. Stepping out into the night to the Halloween theme music from the movie, they emerged in their own mash-up costumes, gazing out to over 1,000 other creative combos in the crowd.

Ocean Billy got things started, great energy but familiar enough to the crowd that they can deliberate what the hell they are seeing on stage without missing too much. Bayliss barefoot in a dress and shades? Jake is clearly a member of Kiss, is that a Blackhawks jersey his chest hair is hanging over? Stasik bald in a stuntman’s suit, hmmm… Ocean bled into Conduit, after which Bayliss lets out the first hint at his get-up from behind the oversized shades: “It’s a beautiful day!”

Myers introduced Joel as “Pope Paul Schaffer,” and himself as “Larry David Letterman” before they took off into Nothing Too Fancy. Jeff Waful painted the stage and venue with immaculate precision. MAC III’s are impressive hardware because they can apparently do anything. But Waful actually did anything and everything with them. They say heaven only has a white, clear light, which seems rather weak in comparison.

N2F transitioned unfinished into Hangover, which featured a One Nation Under a Groove jam from Jake, aka “Paul Stanley Cup.” Seeing Cinninger wearing that paint was worth the price of admission alone. A Cup replica sat on the speaker stack, far away from the reach of any St. Louis fan. From there, we learned Andy is “G.I. Joakim Noah,” and Brendan is dressed as “Yoko Bono” (though he says with the wig he feels “more like Brett Michaels but without the whores.”)

Ryan Stasik beamed with pride as he announced his “Dr. Evil Knievel” mash-up, and asked the crowd if they agree that something is still missing. Yes, a mini-me Stasik! The little man took the stage, bass in hand, to roaring laughter and cheers as the boys finished out Hangover and prepared for their first mash of the night.

Pope Cummins played the distinctive intro notes to GnR’s November Rain, with Bono Bayliss taking Axl’s place on the mic. They played it straight for the first few minutes before Cemetery Walk was born out of it. A short stint of CWalk went into the next measure of November Rain, and then the full overlapping of the two began that was instant magic. “Time can’t change you/ Don’t you think that you need somebody…”

Women Wine & Song is no longer forced heavily into the rotation as it was years ago after Safety In Numbers landed, but it still didn’t seem to be a great fit for the vibe of a Halloween show. But those who enjoy their hoe-down got their dance on, a little something for everyone. Jake soared well on guitar, albeit within the boundaries of this country ditty.

The end of Ocean Billy was a glorious trip. The build created such anticipation, and it brought back the raw rock mission they’d established earlier. But nothing quite delivered the goods like 1348, which put the crowd into a frenzy. Again, Waful’s lights were other-worldly. As they finished the middle section lyrics, Tears for Fears emerged from the rubble.

Myers led the harmonies on Everybody Wants to Rule the World, doing excellent work. In came Bayliss with MJ’s The Way You Make Me Feel, and the second mash-up was official. Several bounce-back segments between the two songs in this one were all well executed. It’s become easy to take for granted how well UM honored the original songs they re-create. Suddenly, it set in that we we’re coming out of the mash in a 1348 sandwich, and the heaviest of the Mantis tunes closed out the set. Not quite the improvisation of the night before, but the novelty of the surprise and creativity expressed in two well-done mash-ups replaced it. It seemed to be an unusually long first set.

At set break the realization set in that even without the show, there was a ton of entertainment and eye candy right in the crowd. While UM’s people rounded up candidates for their fan costume contest, the rest of us entertained ourselves by guessing our neighbors’ combos. Captain Jack Daniels, I Love Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, Tony the Tiger Woods, Stevie Wonder Nicks, Jam Master Jay Cutler, Tangled Up in Memphis Blues and so many others were dressed to impress. The official contest awarded Alice in Chains in Wonderland first prize.

Dr. Evil Knievel rode his bike out on stage, took on a ramp built for a mini-Knievel and preceded to wipe out for the crowd’s amusement. The party was back on as the fans took immediately to The Triple Wide, a well improvised version that brought mini-Knievel back for the jam. What came next took some attentive listening to deduce before the lyrics began, as they began playing Haji under the more recognizable Bittersweet Symphony score. Hi Gorgeous, meet Beautiful. The lyrics to Haji gave way to The Verve’s lyrics, back into Haji over the Symphony notes. This was a tremendous mash, erasing my earlier opinion that Cemetery Rain wouldn’t be outdone. The sublime beauty of the Haji > Glory > Haji sandwich from Minneapolis earlier in the year came to mind.

Bridgeless featured some hot improg, blending in some haunted melodies and the Halloween theme once more. Words do no justice to Waful’s lights during the dark, heavy improvisational section there, as this segment was perhaps the best original work of the night, and the jaw-dropping visual assault was overwhelming. The measure was purposely slaughtered with a whimper and thud before heading into Walletsworth, an UM staple.

Larry David Letterman (Myers) interjected a Top 10 Q & A that was destined to be a low point breather, yet actually scored a few full crowd laughs with the better punch lines. “Sorry I can’t tell what your costume is supposed to be, it’s hard to tell since you usually dress like a dirty pirate hooker!” The bit on the Stanley Cup having never been to St. Louis was good fodder for the Blues fans and Chi-town travelers to dig each other with.

They went back to work with Prowler before finishing Bridgeless. Sociable Jimmy was a short treat with some minor exploration towards the end as it meandered back to N2F with a subtle Halloween theme returning. Again, spectacular bubble patterns on stage gave way to seizure-inducing Waful search beams that accompanied the rise of Fancy. Stasik gave props to the crowd for their ability to generate fresh costumes each year, before delivering another mash-up of their own.

Phoenix’s 1901 started off with Jake busting out Van Halen’s Jump lyrics. The harmonizing for the “falling” from 1901 was excellent, and Joel’s work on keys as they traversed the two, no wait, three songs was impressive. Brendan delivered the Cee Lo Fuck You lyrics, a cover they had debuted this September in Chicago. Another must-listen mash-up, the crowd energy was sky-high throughout this one. Bright Lights, Big City closed out the second set, clocking in around 80 minutes.

The JaJunk encore delivered the final mash-up of the evening: Journey’s Don’t Stop Believing with Rush’s Spirit of the Radio. This one made for great sing-along fodder for the crowd. All in all, a two day run that delivered on both exceptional improvisation (mostly the 30th) and the creative cross-breeding of brand new covers (31st). As Larry David Letterman would say, “Pretty…pretty…pretty…pretty good.”