On April 27, HT faves Umphrey’s McGee will present the third annual UMBowl, aka UMBowl III, at Park West in their hometown of Chicago. The band announced the show at halftime on Super Bowl Sunday but didn’t reveal the concepts for each quarter until today. Three of the quarters were used in the past, while the fourth quarter is a new concept called “Raw Stewage.”
Here’s a look at the explanations for each quarter…
We will kickoff the evening with the ever popular All Request Quarter. All ticket buyers will receive a ballot to vote for the songs you would most like to hear. Expect a wide range of options, from rarer UM tunes to alternate versions of “the hits” to classic covers. To further improve upon this quarter in 2012, we will be adding some “Special Teams” options to the ballot. Instrument switches, solos, unexpected duos or trios, anything is fair game. Additionally, there will be a write-in category for you to submit your own requests. Surprise us with your submissions and let’s get after it.
Q2: Stew Art Event
Q2 is an S2. A Stew Art Event, this one of kind Umphrey’s innovation, returns to the UMBowl yet again for the 2nd quarter. The band will play a full set of improvisation based exclusively on themes, ideas, scenes, and concepts presented by fans. Entries will be submitted via text message and the best of the best will be added to the playbook. The selected themes will appear before both the band and audience in real time so split second decisions will be paramount. Expect handoffs and hail marys as one musical idea is lateraled to another. Can Umphrey’s keep Q2 turnover free?
The Umphrey’s team is pleased to announce that the third quarter of UMBowl III will be a Choose Your Own Adventure experience. Those in attendance will be calling the plays, quarterbacking the music to unfold at your will.
A series of choices will be presented to the audience on large projection screens and you will decide the opening song of the second half. Voting will occur via text message and the results will be tallied in real time in front of the audience and the band. You will then have the chance to call an audible and dictate what’s next. You’ll be able to choose from a wide variety of UM originals, improvisational styles, and cover songs. You pick the plays and determine the strategy to make it a killer set. Don’t blow it.
Q4: Raw Stewage
Ah . . . Jimmy Stewart. How much you’ve given all of us through the years. Making its debut at UMBowl III is none other than Raw Stewage. Imagine if we had a list of your favorite Stewarts from over the years, and a list of ours alongside it. Now imagine if we played a set linking them together with additional new improv to create a long-form piece of new music . . . that is what you’ll witness in Q4. We will provide ticket buyers with a ballot to choose your favorites, you provide us with the inspiration. It’s on.
Ticketing information will be announced next week.
One Response
I can’t wait. I am so excited! I hope they won’t play Justin Bieber’s songs.