2008

New Year’s Eve is always a unique gig for both a band and its rabid fan base, but Umphrey’s McGee’s December 31 concert at Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom took on special meaning — the occasion also marked a celebration of UM’s 10th anniversary as a band. Burdened with the lofty expectations of dual celebrations, the scene was set for a letdown, or even a disaster. But, instead, Umphrey’s delivered a fine performance and experience that satisfied even the most jaded of fans.

Photos by Matt Ziegler

Umphrey’s inaugural Black and White Ball capped off a three-night run at an Aragon Ballroom, a fine room that’s quickly becoming the band’s home venue. Each show featured non-stop music from the band, supporting acts and a dynamic lineup of DJs spinning vinyl. To augment the music, Umphrey’s spared no expense setting up a massive[ly awesome] light rig, including a meshed screen that the band used to display all sorts of mind-blowing images.

One of the cool things about Umphrey’s NYE show is that they eschewed an opening act in favor of their showing a 30-minute video profiling their first 10 years as a band. The documentary was extremely well-created, giving the fans behind-the-scenes footage, as well as clips from many of the most important concerts in the band’s history. My favorite part of the film was when they showed guitarist Jake Cinninger shredding a guitar solo worthy of Eddie Van Halen at age 14. That only helps to prove my theory that the guy is an alien put on this earth to rip face-melters. Read on for much more from Umphrey’s NYE show…

I tried my best to attend my college classes as frequently as possible. Far too often, however, those efforts suffered drastically from a lethal combination of Chicago’s notorious inclement weather,

In one of the first big shocks of 2008, French house duo Justice will be headlining a gig at MSG on March 11th. Can somebody explain to us how a band [not named Hannah Montana] with one album under its belt expects to fill the Garden? Justice’s show is part of the MySpace Music tour, with Chromeo, Busy P. and Fancy supporting the duo; in other words, the opening acts can’t be counted on to sell tickets. You can buy your tickets now using the password edbanger.

Let’s start off the week by seeing what’s goin’ on around the nets:

• Did you know Mike Huckabee once pardoned Keith Richards?
• Marty Crandall of The Shins allegedly likes to beat women
• A massive collection of old reggae recordings was stolen from the archives of the Jamaican Broadcasting Network
• Guitarist Hubert Sumlin continues to shine at age 76
• The Times asks whether musicians are any good at blogging?
• The Foo Fighters are looking for an unsigned instrumentalists
• Big Head Todd and the Monsters are trying something completely different by giving out their new album
• Uncle Neddy runs down the NYC shows of the week

Finally, for our friends in New York, watch out for the striking Ninja Bandit.

We’ll look back fondly on our first full year in action, a period that saw us publish 1,127 posts — not bad for two guys draped in business casual collecting

Crowded House mixes their classics with tunes from their latest album during their first appearance on Austin City Limits. The band’s come back with a vengeance after an 11-year layoff

We’re sure this one’s making the rounds virally, but our main man Coach just alerted us to a spectacular piece of video. You may have seen Sweet Child O’ Mine

Like my cool Uncle Frank back in the day, we’ve been playing around with imeem behind closed doors, probing its parts and figuring out what buttons to press. So instead