Over the past few years Umphrey’s McGee has established a tradition of featuring inventive mash-ups within their Halloween shows. Also in that time frame, UM has developed quite a relationship
Words: Ryan Maher
Photos: Tammy Wetzel
Ah, Summer Camp. Last year you turned 10, this year you had quite the growth spurt at 11. Attendees quickly realized as they lined in that they’d be camping in tighter quarters with many new neighbors, as record numbers made their way to Chillicothe.
[All photos by Tammy Wetzel]
Thankfully mother nature gave us a break by ending the early rain in time for a dry load-in. The bands and crew weren’t so lucky at 5AM when they got their orders to evacuate due to severe weather. The rains had left some mud and chilly temps in their wake, but the upside would be no dust storms coating the bodies and lungs of the masses this year.
Jake Cinninger rolled out with his old South Bend band, Ali Baba’s Tahini for a fun set that featured the raunchy humor of Karl Engelmann paired with Jake’s guitar chops. Their cover of Tom Petty’s Running Down a Dream had a dark chant of “Smoke pot, Smoke pot, Everybody smoke pot” for kicks. Wavy Dave from Cornmeal also lent his jaw harp skills to a ditty.
READ ON for more from Tammy and Ryan about Summer Camp…
Jam Cruise 10 sets sail from Ft. Lauderdale, FL on January 9 aboard the MSC Poesia and will visit Labadee, Haiti and Falmouth, Jamaica before returning to Ft. Lauderdale on January 14. Over the first nine Jam Cruises a number of artists have proven themselves to be ideal performers for the community-oriented vibe of the trip. Jam Cruise 10’s lineup brings nearly all of those acts back to the open seas including HT faves Umphrey’s McGee, Galactic, Soulive, Perpetual Groove, The New Mastersounds, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe and Railroad Earth.
Other acts set to perform on Jam Cruise 10 will be Keller & The Keels, Bruce Hornsby & the Noisemakers, Ozomatli, 7 Walkers (w/ Steve Kimock), Orgone, EOTO, Toots and the Maytals, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Toubab Krewe, Shpongle (DJ Set), Break Science w/ Chali 2na, George Porter and the Runnin’ Pardners, Dr. Klaw, Surprise Me Mr. Davis, Dead Kenny G.’s, The Heavy Pets, DJ Logic, DJ Kraz, Paper Diamond, Everyone Orchestra and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. The New Deal returns to Jam Cruise this January for what will likely be the band’s last-ever performance before going their separate ways. One group we’re particularly interested in seeing is billed as A Tribute to Sly Stone and the Family Stone featuring Ivan Neville, Eric Krasno, Nick Daniels, Adam Deitch, Ian Neville and Nigel Hall. Best part? You know each of those guys will sit in with plenty of bands and in the Jam Room, a venue where Jam Cruise musicians congregate to improv each night.
Speaking of sit-ins, bringing aboard special guests to perform with the bands on the boat is a Jam Cruise tradition and for JC10 the event’s organizers have tapped Anders Osborne, Steve Kimock, Chali 2na, Col. Bruce Hampton, Big Sam, Jessica Lurie and Kyle Hollingsworth to fill those spots. Cabins go on sale to the general public on Tuesday, May 24 at Noon EDT. Those who already pre-booked will be able to pick a room according to their assigned booking time starting on May 11. Visit JamCruise.com for more details about one of the best vacations possible.
READ ON for the full Jam Cruise 10 lineup and more details…
Last Sunday night, The Avett Brothers played a post-game concert at Atlanta’s Turner Field and included a fantastic cover of Paul Simon’s Slip Slidin’ Away in their set. Here’s a
Today marks the official launch of @Hidden_Track and to celebrate the start of our very own Twitter account we’ve got quite the contest for you. We’re giving away a pair
Chicago-based sextet Umphrey’s McGee kicked off UMBowl II last night at Park West around 8PM and by the time the band left the stage for the last time nearly five hours later, the audience had been treated to four “quarters” of music, each with a different theme, they had a hand in creating.
[When Harry Met Sally Parody]
During the first quarter, which was billed as a “Choose Your Own Adventure experience,” fan voting via text message determined the direction the band would go. The audience voted for guitarist Brendan Bayliss to sing the lyrics to In The Kitchen in Spanish, had the band embark on a “Daft Punk-esque” electronica jam out of a cover of Bonafide Lovin’ and even had Umphrey’s finish All In Time from last year’s UMBowl within Q1. The second quarter was a Stew Art event that featured Umphrey’s jamming on descriptions provided by the crowd including “Classical Regulate,” “Tool Meets Umphrey’s” and “I’m In A Video Game.”
For the evening’s third set, Umphrey’s debuted a concept called the “Special Teams Quarter” that saw different lineups on each song performed. While most of the formations stuck to current members of the band, former drummer Mike Mirro replaced current drummer Kris Myers and Jake Cinninger sat out for Much Obliged as done by the group’s 1998 lineup and stuck around to augment the current lineup on the rarely played In Violation of Yes that ended the set. READ ON for more on UMBowl II including the setlist…
Last month NPR Music’s blog The Record kicked off a series called That’s What Fans Are For in an effort to look “at the ways the support of fans makes
Cover Wars March Madness rolls on. We’ve had our play-in round and our first full round of 32 covers and we’re left with our Sweet 16. We are in our third year of this tournament and we have just now done the obvious, we have generated an actual bracket so you can visualize how this is all going to go down. Have a look and be sure to vote in all eight matchups.
Matchup #1
Phish debuted this cover at Alpine Valley in the Summer of 1998. As most Phish fans know, there has been one other performance ever and it was the following week at Vernon Downs where the band paired Ramble On with their own Slave To The Traffic Light to close the first set. There are some killer Ramble On Teases in the Slave jam. Source: 8-1-1998
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UPDATE: The text in all the descriptions for Cover Wars March Madness are taken from the original editions which at times – are out of date. As one of our readers pointed out in the previous round – Phish has since performed one more partial performance of Ramble On, and yes – it was pretty terrible.
VS.
Wilco recorded this cover for the 2006 Big Star covers record Big Star Small World. Though never played live by Wilco, the song has made at least 11 appearances at Jeff Tweedy solo shows.
[audio:https://glidemag.wpengine.com/hiddentrack/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/wilco13.mp3]
READ ON to vote on the remaining seven matchups in the Sweet 16.
Umphrey’s McGee returned to San Francisco’s Fillmore on March 12 and 13 for a pair of performances that saw Colorado upstarts Big Gigantic open.
[All photos by Dave Vann]
Saturday night’s show featured a jam-heavy first set including extended takes on one of the newer songs in the UM repertoire Conduit, as well as Red Tape, a song from 2009’s Mantis that the band frequently showcases a middle section of improvisation. Before closing the first set with a mashup of Everybody Wants To Rule The World and The Way You Make Me Feel, guitarist Brendan Bayliss had the honor of helping a fan propose to his girlfriend from the stage, and she of course said “yes.”
Sunday’s show was easier to move around in compared to the sellout the previous night and the band paid tribute to the late Owsley ”Bear” Stanley by performing a partial instrumental rendition of Steely Dan’s Kid Charlemagne, a song written about Owsley’s influence on the 1960’s Bay Area LSD scene. Night two also saw Dominic Lalli of Big Gigantic lend his saxophone skills to The Rollin Stones’ vamp Can’t You Hear Me Knockin.’
The next show for UM is UMBowl II at Park West in Chicago on April 2. Previously sold out, the band is releasing a limited number of general admission tickets tomorrow, March 22, at 12PM Central Daylight Time.
READ ON for more of Dave Vann’s shots from UM in SF…
With so many festivals and concerts around the country set for Memorial Day Weekend, it’s a buyer’s market. We’ve now got Amberland, Bisco Inferno, DelFest, StrangeCreek, Phish at Bethel Woods,
