Photos by Chad Smith (www.jambandsjam.com)
Aside from festivals, I have only left Chicago twice in 2011 to see a concert… and both of them were Umphrey’s McGee. A stop in South Bend on October 23rd was on my must see list: with Umphrey’s having not been to their home-hometown in over two years, it was guaranteed to be a special show. And it was, I had a blast. So much so that I made sure to travel up to Milwaukee on November 5th–the final show of the Fall tour–absolutely not wanting to miss Umphrey’s within 90 minutes of Chicago. I went into this show with the same mindset as South Bend: no camera, no work, all rage mode. But after this night in Milwaukee, I was left with no choice in the matter. Even though I couldn’t use my camera, it was such an incredible show that I felt compelled to write about it. At the very least to document my thoughts for myself, to look back on years from now when I wonder what the best Umphrey’s show of 2011 was all about.
There are a number of reasons why this show was so special. This was my first time in The Eagles Ballroom in many, many years. My actual first time there was my first ever concert roadtrip when I was a senior in high school, so there was a bit of sentimental value attached. There were also the bunch of friends I ran into at the show and the fact that the band themselves sounded as dialed in as ever. But the main thing that made this show an upper echelon experience for me was that the setlist felt like something I would write in a dream. I seriously couldn’t have handpicked a better setlist (maybe replace the first set’s “Rocker 2″ with a “#5,” but that’s it I swear). It felt like every turn landed exactly where I hoped it would.
Side bar: The Eagles Ballroom is a very interesting venue, to say the least. It was wonderfully relaxed, security-wise, and reminded me of the decor of the Congress Theater, except in a nicer state of repair. But the sound… my god, this was one of the worst sounding venues I’ve ever heard. It’s oval-shaped, with the stage on a shallow side of the oval. So right in front of the stage, it actually sounds normal, with mostly average sound quality. But when you enter the deep ends of the oval, the sound goes to a pathetic place the likes of which no live music should be subjected. It was like they were playing in a giant aquarium and I had my ear pressed against the glass. It was like wearing headphones over the top of a pillow wrapped around my head. It was… just straight-up horrendous. This was undeniable, which was why I made sure to wedge myself deep into the crowd at all times, to squeeze every drop of possible sound I could from this show.
“All In Time” and “Pay The Snucka” are two of my favorite songs, so when they opened up sandwiches of both of these songs in the first set, it’s pretty safe to say I was going to be incredibly stoked. But they also opened up a “Mantis” sandwich, which has become a beast of a song in it’s own right, but to be stuffed with my first ever “OG Haunt” was a treat. Especially considering it featured a searing, proggy, masterfully locked in jam, one of the best of 2011 in my opinion. They closed the “Mantis” sandwich in powerful fashion with enough time to spare for a completely unexpected cover of Snoop Dogg’s “Ain’t No Fun.” With Cousin Eli (Farag) and MC Pumpernickel at the mic–and even some Bayliss rappin’ too–this was a totally off-the-wall song that stuck in the best way. I couldn’t wipe the shitgrin off my face. The lyrics are just so dirty when sung by a rock band… I bet Joel’s mom really hates when they play that one.
The second set came in like a rabid lion with a little “Hells Bells” intro that led into the sledgehammer that was “Hurt Bird Bath.” You know it’s business time when they use this to open a set… Then there was the Lyrical Stew in the middle of “Ringo” that felt like a really special thing. It’s always a treat to hear these semi-planned lyrics in the live setting because you know it’s the bud of an eventually-to-be-unleashed song. Next, a massive 20 minute “Bridgeless” came charging out, which was again unexpected & amazing considering they just played “HBB,” which is a similarly powerful, set-closer type of composition. More business.
But the special stuff had only just begun, as “The Linear” meandered into “Glory” (always a special tune), which then bled into a jolt of Pink Floyd with “In The Flesh” into “Another Brick In The Wall.” I caught this combo at Hoxeyville and thought for sure it’d be a once-a-year thing. But I was beyond stoked that I was wrong: I’m in love with their Floyd covers and these were potent. But the show was running down and I knew they had to close those two big sandwiches, so I could feel “All In Time” coming back as they crept away from “Another Brick.” This was a moment of pure rage, when they dropped the song and everyone yelled, “GOOOOOOOO,” my whole body lit up with waves of tingles. Yup, apparently this was the perfect show for a two-set “AIT” sandwich… goddamn.
Then, to add even more surprise, they busted out “Come As Your Kids,” one of their special Halloween mash-ups to kick off the encore. These songs usually get buried, so it was cool to hear it in person, and they jammed it way out to boot. But I knew they still had to finish “Pay The Snucka” too, and “Snucka III” is one of my favorite pieces of their music, so when I saw Jake shaking out his hands once the mash-up jam started to fade, I knew the raw metal assault was about to explode. And hot damn, did it ever. This was one of the longer build-ups I’ve heard in this tune, which only made the metal-tronica attack of the meat of the song seem even more powerful. Basically any show that ends with “Snucka III” must have been a ripper and I can’t think of any better way to end this unbelievable night than with this song. Like I said, I couldn’t have handpicked a better setlist and the jams were as tight as humanly possible. This was my favorite Umphrey’s show of the year. Hands down.
But the night still wasn’t over; Bayliss, Farag and Cummins made their way downstairs to The Rave portion of the venue to throw a little nightcap. After such a devastating show, who else that’s this big in the jam circuit would stick around to throw down again? No one, that’s who. And not only did they stick around, they kicked ass. There was a massive “In The Kitchen” sandwich, with an incredible, stripped-down “Haji” that got a roaring sing-along from the crowd. It was so loud that Bayliss even made a goofy comment about the response. They busted out a sweet cover of Paul Simon’s “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover,” there was the ever rare “Pequod” stuffed in the middle of a “Nemo” sandwich, and they ended with a feelgood cover of Lionel Richie’s “All Night Long.” But the real treat was a version of “The Triple Wide” with Jake appearing from backstage to join Joel on the synth for a wild jam that felt almost like the whole band was there: there was that much energy in the room. This entire night was just a smorgasbord of amazing Umphrey’s fare, a night that I will always remember as my favorite of 2011.
