UMBowl V: A Complete Game of Music

The Capitol Theatre

Port Chester, NY

May 3, 2014

Article by Tim O’Shea & Photos by Shaun Seip

Any band will tell you that a portion of their success can be solely attributed to their fan base and the support that’s given to said band in the early stages of their existence.  Umphrey’s McGee , veritable kings of the jam scene, continue to take this lesson to heart and rewards their fans with not only great regular live shows and major festival appearances but also an annual ‘mega-concert’ which is both designed for and created by their loyal followers.  The fifth incarnation of this fan friendly event took place last Saturday at the new and improved Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY, which made this the second time that the East Coast would play host to the now prestigious UMBowl.

For those in need of a quick introduction, UMBowl stays true to its name and offers four sets of innovative and creative music which are referred to as “quarters”.  Each one of these has its own distinct theme or set of instructions that accompany it.  This year’s UMBowl was a homage of sorts to ‘Jimmy Stewart’, the term given to sections of improvisational music or themes that Umphrey’s McGee explores while playing selections from their ever expanding catalog.  Ballots were sent via e-mail to show goers ahead of time which contained a selection of 30 different ‘Jimmy Sterwart’ jams to choose from and the most popular fan selections would comprise the entirety of the first quarter, affectionately dubbed as ‘Raw Stewage’.   A similar ballot was also passed out ahead of time for cover songs and rarities with the winning selections from this vote making up the All Request quarter that would follow.  Not only does UMBowl give the fans a chance for their voices to be heard, it gives them a chance to call the shots.
The show began shortly after 7 p.m. with almost all of those in attendance already entrenched in their spots with drinks and smiles in tow.  Another endearing aspect of UMBowl is that the Capitol Theatre was only sold to half capacity which enabled for a slightly more intimate atmosphere with minimal drink and bathroom lines.  The old school, Nintendo Tecmo Bowl video game that was being projected on the side walls faded to black and video of another sort began on a monitor at the back of the stage.  It was none other than band friend and Umphrey’s fan Tony Reali with his Around The Horn (a sports ‘talking heads’ show that airs regularly on ESPN) colleagues in a fun, witty intro video that helped lay some of the ground rules for the evening and served as a ceremonial coin toss of sorts.  After winning the toss, the band elected to rock off.

They wasted no time in jumping right into a riff heavy rock theme that soon after took on an almost Pink Floyd vibe with dueling echoing guitars.  As the song progressed, the signature Umphrey’s sound of a progressive rock structure with light metal themes began to emerge and it was clear early on that the band was on top of their game.   The opening number, named ‘Gents’, then began to shift ever so slightly into a more mellow groove before finishing with a polyrhythmic breakdown courtesy of guitarists Brendan Bayliss and Jake Cinninger .  The two distinct flavors to this opener can be attributed to the fact that this was taken from two distinct ‘Jimmy Stewart’ jams, the first from the 3/17/13 ‘In the Kitchen’ outtro and the second from the 9/23/11 version of ‘Ocean Billy’ – two songs that are UM staples.  Amazingly, this set would feature all new creations that were not only comprised of different songs, but versions taken from completely different eras of the band’s rich history.

Even though it may only list four distinct songs, the first quarter of UMBowl was anything but nondescript as the band masterfully weaved in and out of different musical styles.  ‘Skin the Cat’ saw Umphrey’s go from a blissed out jam to an ambient interlude before settling into a dark, brooding theme that couldn’t be more different from how the song began.  The band’s ability to transition in and out of different ‘moods’ within brand new creations was really impressive.  Perhaps no song in the opening quarter was a better example of this than ‘Onward& Upward’, a 24+ minute excursion into a myriad of popular musical themes.  The song consists of four different jams from years past which made for a spellbinding combination when Umphrey’s McGee was done with it.  Beginning with a swanky, funk-like opening, the song went in a multitude of different directions that included a traditional prog-rock theme and elements of ambient electronica before going back into another blissed out major key jam that served as sort of a breath of air after a very deep underwater musical dive.  This song was very well received and it wouldn’t be surprising to see this, or at least parts of this, on future set lists.  The brilliance of the Raw Stewage set that UMBowl features is that it serves as a laboratory of sorts for future UM set list fixtures.

With one fantastic quarter down, it was then time to welcome in the All Request portion of the evening as the second quarter saw UM rip through a selection of covers and rarities as chosen by fan balloting.  There’s certainly a significant cross pollination of both Umphrey’s McGee fans and moe.rons and this was made evident by the opening selection of the moe. classic, ‘Rebubula’.  Umphrey’s proceeded to pay respect to one of it musical influences and predecessors in jam lore by nailing each section of one of the oldest songs in the moe. catalog.  This wouldn’t be a first for them though as the song was last played at Summer Camp Music Festival last year, a festival in Illinois that these two bands traditionally co-headline. However, before that it hadn’t been touched since 1999 (aside from Bayless sitting in on it during moe.’s legendary Bonnaroo 2002 performance).

This helped set the tone for a wide open set that also saw the band roll through old numbers like ‘All Things Ninja’, the opening track on their 2001 live release, One Fat Sucka.  Keyboardist Joel Cummins got to show off a little on this one by adding a full ambient layer of synthetic chorus sound early on before moving over to the electric piano later for an inspired solo.  The song also featured one of the few drum breakdowns of the evening which gave drummer Kris Myers a chance to take center stage on his own albeit briefly.

A nod to another band that used to grace the stage at the Capitol Theatre followed as Cinninger took the lead on vocals for a pristine version of The Grateful Dead’s ‘Crazy Fingers’.  This particular selection had only been performed twice before and not since 2009.  They managed to execute this Robert Hunter penned song flawlessly and stayed true to the essence of the song, but they also managed to put a little of their own spin on the outro jam which made for a real pleasant total package.

Shifting gears back towards a harder sound, ‘#5’ followed and brought with it a lot of improvisation which is usually not the case with this number.  This was no ordinary show though and the Midwest musicians tore through this one with aplomb and delivered a ferocious, driving jam out of this before steering it back towards a traditional rock ending.   A spot on rendition of Pink Floyd’s ‘Brain Damage -> Eclipse’ was more than suitable as a set…err…quarter closer and harkened back to a time when the Brain Damaged Eggmen were opening shows and playing festivals.   The euphoric harmonized ending complete with backup vocals was on point and sent everyone to the break seemingly glowing after what had just transpired.

Normally, this would be more than enough music to constitute a full show.  But for UMBowl, this only signified the halfway point and some of the best music was yet to come.  Another brief “Around The Horn” video with the panel debating on whether to ‘buy or sell’ these uber-talented musicians helped usher in the third quarter which was tabbed as the fifth installment of the Stew Art event.   This free-wheeling and totally improvisational set of music was again determined by fan submitted themes and ideas.  The onstage video monitor displayed the results of what, or more specifically, how the audience was instructing the band to play via text messages sent to a designated number for this event.

This concept really gave the band a chance to show off their chops and show just how effortlessly they can transition between different musical concepts.  What started as a fairly basic heavy metal improv theme (this band’s bread and butter) soon gave way to a vocal oriented jam with Middle Eastern undertones.  This immediately turned on a dime to a funk/soul  breakdown that was properly named ‘James Brown Revival’ on the video monitor.  These three distinct musical stylings that were meshed together and structured seamlessly in the first 10 minutes or so of the quarter served as a harbinger of things to come as Umphrey’s McGee continued to follow audience instructions and follow them well.

After a particularly frenzied sequence that saw the theme shift from 80s pop to what can only be explained as intergalactic garage rock, the mood lightened a bit as the snare drum helped usher in the ‘Patriotic UM’ portion of the jam.   A new instrument was then added to the mix as Bill Evans sauntered onstage with his saxophone to add yet another layer to this king size bed of sound.  A brief run through of The Meter’s classic hit ‘Fire on the Bayou’ followed but didn’t last long as this section of the night was all about exploring different spaces.

One of the more captivating and complete sections of music followed as the band followed the ‘Daft Funk’ audience instructions to the tee.  With the help of Evans on sax, a sound was created that could have very well come from everyone’s favorite French robots.  Further proving their mastery of all things music, UM later steered the music through a section that went from a ‘Barry White Love Letter’ theme to a rockabilly jam in the blink of an eye.  From start to finish, Umphrey’s McGee showed a deft touch and an even better collective ear as they navigated the sound from one impulse instruction to the next with an utter ease and visible confidence.

With three quarters down, all that remained was the Choose Your Own Adventure portion of the evening.  Based on the children’s books that offer different endings to each story, the band was now letting the audience literally choose the set list (of actual UM songs) via more text submissions.  A three song selection was displayed on the video monitor so fans and band members alike could track the progress of song voting.

A quick ‘Rock and Roll, part 2’ introductory tease proved that collective spirits were still sky high before the final quarter began with a jaunt through ‘The Haunt’.   All night, bassist Ryan Stasik showed an uncanny ability to roll with the punches and hold the bottom end down and this song was no different.  After a deadlock vote was resolved, the Umphrey’s dance classic, ‘The Triple Wide’, followed which featured a real impressive keys and bass led funk improv jam that also featured tones of The Red Hot Chili Peppers song, ‘Funky Monks’.  This gave way to a soulful rendition of ‘Wife Soup’, a fixture at UM shows ever since its inception, which closed the opening section of music.  A rather non-descript version of ‘Flamethrower’ followed before the votes were cast for one of the oldest UM songs that still gets regular play – the reggae infused ‘FF’.   As the ‘FF’ jam began to shift from its typical dub style to a more traditional rock styling, this gave the group yet another opportunity to show off its versatility as Cinninger and Bayliss switched guitar rigs and engaged in a fierce six string duel complete with a full on ‘All in Time’ tease.  The end of regulation saw the band take on ‘Space Funk Booty’ which, after an impressive ‘Mind Left Body’ segment, segued directly into the always powerful ending of ‘Mulche’s Odyssey’.

Not satisfied with a full four quarters of music, Umphrey’s McGee delighted everyone by coming out for an overtime that featured the band taking on the rap classic, ‘Nothin’ But a ‘G’ Thing’, for the first time since 2011 and only the third time since 2005.  This made sense as rap/R&B was about the only musical genre not previously put on display this night.  The appropriately titled ‘Much Obliged’ followed which could have also easily served as the collective sentiment for all those in attendance.  Bill Evans returned to lend a saxophone to the jam that ensued and the ‘Glory’ that followed.  This put the finishing touches on a truly special night of music that showcased the supreme versatility and musicianship of a band that has slowly but steadily honed its collective craft and turned itself into one of the premier musical acts in America.