Umphrey’s McGee’s Similar Skin Tour Makes a Stop in Norfolk
The quintessential jam band Umphrey’s McGee rolled into Norfolk, VA on Feb. 13 to play a sold out show at The NorVA as part of their Similar Skin tour. The show finished a three-night run in the Old Dominion state that began Feb. 11 at the Jefferson Theater in Charlottesville, followed by a Feb. 12 performance at The NorVA’s sister venue, The National, in Richmond. The capacity crowd of 1,500 was treated to a two-set masterpiece that, despite the name of the tour, only featured one cut from their latest album. For those not lucky enough to score a ticket (or not willing to brave temperatures in the low 20’s), the show was available for streaming from Tour Gigs “Couch Tour” series.
The show opened with A Mild Sedative, a relatively new tune that entered the band’s repertoire in January 2014. Beginning softly with Kris Myers drums and Joel Cummins keys, the song slowly picked up intensity as the rest of the band joined in, swelling to a powerful crescendo that segued into Domino Theory, from the band’s 2011 Death By Stereo release. The song starts heavy, rolls into a funky/pop interlude, then returns to the heavy theme to close. Bassist Ryan Stasik welcomed the crowd, acknowledging the “little ragers” on their parent’s shoulders, and gave a shout out to the opening act, New York’s TAUK, who won a pick up basketball game against Umphrey’s earlier that day.
The show resumed with the plucky Syncopated Strangers, rolling into Out of Order from 2001’s One Fat Sucka, with a reprise of Syncopated Strangers at the end. Next up was the popular Smell the Mitten, which featured a trippy, prog rock “Jimmy Stewart” section in the middle. The crowd cheered as the opening notes to Puppet String began to ring out, then exploded to Ryan Stasik’s plucked bass section. This led into an extended jam on Resolution, a tune that Jake Cinninger brought with him from his former band, Ali Baba’s Tahini. Near the end, the song transitioned into White Zombie’s Thunderkiss ’65, with Cinninger shredding both the guitar and vocals for one verse, before rolling back into Puppet String to close the first set.
Nearly two years ago, the local music scene lost a giant in the person of Adam Day, who died suddenly at the very young age of 40. Adam’s birthday was Feb. 13: he would have been at this show celebrating with family and friends. In his honor, those present released 42 red balloons to celebrate his life and the love they still have for him as the second set began with 1348.
This tune, from the band’s 2009 studio album, Mantis, included a jam on Michael Jackson’s Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’, as well as a Will You Be There tease. That jam served as a bridge into the Steely Dan-esque Comma Later, which featured the night’s second “Jimmy Stewart” section at the end, rolling into Prowler, the Latin-tinged cut from the 2002 release, Local Band Does O.K. The band then returned to 1348 to close nearly 35 minutes of nonstop jamming. After catching their breath, they dove into the rarely heard Tango Mike, which served as a great transition into The Talking Heads tune, Girlfriend Is Better. This rolled right into the jazzy/funky Professor Wormbog, another import from Ali Baba’s Tahini that throws an amazingly diverse set of rhythms and themes into a four-and-a-half minute song. Next up was The Triple Wide, one of the band’s most popular tunes, a great instrumental jam that featured a tease of Blue Oyster Cult’s (Don’t Fear) The Reaper at the end. The second set ended with a blazing rendition of The Floor.
The crowd cheered loudly, urging the band to return for an encore with chants of “We want the Umph, gotta have the Umph”. They graciously obliged, thanking everyone for their three night run in Virginia and announcing that they’d be back in September to play at Lockn. As the fans screamed, the band jumped into Push the Pig, followed by the ethereal and intricate The Fussy Dutchman to close out the evening.
The selection of TAUK as the opening act was pure genius. This New York quartet is a band on the rise, and they offered up a choice half dozen songs from their two most recent albums, 2014’s Collisions and 2013’s Homunculus. Their heavy, funky instrumentals were a great warm up that got the crowd moving and grooving. Their festival calendar is filling up quickly.
