Umphrey’s McGee Sprinkles #Umphlove All Over NYC
Umphrey’s McGee fans look forward to the band’s Beacon Theatre (NYC) residency every year. The historic venue offers an intimate show in a large setting and amazing sound, all in a breathtaking venue. Outside the venue you could hear fans saying they traveled from as far as California to make it to the Beacon run and comparing the number of umph shows they’ve been to, some reaching into the hundreds. Umphrey’s fans are a one-of-a-kind group; passionate, fun and, most importantly, welcoming.
Night two of Umphrey’s McGee Beacon Theatre residency got off to a great start when TAUK took the stage. TAUK has embarked on a lengthy winter tour with Umphrey’s which includes opening for them across the country and a slew of TAUKing McGee after parties where the two bands combine forces to create serious magic. Hitting the stage at 8, TAUK got right into their usual grooves. The short set was stacked with the band’s signature sound of heavy instrumental rock fusion which incorporates rock, jazz, funk, and electronic sounds. They also included a chilling cover of The Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby” to the set.
Just after 9 Umphrey’s took the stage, and the crowd exploded immediately when they opened with an instrumental “Auf Wiedersehen,” which the band hasn’t played since February of 2013. Fan favorites “Hurt Bird Bath” and “2nd Self” followed. Then the band switched it up and went into new original “Speak Up.” The first set was closed with a jammy ”1348″ > “Ocean Billy” > “Drums” > “Ocean Billy,” “Gents” > “1348” which left the audience cheering loudly with their umph hands \mm/ up.
The second set got raging right away with an explosive version of “Bad Friday,” followed by “The Floor.” But the first two songs were merely a warmup for “Wappy Sprayberry,” which extended way past the ten-minute mark and made the crowd go wild. Both the band and the crowd were visibly having the time of their lives; huge smiles could be seen on everyone on stage, and not one person in the audience was sitting. “In The Kitchen” closed out the second set with a powerful solo from Jake Cinninger. These two amazing sets would have been enough to make any Umphrey’s fan ecstatic, but the band had something special in store. After leaving the stage, they quickly came back and played a jaw-dropping encore of “Hajimemashite” into Rush’s “Tom Sawyer.” Umphrey’s played the Rush cover for a fan who had held up a sign the previous night explaining that it was his first show and he’d love to see a Rush cover on Thursday; guitarist Brendan Bayliss noticed the sign and promised the fan he would get his wish if he returned for the Friday show. As fans poured out of the venue, mega-blizzard Jonas had just begun coating the city with snow. Unfortunately the storm was so bad that it caused Saturday night’s show to be canceled. Stay tuned for a full album coming soon.
Set 1: Auf Wiedersehen > Hurt Bird Bath, 2nd Self, Speak Up, 1348 > Ocean Billy > Drums > Ocean Billy, Gents > 1348
Set 2: Bad Friday, The Floor, Wappy Sprayberry > JaJunk, Similar Skin, In The Kitchen
Encore: Hajimemashite > Tom Sawyer