I saw Umphrey’s McGee with opening act Spafford at the brand new venue 20 Monroe Live in Grand Rapids MI Thursday night.
First a little about the venue. This place just opened on Wednesday and this was only their 2nd show. I was very very impressed with the place. It can hold around 2000, with a great stage and sound system. They sold this show as general admission on the floor and reserved seating in the Mezzanine which was the perfect way to do an Umphry’s show. We had seats in the Mez (great sight lines), but I did venture down on the floor for one song. This may be my new favorite concert venue.
Opening act Spafford started things out doing an hour long set of what I would describe as fairly typical jam band music. They were very good musicians and I dug most of it, although it did get to be a bit samey towards the end. Still, they were a very nice opening act and I think if they branch out a little bit, could have a bright future.
Umphrey’s came on about 8:45PM did an 75 minute set, took a half hour break then did another 75 minute set plus an encore, so pretty typical show for them. Jake Cinniger has been out sick for the past week and this was his first show back. He seemed to be in fine form with no ill effects. As with all Umphrey’s shows, you never know exactly what you are going to get. Tonight’s show seemed a little heavy on funk oriented jams and less on prog or metal than some of their shows are. Not necessarily a bad thing, but I have seen them when I liked the set list better than tonight. As always the band throw a cover into each set. During the 2nd set they covered Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb” and of course Jake just slayed the famous guitar solo at the end. They also did an extended jam with guest keyboardist Holly Bowling which incorporated the main riff from Yes’s “Owner Of A Lonely Heart”, yet was something completely different form that song. Interesting stuff indeed. As always the band’s light show was fantastic and perfectly complimented the music. Having seen the band quite a few times over the years, I would not say this was my favorite show by them, but it was another good solid performance. Here is the set list:
FLAMETHROWER
THE FLOOR
MULCHE’S ODYSSEY
NIGHT NURSE
BRIGHT LIGHTS
BIG CITY
VISIONS
AIN’T TOO PROUD TO BEG (COVER)
RED TAPE
INTERMISSION
SOUL FOOD 1
SOUL FOOD II (WITH HOLLY BOWLING / INCORPORATING OWNER OF A LONELY HEART RIFF)
SOUL FOOD III
CONDUIT
COMFORATABLY NUMB (PINK FLOYD COVER)
PARTYIN PEEPS
JA JUNK
ENCORE
KIMBLE
GULF STREAM
Bookmarks