When critics started hailing Umphrey’s McGee as the new successor to the jam band throne previously held by Phish, I admit I was a bit skeptical. But when I saw the band on June 13 at the cozy 1,000-plus seat John Anson Ford Amphitheatre in Hollywood, I was immediately sold.
While watching the opening band Banyan, I saw the Phish-like hippy crowd coming in and witnessed a painter dressed in a kilt painting to the music. Along with the fact that you could bring in your own beer and food, I knew I was in for a treat.
When Umphrey’s McGee took the stage around 8 p.m., “on time as always” as some dancing hippies near me said, the place was packed.
Consisting of guitarist/vocalists Brendan Bayliss and Jake Cinninger, keyboardist Joel Cummins, percussionist Andy Farag, drummer Kris Myers and bassist Ryan Stasik, Umphrey’s McGee (its name is taken from a relative of Bayliss) follows the three golden rules of being a jam band: they play a completely different set list every show, they play two sets and they jam into the night, many times improvisationally.
The one rule for the audience is that you have to stand and support your band in your own unique way, such as dancing like a hippy as if it were 1969.
June 13th was no exception. As a certain odor familiar to jam band concerts filled the air, Umphrey’s started off with the funky and soulful “Alex’s House” from its new album “The Bottom Half.” You would expect the song to end and another to begin, but that’s not this band’s style. As the song started to end, Umphrey’s went into a chill groove beat for a few minutes until it transitioned into “Jimmy Stewart,” a softer song in the vein of Phish.
The band eventually got into the fan favorite “Believe the Lie” in which Bayliss and Cinninger alternated lead vocals and the spotlight, drawing cheers from the dancing red-eyed audience.
After a half-hour break following the end of the first set, Umphrey’s took the stage again, starting off with its metal-like fan favorite “Plunger,” the opening song on its most popular album, “Anchor Drops.”
Following a roundabout tease jam that went into a totally different direction, Umphrey’s went right back into “Plunger.” After another jam, Umphrey’s surprised the audience again by going into a cover of Supertramp’s “Bloody Well Right.”
Finally, after finishing the second set with the ultra-funky “’40s Theme,” Umphrey’s left the stage. But an encore is a must, and boy, did they ever deliver with a cover of Led Zeppelin’s “The Song Remains the Same” that matched the original note for note.
As the lights came on around midnight, I along with many other witnesses was totally convinced that Umphrey’s McGee could carry the weight Phish has left. This band is diverse to such a point where it can play metal, ballads, funk and random covers in addition to its gift of improvisational jamming that is rhythmic and melodic.
With that in mind, it’s guaranteed that Umphrey’s will be a fixture in many people’s minds in the near-future even among non-jam band enthusiasts.
