Since 2008, Umphrey’s McGee has been adding a special twist on their Halloween shows by creating rarely-to-be-played (most often only once) mashups in only the way they could. I’ll be the first to admit, the idea of a mashup doesn’t really appeal to me — I’ve never been a fan of Girl Talk or artists of his ilk. But there’s something about Umphrey’s mashups, this feeling of, “Wait, did they really just do that?,” a sense of them pulling something off that just doesn’t seem possible. The first time I heard their “Another Brick In The Wall/Thriller” mashup, I pretty much couldn’t pick my jaw up off the floor. It was at UM Bowl II, and the unexpected cover was transported to another dimension by the incredible way they stitched the songs together. There simply is no other band on the planet who does anything quite like this (you can say that about so many things Umphrey’s does…). But since they started this tradition, they’ve never played these shows in the Midwest. Last year they dubbed their Halloween shows “Hauntlanta.” This year, they scheduled the shows at a venue they’ve never played (Riverside Theatre) in a city where they’ve played probably as much as anywhere (Milwaukee), and they called the shows “Milwaukee’s Beast.” Turns out, this was a very accurate title.
Heading into the weekend, it was still a mystery just when they would bust out their patented mashups. Would we get any the first night? It was anybody’s guess. But to open the show (both nights, in fact) was Chicago-based Talking Heads cover band extraordinaire This Must Be The Band. Cover bands usually aren’t all that remarkable, but TMBTB is so good at what they do, and the Talking Heads are such as awesome band, that they totally transcend the typical ceiling of a cover band and pretty much kill it every time they play. They were feeling the festive mood and came out as the Talking Freds, each member in the band dressed as a different famous Fred. Well played.
TMBTB got the night warmed up nicely, but it was about to get a whole lot warmer in this spectacular old theatre. The pre-recorded “Flamethrower” intro was an upbeat, dance-rock way to get things going before segueing incredibly smoothly into “Miami Virtue.” The way Stasik leaked in the bassline from “Miami” just as the intro was winding down was brilliant — he is often the glue that holds together the transitions between songs. “Miami” found its way to a gnarly, metal-leaning shred jam, much more aggressive than the typical dance-rock they jam in “Miami.” It came to a furious peak then they drop-segued into “Intentions Clear,” an incredibly abrupt change in demeanor. This song felt a bit sluggish until they found a really spacey jam, with a stop-and-go section that felt like some sort of ESP was going on — completely flawless timing.
Then something special happened. They definitely segued into… something. Something I couldn’t quite put my finger on. But it reminded me of UM Bowl III right away; then it hit me, one of the repeated Stews from Q4! Turns out it was “White Pickle,” and while it never seemed to really get off the ground, it was still really cool to hear. Then they slid right into another repeated Stew, “Den,” which definitely felt like more of a substantial song. Whereas “White Pickle” never really developed, “Den” found a slick groove led by Joel’s work on the piano and pushed through two complete peaks. “Den” felt like it was well on its way to being a serious rotation song, a new addition to the instrumental repertoire; all it needs is a little more polish and it will be a monster.
“Anchor Drops” was next up and it ended up feeling special more because of its rarity than anything else. There was a nice bluesy attitude, but they have a number of songs that hit that mark more effectively than this one. Then, a pretty stock “Conduit” felt like a filler song, which is rare for this massive jam, but it never reached its full potential and it felt like they cut the jam short. There has to be some parts of Umphrey’s shows that I don’t like, right? Well, this was such a stretch. But they turned that all around with the final two songs: “Comma Later” and “Padgett’s Profile.” From the debut of “Comma” at UM Bowl III until now, the song has really blossomed into a great tune. It falls perfectly into the family of sexy grooves “Booth Love” and the “Nurse”s and this one climbed a booty shakin’ mountain until a precipice where they dropped into the rare metal instrumental “Padgett’s.” I’ve personally been chasing this rocker for a long time, and the way they transitioned from the slick groove to a brutish riff-based banger was incredible. The seam was essentially indistinguishable and threw down a classic rager to close the set.
We were off to a great start. But what played out over the next set went down as one of my favorite Umphrey’s sets ever. First of all, opening the set with “Mail Package” is a surefire way to make me go nuts. This was only my 2nd one, and the first one was in the boiling sunlight at Summer Camp earlier this year, so let’s just say I enjoyed this one a lot more. This is by their most Zappa-esque song, both in it’s proggish sections and general weirdness of the lyrics. But it’s also one of their bluesier songs, with Jake leading the way with both his guitar and his voice, making this a unique piece of their catalogue that almost stands alone, and most certainly needs to be played much more regularly. But the magic was just getting started. Up next was a truly mind-boggling version of “Resolution.” It started off like all the rest, a steady dose of Umph-reggae, but it quickly found a cavernous & psychedelic jam. Then, Stasik kicked in a vaguely familiar bassline, then Joel started in on a synth riff that started to bring another familiar piece in. Then, before I knew it, they were in the middle of a full-on cover of Gorillaz’ “Clint Eastwood.” How this song bubbled up through the bottom of the jam was absolutely brilliant. Only Umphrey’s…
The Gorillaz tease was short lived though — just a tiny taste. Because soon they were building towards the best segue of the night. The final piece of “Reso” perfectly led into “Deeper.” In the past this song has been anything but a major piece of a set, but on this night, it took on a completely different life. Not only was the entry glassy smooth, the dream-like energy of the song was an ideal continuation of what they started with “Clint Eastwood.” This was easily the best “Deeper” I’ve ever heard, and in five little minutes, this went from a ‘meh’ song in my mind, to one I can’t wait to hear again. Funny how that happens.
“Deeper” melted away and like the madmen that they are, they dropped right into the opposite end of their spectrum. If “Deeper” is like a dream, then “Bridgeless” is somewhat like a nightmare, just a deluge of breakneck shredding & devastating drumming. This is always a statement song, and almost always the beginning of a huge song sandwich. This song climbed and climbed and climbed, reaching a sinister sound like some terrible firestorm raining down on the theatre. This jam was the mutant child of metal and dance rock, culminating in what was, in hindsight, the shred peak of the night. It seemed like they were building to an unbelievable apex to segue through, but they actually fell silent for a moment before launching in a cover of Smashing Pumpkins’ “Cherub Rock.” It wasn’t the smoothest entrance but this cover kept the hard rock energy of “Bridgeless” going really well.
Then they turned the ‘special’ dial up to 11 when they busted out “Morning Song,” a serious rarity and a towering behemoth of dramatic rock n roll (and my 1st one ever). The word ‘epic’ is definitely overused, but in this case it’s one of the most accurate descriptions in the dictionary: “Morning Song” is just totally epic, the kind of song that sends chills down your back and could put a tear in your eye with the right frame of mind. But then the show took a sharp turn once again as they ripped into the instrumental monster “Tribute To The Spinal Shaft.” This one always lights a room on fire, it’s a raw dance-rock inferno, but this version ended up laboring on a bit too long. The jam section fell a little flat and took far too much time to reach a peak that didn’t quite match the lengthy build. But the apex did lead to a beautiful segue into “The Bottom Half,” which was an odd choice to end a set. Usually they wrap with a devastation of some sort, but this was a much more lighthearted way to end a set, especially as they meandered through an instrumental cover of Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin” with Jake phrasing the lyrics with his guitar. It was just ok, but didn’t take anything away from an absolutely amazing set overall.
Encore time. Were we gonna get a mashup?? Nope, but they still busted out a little something special. It’s always a treat when Myers comes out from behind his barricaded drum bunker to put his voice on display. Jake took the seat at the drums and Myers stepped front and center to let his inner rock star run amok as he thrashed out a cover of Danzig’s “Mother.” From Myers’ singing, to Jake’s drumming, to Bayliss’ lead on the guitar, this was just a kickass song all around. It came to a complete stop to let Myers go back behind his drums and get ready for the rest on the encore. It seemed to be laying out perfectly for a predictable yet lovable finale.
“Bridgeless” was still open, so they were definitely gonna play “Much Obliged” then segue back into the final section of “Bridgeless,” right? Right? Not this time, Jack. They took a much more aggressive angle, throwing down the semi-rare and beloved “Walletsworth” before dropping into the furious final section of “Bridgeless.” The end of this song has taken on a life of its own at this point and is characterized by what I like to call the ‘Bridgeless Strut.’ In that last, tremendous guitar battle between Jake and Bayliss, Bayliss cut free from his normal position on stage, came right to the front, completely locked with Jake, and started owning the stage, mugging the crowd & shuffling around with a swagger like Angus Young, all like “Are you seeing what I’m doing right now?!?” It’s a pretty fuckin’ rock star move. Bayliss doesn’t do this too often, but it’s become expected at the peak rage of “Bridgeless” and always amazes me considering how gnarly & complicated this section is.
GodDAMN what a show. The Riverside Theatre is pretty much the ideal venue for an Umphrey’s show, so the anticipation was extremely high for night two. This was an amazing show and we didn’t even get a mashup yet… This weekend had a lot of juice left.