Last night marked the annual tradition known as UMBowl, a one-of-a-kind Umphrey’s McGee concert where the band will play four uniquely themed quarters, challenging themselves in a variety of ways as musicians. UMBowl VII was held at the Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas yesterday, and the four quarters of the night were as follows: Raw Stewage, All Request, All Improv, and Choose Your Own Adventure. 

Raw Stewage has been a breeding ground for new Umphrey’s McGee originals over the past years. The quarter works by fans submitting some of their favorite moments of UM improvisation during recent shows, and the band figures out interesting ways to package them into new original songs. The set featured five tunes, including “Breaker” (01.28.2015 All In Time), “Roctopus” (04.14.2005 Pay the Snucka + 04.01.2014 In the Kitchen), “Downtrodden” (03.23.2007 Intentions Clear + 09.22.2011 Nothing Too Fancy), and “Until We Meet Again” (04.19.2014 August). There was a fifth song in that set as well, called “Fly Like A Beagle.”

Next up was the All Request set, where fans had previously voted for a number of selections to be performed during the second quarter. The set opened with just Jake Cinninger, who donned an acoustic guitar for “Nopener.” He was joined by Brendan Bayliss on acoustic guitar for “Gulf Stream,” before the rest of the band returned for “Great American.” The two still had acoustics for UM original “Bullhead City,” but they welcomed Jennifer Hartswick to join in the madness with her powerful vocals. The set kept rocking with “FF,” where Andy Farag took over on drums for Kris Myers, before segueing into a new debut original, “Soul Food III.” 

From there, Jake Cinninger took over on drums for the song “1000 Places To See Before You Die,” which saw the return of Jennifer Hartswick and her horn playing companion, Natalie Cressman. The two made up a powerful horn section to power this fun tunes, which hadn’t been played since 2014. The horn section stayed through the next song, “Alex’s House,” with Cressman and Hartswick contributing vocals as well. The set ended with “Forks,” with Hartswick and Cressman helping to bring the set home with their potent vocal style.

The third quarter was a reprise of the band’s recent “From The Hip” all improvisational set, as the entire set was performed improvisationally. While the previous All Improv set in Milwaukee featured saxophonist Joshua Redman, this one saw contributions from Hartswick and Cressman throughout. The band was locked into a tight groove, and worked their way into a “Jimmy Stewart” with lyrics.

Finally, the band settled in to a Choose Your Own Adventure quarter, where each song was one of three possibilities and was chosen by fans on the spot. Cressman and Hartswick were again on hand for the whole set, and you can see the options for each song in the set here, with the chosen song featured in bold: August, 40’s Theme, or Slacker; Soul Food II, Kabump, or Atmosfarag; Mad Love, Go to Hell, or Ringo with horns; Bitches Brew (Miles Davis) improv, Zappa (Jake conducts) improv, or Tortoise improv; Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough, Ophelia, or Sledgehammer; end Wizard Burial Ground, end 1348, or end All In Time.

With the score still tied at the end of four quarters, the band returned for an overtime encore to send the show into a final frenzy. The band started the set with a bust-out of Hall & Oates’ “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do),” which hadn’t been played by UM in over 500 shows (6.24.11). Finally, they ended the show with “All In Time,” a proper reflective moment to bask in the glory of what had just been performed. Four glorious sets of Umphrey’s McGee, pushing themselves to the musical limits. Until next year!

Check out the full setlist below, courtesy of All Things Umphrey’s. 

Setlist: Umphrey’s McGee at Brooklyn Bowl, Las Vegas, NV – 5/6/16

Quarter 1: Breaker[1], Roctopus[1], Fly Like a Beagle[1], Downtrodden[1], Until We Meet Again[1]

Quarter 2: Nopener[2], Gulf Stream[3], Great American[4], Bullhead City[5], FF[6] > Soul Food III[7], 1000 Places to See Before You Die[8], Alex’s House[9], Forks[10]

Quarter 3: Improvisation[11]

Quarter 4: Slacker, Atmosfarag > Ringo[12] > “Zappa (Jake conducts) improv”[12], Sledgehammer[13], Wizard Burial Ground[14]

Overtime: I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do)[13], All In Time[14]

[1] debut, original
[2] Jake solo acoustic
[3] just Brendan and Jake on acoustics
[4] Brendan and Jake on acoustics
[5] Brendan and Jake on acoustics and Jen Hartswick on vocals
[6] with Andy on drums replacing Kris
[7] debut, original; with Andy on drums replacing Kris
[8] with Jake on drums replacing Kris, and with Natalie Cressman on trombone and Jen Hartswick on trumpet
[9] with Jake on drums replacing Kris, and with Natalie Cressman on trombone/vocals and Jen Hartswick on trumpet/vocals
[10] with Natalie Cressman and Jen Hartswick on vocals
[11] with Jake on keys along with Natalie Cressman on trombone/vocals and Jen Hartswick on trumpet/vocals; “Jimmy Stewart” with lyrics
[12] with Natalie Cressman on trombone and Jen Hartswick on trumpet
[13] with Natalie Cressman on trombone/vocals and Jen Hartswick on trumpet/vocals
[14] ending
Notes:
first quarter was Raw Stewage, comprised of attendees’ votes for past “Jimmy Stewarts”: Breaker (01.28.2015 All In Time), Roctopus (04.14.2005 Pay the Snucka + 04.01.2014 In the Kitchen), Downtrodden (03.23.2007 Intentions Clear + 09.22.2011 Nothing Too Fancy), Until We Meet Again (04.19.2014 August)

second quarter was comprised of attendees’ votes, “All Request”; with Over the Hills and Far Away (Led Zeppelin) tease before Gulf Stream

third quarter was completely improvised

fourth quarter was in “choose your own adventure” style, with attendees voting for the next “adventure” live: August, 40’s Theme, or Slacker; Soul Food II, Kabump, or Atmosfarag; Mad Love, Go to Hell, or Ringo with horns; Bitches Brew (Miles Davis) improv, Zappa (Jake conducts) improv, or Tortoise improv; Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough, Ophelia, or Sledgehammer; end Wizard Burial Ground, end 1348, or end All In Time

last Forks 02.01.2013 (336 shows)
last I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do) 06.04.2011 (524 shows) 

A full gallery of photos from the night can be seen below, courtesy of Erik Kabik: