On a day that the Supreme Court made a historic ruling in favor of same-sex marriage, Umphrey’s McGee celebrated the decision with an absolutely phenomenal show in Des Moines, IA. Situated under a strange awning, on a skating rink, Umphrey’s brought the party last Friday night, June 26th.
Normally, jam band first sets are filled with shorter tunes, but Umphrey’s easily eschews this norm. The opener “Bathing Digits > Hurt Bird Bath” was long, featuring some good jams. It was followed by “Words”, which featured solid vocals by all singing members of the band.
“Bridgeless” is where things really got cooking. Both guitarists, Brendan Bayliss and Jake Cinninger, had an opportunity to really show their licks as they improvised together, leading the whole band into “Mad Love”. The “Made to Measure” that followed was probably the highlight of the night. It’s a slower song that almost never receives any improvisation, but this was an exception to that rule. They took it to an astronomical level, where the melodies were absolutely soaring. After jamming for quite some time, they brought it back into “Remind Me”, and then finished the set with the end of “Bridgeless”.
After a brief reprieve, UM opened the second set with their song “Cut The Cable”. The band started the song with an a cappella introduction, “I’m closer to my coffin now, the offer’s on the table now, but I’m unable”, cutting through the beautiful Iowa air. They kept things rolling with a jammed out “#5” which led into a cover of David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance”. The cover choice got a vociferous approval from the crowd, who only seemed to begin to cheer louder and harder for everything the band was doing.
They followed that up with “Booth Love”, playing an incredible version of their classic tune. It’s the kind of moment that Umphreaks travel for and casual music fans come for. To say this version of “Booth Love” was anything short of epic would be misleading. They began jamming slowly and patiently. Then they brought it to a halt with keyboardist Joel Cummins breaking it down. With all the other instruments quiet, Cummins laid down a line on his synthesizer that drove the crowd crazy. It was a really funky line. If that weren’t enough, lighting director Jefferson Waful added some tiny speckled lights on the ceiling of the canopy that kept spinning. The crowd absolutely erupted, even more so than before.
They closed out the second set with “Spires” and “Ocean Billy”, with both containing monster jams throughout. It was a great cap to an exceptional performance.
Umphrey’s played “Puppet String” as an encore. Like the two sets preceding, the final number featured some spot-on improvisation, including a section where guitarist Jake Cinninger played percussion. You can watch that below:
All in all, it was a definitively excellent rock show, with no shortage of UM-Love in Iowa. Take a look at the setlist and some photos below.
Setlist: Umphrey’s McGee at Brenton Skating Plaza, Des Moines, IA, June 26th 2015
Set One: Bathing Digits > Hurt Bird Bath, Words > Bridgeless > Mad Love, Made to Measure, Remind Me > Bridgeless
Set Two: Cut the Cable, #5, Let’s Dance, Booth Love, Spires > Day Nurse, Ocean Billy
Encore: Puppet String
