Sure, visiting family and friends is a perfectly fine reason to travel across the country. But, between you and me, I wanted to make sure my weekend trip coincided with an excellent concert. I do live for live music after all…

Fortunately, Umphrey’s McGee was playing at the classic Wiltern Theatre, and a handful of my friends had already purchased tickets. With a intimate capacity of only 2,300, the beautiful venue (which is an official historic landmark) would only be even-more-beautiful by the six musicians that comprise Umphrey’s McGee. The perfect opportunity for me to hop a flight from JFK to LAX.

The Wiltern [Courtesy of Time Out LA]

Now, to be fair, I’m not thoroughly familiar with the Umphrey’s McGee catalog. I’ve seen them a handful of times over the years, and enjoyed their shows each time, but I’m not nearly as religious about UM as I am with, say, Phish. But as an open-minded appreciator of any and all good music, it was quite easy to get into this band. Simply put, Umphrey’s McGee brought the house down with face-melting jam after face-melting jam.

The band opened with a new song, “Bathing Digits,” an instrumental that was performed for only its second time. As is Umphrey’s M.O., this song was very high energy, earnestly captivating the audience into the band’s whirlwind dynamics. They kept things going with an energetic “JaJunk” and “No Diablo,” kicking off the show with a solid half hour of continuous music. 

Another trio of songs took the helm, including “Day Nurse, “The Linear,” and “Ocean Billy.” Throughout all of these tunes, Umphrey’s McGee brought their musical groove in full force. With a sound that borders heavy metal and improv jamming, UM means business. Complete with a dazzling light show, Umphrey’s McGee tore the roof off the Wiltern in style. Both guitarists, Brendan Bayliss and Jake Cinningerare phenomenal musicians, rolling through technically-challenging arpeggios at the drop of a hat.

After teasing the David Bowie song, “Fame,” Umphrey’s ended the first set with an amazing rendition of “Don’t You (Forget About Me),” the famous 80’s hit from Simple Minds that was featured in The Breakfast Club. The third time performed by the band, “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” was a smokin’ end to a monster set.

During the set break, a friend a mine, a first-timer to the jam band scene, asked if the band was about to play an encore. “Well, they will play an encore… but there’s a whole second set too!” Man oh man, what a great second set it is.

The band returned with “Nothing Too Fancy,” an excellent instrumental anchored by a tantalazing melody. They continued the energy with “The Floor,” an UM classic, with a brief interlude to play “Glory,” a thoroughly triumphant tune. Cinninger then teased some Van Halen licks, keeping along with the 80’s theme, before jumping into “All In Time,” one of Umphrey’s older, more established tunes.

Later in the set, Umphrey’s brought the horn section from The California Honeydrops out to play yet another classic from the 1980s… Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough.” The song has been played a handful of times over the past few years, and Bayliss absolutely nailed Jackson’s falsetto vocals. With horns added into the mix, this was certainly a highlight of the performance. 

Once the saxophonist and trumpetist left the stage, the band dropped back into the instrumental that opened the set, “Nothing Too Fancy,” to close out the second set. The encore of the show: Hajimemashite > JaJunk. 

Between tight instrumentation and complex polyrhythms, Umphrey’s showed their road-polished chops with an amazing performance. Couple great music with dazzling lights, and, well, you have yourself an excellent Saturday night at the Wiltern Theatre.

-David Melamed (@DMelamz)

[Photographs by Brandon Weil]