After Umphrey’s McGee and Aqueous hit the Central Park Summer Stage in New York City last night, Aqueous kept the party going with a special after-party at New York’s Highline Ballroom. At the after-show, the Buffalo-based quartet was joined by Jake Cinninger and Joel Cummins of Umphrey’s for the majority of the performance. With Cinninger and Cummins on deck, Aqueous was ready to bring their A-game to the Highline, putting on a dialed-in show with a major focus on extended improvisation throughout the night.
Despite a lack of pre-planning or rehearsal, the augmented Aqueous line-up sounded particularly solid as a unit. Cinninger and Cummins were brought out in the middle of the “Don’t Do It” jam at the beginning of the night, making for a non-traditional, albeit spectacular, welcome for their special guests. From there, the six musicians became more exploratory for the “Highline Jam,” testing the limits of the other musicians on stage and their combined abilities as an ensemble. The crew came out of the extended jam straight into “Booth Love,” marking Aqueous’s debut of the Umphrey’s McGee number and serving as a true welcome to both Cinninger and Cummins.
Booth Love
Pro-Shot Video Of Aqueous, Joel Cummins, And Vinnie Amico’s “Kid Charlemagne” From SCAMP
Following “Booth Love,” the group moved into a cover of Radiohead’s “National Anthem” ahead of “Strange Times,” which featured particularly energetic jam segments. For Cummins, Cinninger, and Aqueous final number together, the six moved into a cover of Steely Dan’s “Kid Charlemagne,” which served as the climax of the show. With smiles abounding, the “Kid Charlemagne” jam featured teases of Dr. Dre’s “Nuthin’ But A G Thang,” and offered one last number for the crew to show off their collective chops. The cover was not completely out of left field, however — on Thursday night of this year’s Summer Camp Music Festival, Aqueous welcomed Joel and moe.’s Vinnie Amico for a rendition of the Steely Dan tune.
Kid Charlemagne
It was particularly electrifying to watch Jake Cinninger and Aqueous guitarist Mike Gantzer perform together, with the two guitarists trading licks for the better part of an hour and all the while smiling ear-to-ear. While, predictably with Cinninger and Cummins on deck, the combined group picked up at moments an Umphrey’s-esque sound while still retaining Aqueous’s groovy, energized vibe. However, another large factor in last night’s larger-than-life sound was bassist Evan McPhaden’s contributions across the night, who was a really strong presence throughout the show. After Cinninger and Cummins took their leave, Aqueous embarked on their final stretch of songs for the night. A “Random Company” sandwich ended the set, with “Numbers and Facts” positioned squarely at its center. For the encore, at the request of a fan, Aqueous laid down “Origami” to totally close out the night.
You can check out photos of last night’s show below, courtesy of Chris Cappaci (Capacity Images) and Stephen Olker.
Setlist: Aqueous | Highline Ballroom | New York, NY | 7/7/2017 |
Set: Skyway, Uncle Phil’s Parachute*> Don’t Do It*%> Highline Jam%, Booth Love^%, National Anthem#%, Strange Times%, Kid Charlemagne+%, Random Company> Numbers and Facts> Random Company
Encore: Origami
*unfinished %Ft. Jake Cinninger and Joel Cummins of Umphrey’s McGee
^First time played, Umphrey’s McGee cover
# Radiohead Cover
+ Steely Dan cover
[Photo: Capacity Images]
