On Thursday night, Umphrey’s McGee kicked off their 2019 fall tour with their first of three performances at Athens, GA’s Georgia Theatre.

After kicking off the show with a segued “Cut the Cable” > “Walletsworth” combo, Umphrey’s delivered the first big jam of the night in the form of a 16-minute “Draconian”. The set continued from there with another two-song combo of “The Linear” > “Got Your Milk (Right Here) before the band closed out set two with “Tribute to the Spinal Shaft” and “The Bottom Half”.

Related: Umphrey’s McGee’s Joel Cummins Talks Recent Losses & Making Life Work As A Touring Musician [Interview]

Following setbreak, Umphrey’s McGee returned to the stage to start the second half of the performance with “Dump City”. From there, the band moved into the meat of the show: a seamless three-song segment that clocked in at nearly 45 minutes in length. First, they worked through “Miami Virtue” before moving into “Women and Wine Song”. From there, they launched full-tilt into a monster 24-minute “Der Bluten Kat”.

As the dust settled after the highlight “Der Bluten Kat” jam, Brendan Bayliss thanked the crowd and reminisced about past trips to Athens over the years, including one particular visit as a young musician during which he got hit with a “consumption of alcohol ticket.” After a knowing “You having fun yet?”, Jake Cinninger‘s distorted vocals served as a launchpad for a set-closing cover of Prince classic, “1999”. The Athens rendition marked just the fourth Umphrey’s performance of “1999” and their first since May of last year. You can watch fan-shot footage of the cover below:

Umphrey’s McGee – “1999” [Prince cover] – 10/17/19

[Video: Gregory Marcus]

With time for just one more, Umphrey’s McGee returned to the stage for a “Phil’s Farm” encore. UM’s tour-opening run at the Georgia Theatre continues tonight, Friday, October 18th. For a full list of upcoming Umphrey’s dates, head here.

A full soundboard audio recording of the show is available to stream now via nugs.net.

Setlist: Umphrey’s McGee | Georgia Theatre | Athens, GA | 10/17/19 

Set 1: Cut the Cable > Walletsworth, Draconian, The Linear > Got Your Milk (Right Here), Tribute to the Spinal Shaft > The Bottom Half

Set 2: Dump City, Miami Virtue > Women Wine and Song > Der Bluten Kat, 1999

Encore: Phil’s Farm