On Friday, Umphrey’s McGee took to Cincinnati, Ohio, kicking off a two-night run at the Taft Theatre. The energy of the show was particularly triumphant, given that the band’s highly anticipated new album, it’s not us, had finally been released to the public earlier that day. During the performance, the group welcomed brass band The Cincy Brass to join them on two tunes to close out their first set, including their debut cover of the theme of the 1981 movie, Chariots Of Fire, written by Greek composer Vangelis. 

The Cincy Brass joined the group for the final two songs of set one: first, the Chariots Of Fire theme followed by the group’s own “Partyin’ Peeps”. Following the debut Vangelis cover, the group landed in “Partyin’ Peeps”, with Umphrey’s giving the full brass band time to show off their skills during an extended jam based around the traditional number, “When The Saints Go Marching In”. Another highlight of the set was Umphrey’s rendition of The Beatles’ “Flying”, marking the first time the song had been played since November 7th, 2014 and ending a gap of 295 shows.

“Hangover” > “Chariots Of Fire” > “Partyin’ Peeps”

[Video: iccuspunk]

The six-song second set allowed the band to really expand upon their jams with a couple of relatively rare songs and the debut of a new song off it’s not us composing set two. “Amble On” was played for the 10th time ever since its debut in Chicago in 2013, reappearing for the first time since March of 2016. The tune also contained a jam built around Radiohead’s “Everything In Its Right Place”—while Umphrey’s hasn’t formally covered the Radiohead song in full, previously Joel Cummins has played the number during his own solo piano sets.

Watch Joel Cummins Of Umphrey’s McGee’s Gorgeous Piano Rendition Of A Radiohead Classic

Umphrey’s also dusted off their take on the Allman Brothers Band’s classic hit “Jessica”—a cover that they performed regularly from 1998 to 2001 but that has fallen out of their regular rotation in the years since—after almost exactly a year since it was last played during a performance in New Haven. However, given that the band’s eleventh album had been released earlier in the day, the group set aside time during the tail-end of set two to show some love to their new release, offering up their debut rendition of “Whistle Kids” before closing out the set with their well-loved original “Pay The Snucka”. The band closed the night out in full with a two-song encore of “Orfeo” into “All In Time”.

“Orfeo” > “All In Time”

[Video: iccuspunk]

Setlist: Umphrey’s McGee | Taft Theatre | Cincinnati, OH | 1/12/2018

Set 1: Bathing Digits > Bad Friday, Example 1 > Flying [1]> Example 1, Plunger > Anchor Drops, Search 4, Hangover > Chariots of Fire [2] > Partyin’ Peeps [3]

Set 2: All In Time > Amble On [4] > 2×2, Jessica, Whistle Kids [5], Pay the Snucka

Encore: Orfeo > All In Time

[1] last time played, 2014.11.07 (295 shows) | [2] debut, Vangelis; with The Cincy Brass on horns and percussion | [3] with The Cincy Brass on horns and percussion; with When the Saints Go Marching In (trad.) jam | [4] with Everything In Its Right Place (Radiohead) jam | [5] debut, original