The Cubs weren’t the only Chicago-based team in Boston on April 26th and 27th, as Umphrey’s McGee chose Beantown for its 10th UMBowl, a fan-interactive, three-set, two-day event that many compared to a major sporting team’s championship event. Originally planned for last fall at the House of Blues, the band had to reschedule the highly anticipated event last August when it was announced drummer Kris Myers needed some time off for shoulder surgery. The band was able to otherwise continue its tour in the latter half of 2023 with a slew of incredible ringers on drums—Myers would return full force during the band’s final set on night three of its 2023 New Year’s Eve run—but an event of this magnitude needed the starting lineup.
The six-month wait coupled with the energy coming off the band and fans alike due to the previous two incredible nights at Higher Ground in Burlington, VT and folks were ready to UMBOWL! Adding to the anticipation of what was to come, this year for the first time, all fans were able to vote on the event’s ballots, while in years past this right was reserved exclusively for ticket holders. Thanks to the band sharing the themes for each set, we had some idea of what to expect walking in, however, we were unsure of how it was all going to unfold.
Friday night would open with a “band’s choice set” a genius move by the guys having just played the aforementioned two nights at Higher Ground. The “easiest” of the six sets on deck for the team, this allowed the band and fans that had been along on tour since Wednesday the perfect segue from songs they were familiar with to the uniqueness that UMBowl is synonymous with.
A hardcore fan-favorite four-song set got the evening started, opening with the newer tune “Staircase”. This one has already shown some real capabilities in terms of its potential to expand, just since its debut in March of 2023. Umphrey’s staple “40’s Theme” came next, rounding out the set with guitarist/vocalist Brendan Bayliss addressing the crowd “Welcome to this year’s UMBowl, we’re going to do a bunch of stuff, a bunch of stuff for you. This set we’re being selfish; we’re going to do what we want to do first so you’re going to have to suffer through that. We would like to play a song called ‘Bridgeless’ and we hope you like it.” Upon revelation of a set-ending sandwich with “The Triple Wide” stuffed in the middle, no one was “suffering through” this band choice set. Umphrey’s McGee proved it was locked in, ready to go. The fans better be prepared for what comes next.
Taking a typical set break before coming back out for another set, a Stew Art (S2) event, featuring live fan-driven improv determined in real-time via text message by fans at home and in attendance, the themes chosen were then projected onto a screen behind the band. Although S2 events have been a part of UMBowl since the inaugural year back in 2010, we have yet to see a submission become something that UM has kept a part of its regular repertoire.
Spanning a bevy of spectrums, genres, and decades throughout the set, Umphrey’s McGee invoked an array of thoughts, images, and feelings with each theme. This year’s winning selections were “Drum and brace yourself,” “Party on a beach in Morocco,” “Sludge and dub,” (a Reggae version of UM original “Sludge and Death”), “Jake Conducts,” “Medeski, Martin & Umphrey’s,” “Follow the Ben > Lights dictate the jam,” “Just learned how to play last week,” “Chicago Subway at Midnight,” “1 string only,” “Everyone on keys,” “Now the drums!,” and “Play your favorite song” with keyboardist Joel Cummins and bassist Ryan Stasik sitting on the stage watching Bayliss in childlike wonder as he regaled the crowd with his not-bedtime appropriate rendition of Peter, Paul and Mary’s “Puff the Magic Dragon”. “Daring Escape” would bring the stew art set to an appropriate conclusion.
For the third set—”All Night Wrong”, a pre-event fan-voted set consisting completely of covers—UM dug into the vault and dusted off some favorites, filling this set with a perfect blend of Spotify shuffle radio favorites over several decades and genres. Opening the set dramatically with the entire room so quiet you could hear a pin drop, lead guitarist Jake Cinninger struck the iconic opening note for Yes’ 1971 classic “Roundabout” (last time played 9/3/2020 – 257 shows) and kept the classic rock vibes going strong with Steely Dan’s 1976 “Kid Charlemagne” next (last time played 3/11/17 – 537 shows) this would open up nicely with a little jam during the back half.
Umphrey’s McGee then turned the radio dial ahead a few years in our time-traveling DeLorean with Stone Temple Pilots‘ “Plush” from 1992 (last time played 5/19/18 – 432 shows), Living Colour‘s “Cult of Personality” from 1988 (last time played 2/11/22 – 188 shows), and Temple of the Dog‘s “Hunger Strike” from 1991 (last time played 5/18/17 – 520 shows) The latter two tunes proved precisely why this event needed to be postponed until Kris was able to participate.
Keeping the ’90s alive with the remainder of this set, “All Night Wrong” wound down with 1991’s “No More Tears” by recent Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Ozzy Osbourne (last time played 2/4/2023 – 111 shows) and 1994’s “Big Poppa” by Notorious B.I.G. (last time played 6/20/2021 – 237 shows) with special guest cousin Eli (percussionist Andy Farag) on vocals. Encore for night one, another cover: Rush’s 1981 “Tom Sawyer” (last time played 1/23/2022 – 195 shows).
Check out a collection of fan-shot videos of night one from digidigit.
Umphrey’s McGee — “Bridgeless”, “The Triple Wide” — UMBowl X
Setlist: Umphrey’s McGee | House Of Blues | Boston, MA | 4/26/24
Set One: Staircase > 40’s Theme, Bridgeless > The Triple Wide > Bridgeless
Set Two: Stew Art Event
Set Three: Roundabout (Yes), Kid Charlemagne (Steely Dan) > Plush (Stone Temple Pilots), Cult of Personality (Living Colour), Hunger Strike (Temple Of The Dog) > No More Tears (Ozzy Osbourne), Big Poppa (The Notorious B.I.G.) [1]
Encore: Tom Sawyer (Rush)
Footnotes:
[1] with Andy on vocals
Show Notes:
First set was “Band’s Choice”
Second set was a Stew Art event: Drum and brace yourself > Party on a beach in Morocco > Sludge and dub > Jake conducts > Medeski, Martin & Umphrey’s [with All In Time, Q*Bert, and Mail Package teases] > Follow the Ben > Lights dictate the jam > Just learned how to play last week > Chicago Subway at Midnight > 1 string only, Everyone on keys, Now the drums!, Play your favorite song [performed as Puff the Magic Dragon (Peter, Paul and Mary)], Daring Escape
Third set was an All Night Wrong cover set
last Roundabout 2020-09-03 (257 shows)
last Kid Charlemagne 2017-03-11 (537 shows)
last Plush 2018-05-19 (432 shows)
last Hunger Strike 2017-05-18 (520 shows)
Prior to kick off on night two, DATC Media Company presented an expert analysis panel live on YouTube, discussing night one, making night two predictions, and more, hosted by Dropped Among This Crowd Podcast host Sara J, with Scott Marks and TJ Bannon and sponsored by Driftless Mixology, Roughgauge LLC, and InternetFM. Watch the video below or listen anywhere you podcast.
DATC Media Company Presents: UMBOWL X Expert Analysis Panel
[Video: DATC Media Company]
Even a disappointing Cubs loss Saturday afternoon at Fenway Park directly across the street from the House of Blues couldn’t put a damper on the excitement walking into night two. With all sorts of goodness still on deck, folks had no idea what they were about to witness.
Set one was a “live scoring set,” a cinematic, sensory stimulating, explorative adventure that took everyone in the room on an awe-inducing ride. It was serious business for the band as it orchestrated a soundtrack to the fan-voted movie scenes in real-time. It was all eyes on large TV screens for Brendan and Jake, perfectly placed on the floor above and to the right of their pedal boards, while Kris was able to watch via a smaller screen attached to his setup. The rest of the fellas followed along with the large screen behind the entire band, projecting the film to the audience.
Quite a musical experience, that can only fully be appreciated while watching the clip the musical composition accompanies. This set, in hindsight, is not only an overwhelming fan favorite but also shows the tremendous musical talent possessed by Umphrey’s McGee, individually and collectively. This makes one wonder, could there be an original film soundtrack in the band’s future? Brendan and Jake have already composed a film soundtrack for the 2021 horror/suspense flick The Canyonlands. The films featured in this set included History of Movies, Nosferatu, Mad Max: Fury Road, Pulp Fiction, The Blues Brothers, Pan’s Labyrinth, Interstellar, Caddyshack, and Kill Bill: Volume 1.
Set two was “the new set,” featuring a new cover, a new Raw Stewage track, a new original, and a new mash-up. First up, a new cover: Dire Straits‘ “Sultans of Swing” with Brendan Bayliss switching out his usual PRS guitar for one of Jake’s G&Ls to ensure the tone during his lead guitar parts, while Cinninger focused on vocals which were on-brand with Mark Knopfler’s distinctive sound.
After playing a version that would make everyone’s dad proud, Bayliss put back on his PRS and the band began to leave its UM print on “Sultains”. Venturing nicely into some uncharted territory, the band improvised its way through several different explorations, perfectly bridging two worlds, delicately leading into the highly anticipated new Raw Stewage track, revealed to be titled “Concessions”.
Comprised of past “Jimmy Stewarts” [1/18/14 “1348” + 9/14/07 “Nemo” + 1/14/23 “The Silent Type”], “Concessions” clocked in at 19 minutes and judging by the emotions expressed by fans in real-time, we’ll see this one again, with eager anticipation as to how this new song will mature in the coming months and beyond. Before heading into a new original, Bayliss took a moment to apologize to the sign language interpreter who was present that evening, due to the lack of things to sign in the first set, in true BB fashion asking what it would look like if he said a bad word. Of course, getting his answer.
The band’s choice for a new original? One of only two songs left on their newest studio release, Asking for a Friend yet to be played live, “Work Sauce”. This proved to be worth the wait, executed nicely musically and vocally, even feeling confident enough to be let off the leash and stretch its legs. Hopefully, that’ll stay in rotation.
Umphrey’s McGee out this set with a new mashup “House of Better Glass”, featuring “Jump Around” (House of Pain) + “House of Glass” (Blondie) + “The Less I Know the Better” (Tame Impala). Bayliss said to the crowd, “Before we do this next one, to do it properly we’re gonna need you all to get down, like down, lower. You’ll know what to do. And for people older than me, it’s ok you can hunch, I get it, it hurts. You’ll know what to do.” Joel fired off the opening notes of “Jump Around” causing the House of Blues to erupt in excitement like a ’90s high school gymnasium on a Friday night. As a first-hand witness, I can tell you there were parts during this mashup where the interpreter was straight-up confused by what was happening.
Set three, the final set of the evening would consist of “Choose your own Adventure,” reminiscent of the popular books from the 1980s. The fans were once again given the reigns on this one, choosing what way the journey would go by voting via text message as the results were calculated and displayed in real-time on a screen behind the band. Anticipation built as the crowd and band anxiously awaited the next direction to be revealed.
Beginning perfectly with “1348” followed by “Glory” caused some frustration among fans, considering the two songs it was up against, “Kula” and “Kimble”, find themselves in less-regular rotation. “Bad Friday” was decided after it briefly sat at a 50/50 tie with “Miami Virtue”, causing Joel to offer his opinion by taking out his phone and voting from the stage. Even after that couldn’t sway the vote, Bayliss asked the interpreter what she would like to hear, “B” eventually winning the vote and the band playing the aforementioned “Bad Friday”. Rounding out this adventure with “Night Nurse”, another 50/50 stalemate arose between two Talking Heads covers, with “Making Flippy Floppy” finally taking the lead and ending the adventure with a massive “Plunger” that easily found its way onto everyone’s highlights list.
Returning to two earlier themes for the encore, Bayliss came out with an acoustic guitar to add a fourth verse to his favorite song from the day before (“Puff The Magic Dragon”), admitting his motivation for doing so was to offend someone in the band. Stasik, displeased by this continuing for a second day, stomped out, smashing the acoustic guitar a la Pete Townshend. Finally, the band got back to business with the debut of the Top Gun anthem—a perfect victory lap after two incredible nights—and the conclusion of set three’s “1348” to close out the night and UMBowl X.
For a more comprehensive, in-depth recap of UMBowl X check out episode 256 of Dropped Among This Crowd everywhere you find podcasts. Check out a gallery of images from the run below courtesy of photographer Adrianna Gerard and fan-shot videos by digidigit.
Umphrey’s McGee — Interstellar, Caddyshack, Kill Bill: Volume 1 — UMBowl X
Setlist: Umphrey’s McGee | House Of Blues | Boston, MA | 4/27/24
Set One: History of movies, Nosferatu, Mad Max: Fury Road, Pulp Fiction, The Blues Brothers, Pan’s Labyrinth, Interstellar, Caddyshack, Kill Bill: Volume 1
Set Two: Sultans of Swing [1] > Concessions[2], Work Sauce[2], House of Better Glass[3]
Set Three: 1348[4] > Glory > Bad Friday > Night Nurse > Making Flippy Floppy (Talking Heads), Plunger
Encore: Top Gun Anthem[5] > 1348
Footnotes:
[1] debut, Dire Straits
[2] debut, original
[3] debut, Jump Around (House of Pain) + House of Glass (Blondie) + The Less I Know the Better (Tame Impala) mash-up
[4] with Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ (Michael Jackson) and Simple Gifts (Brackett) teases
[5] debut, Faltermeyer
Show Notes:
First set was “Live Scoring Set,” with the band performing original music to movie clips
Second set was “All New,” with the debut of every song; Concessions comprised of past “Jimmy Stewarts” [2014-01-18 1348 + 2007-09-14 Nemo + 2023-01-14 The Silent Type]
Third set was “choose your own adventure,” with attendees voting for the next “adventure” live: 1348 or Escape Goat; Glory >, Kula >, or Kimble >; Miami Virtue or Bad Friday; Day Nurse or Night Nurse; Making Flippy Floppy or Girlfriend Is Better; Educated Guess, Plunger, or Maybe Someday
Top Gun Anthem was played along with clips from the movie; prior to the encore, Brendan quoted Puff the Magic Dragon (Peter, Paul and Mary) followed by Ryan taking Brendan’s acoustic guitar and smashing it on the stage
