The second half of 2023 was an unusual time for Umphrey’s McGee. In early August, the band announced that its drummer, Kris Myers, was undergoing surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff and would miss the remainder of the band’s 2023 performances as he recovered. The group honored its commitments throughout the ensuing months, recruiting a slew of notable drummers to fill in for Myers—from other members of Umphrey’s to members of other notable bands. On Sunday, at the guest-filled finale of the band’s three-night New Year’s run at Chicago, IL’s The Riviera Theatre, Myers himself made his return to the lineup after the clock struck 12, giving fans of the band one more reason for excitement as the calendar flipped to 2024.
The festivities got started on Friday night with a lespecial-supported show featuring lespecial’s Rory Dolan on drums for set one and Dream Theater‘s Mike Portnoy for set two. Set one highlighted Dolan’s longtime Umphrey’s admiration, stringing together a number of the band’s rhythmically complex, fan-favorite originals. Portnoy took over the kit for a cover-heavy second set featuring a pair of Pink Floyd classics (“In The Flesh?” and “Another Brick In The Wall”), The Beatles‘ “You Never Give Me Your Money” (for the first time since New Year’s Eve 2002), The Police‘s “Driven To Tears”, and Genesis‘ “Abacab” (for the first time since Summer Camp Music Festival 2017). He also lent his heavy foot to a commanding run through “Wizard Burial Ground” to close the frame. Watch a pro-shot video of the “Wizard Burial Ground” featuring Mike Portnoy below.
Umphrey’s McGee w/ Mike Portnoy – “Wizard Burial Ground” [Pro-Shot] – 12/30/23
After Portnoy helped kick off the show’s encore with “Conduit”, the Dream Theater drummer moved over to one of three bass guitars (alongside regular bassist Ryan Stasik and guitarist/vocalist Brendan Bayliss) and Dolan once again took over on drums for the first Umphrey’s McGee rendition of Spinal Tap track “Big Bottom” in more than ten years. Portnoy finally returned to the drums to round out the night with yet another cover bust-out, Rush‘s “YYZ” (last played by Umphrey’s in 2018).
Umphrey’s McGee – “Big Bottom” (Spinal Tap) / “YYZ” (Rush) – 12/29/23
[Video: shinepigeon]
On Saturday, 12/30, lespecial once again opened the show. This time around, the heavy trio enlisted the help of various guests, including Umphrey’s bassist Ryan Stasik and manager Vince Iwinski on Pantera‘s “Walk” and saxophonist Sean McLean on original song “Cannibal Holocaust”.
Rory Dolan once again took set one duty on drums on Saturday night, holding down yet another impressive set of Umphrey’s originals with his own twist on Myers’ sound (and a tease of Primus‘ “My Name Is Mud” during “Ringo” in a wink to lespecial’s affinity for Les Claypool and company). Ben Atkind, who recently parted ways with Goose, took up Myers’ mantle for the show’s second set and encore, reprising the fill-in role he played during various no-Kris shows this past summer and fall.
Sunday’s three-set New Year’s Eve show began as planned with Ben Atkind on drums for a seamless first frame featuring renditions of “Attachments”, “Hiccup”, “Night Nurse”, “All In Time”, and “The Floor”.
With Atkind still on drums, Michael “Mad Dog” Mavridoglou and the Mad Dog’s Dirty Little Secret Horns (featuring Dave Matthews Band saxophonist Jeff Coffin) joined the fray to start set two with a rendition of “Staircase” and stuck around to augment the band’s first-ever rendition of David Bowie classic “Young Americans”. The horns cleared the stage for an “It Doesn’t Matter” > “Hajimemashite” > “1348” segment before returning to bolster a Michael “Mad Dog” Mavridoglou-sung cover debut of The Doobie Brothers‘ “What A Fool Believes”. The horns remained in place from there to help close set two with “Out of Focus” and a return to “1348”.
Set three began with Atkind on drums on 2022 UM original “Small Strides” as the clock neared midnight. The horns joined back in as the band finally marked the transition into the new year with the traditional “Auld Lang Syne”.
With the calendar now reading 2024, and Umphrey’s McGee’s drummer’s “rest of the year” DL designation officially lifted, Kris Myers offered the thrill of the weekend by emerging and taking over for Ben Atkind on drums for the remainder of the performance, which included renditions of “The Silent Type”, “I Don’t Know What I Want”, “Educated Guess”, Karl Denson‘s “Elephants” (an Umphrey’s debut, featuring Atkind on percussion alongside the Filthy Little Secret Horns), and a closing, horn-assisted “Escape Goat”. After opening the show’s encore with “Day Nurse” alongside the horns, the band closed out the performance with one final surprise: a sing-along debut of A-ha‘s “Take On Me”.
Umphrey’s McGee w/ Mad Dog’s Filthy Little Secret Horns – “Young Americans” (David Bowie) – 12/31/23
Umphrey’s McGee – “The Silent Type” (Kris Myers Returns!) – 12/31/23
Umphrey’s McGee – Set One – 12/31/23
Umphrey’s McGee – Set Two – 12/31/23
Umphrey’s McGee – Set Three – 12/31/23
[Videos: shinepigeon]
Below, check out a recap video from the guest-filled 2023 Umphrey’s McGee New Year’s run at Chicago, IL’s The Riviera Theatre. For a list of upcoming 2024 Umphrey’s shows, head here.
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