On Saturday night, Umphrey’s McGee continued their young 2018 summer tour with a rock-solid performance on the Jersey Shore at Asbury Park’s Stone Pony SummerStage.
Umphrey’s kicked things off at full throttle “Nipple Trix” and “Roctopus”. A soothing “Pequod” was up next, but the show got back to rocking hard in a hurry with an extended “Andy’s Last Beer”. it’s you track “Seasons” came next, making just its third appearance in the Umphrey’s McGee live repertoire. Another newer live debut, “It Doesn’t Matter”, followed, with it’s not us ballad “You And You Alone” close on its heels. Finally, “Remind Me”, the it’s not us track that’s been part of the Umphrey’s live canon since 2015, closed the first frame.
Set two leaned heavily toward the prog/metal end of the characteristically broad Umphrey’s spectrum, bookended by set-opening and set-closing readings of the instrumental rocker “Wizard Burial Ground”. After the opening portion, the band moved into the infrequently played, over-the-top metal quickie, “Sludge & Death”.
A pair of newer tunes followed in “Xmas at Wartime (it’s you) and “The Silent Type” (off it’s not us). From there, the band led into a rendition of the Allman Brothers Band‘s “Jessica”, which saw them adhere impeccably to the original before spiking it with a dose of Jake Cinninger-crafted metal guitar as they neared the song’s end. A pairing of “Cemetary Walk” and “Cemetary Walk II” came next, before fading into distortion.
After asking lighting designer Jefferson Waful to illuminate the beachside sightlines so the band could take in their surroundings, they launched into a sprawling “August”, expertly extending it into a number of distinct sonic spaces before building to a raging peak. The whole show is replay-worthy, but this “August” rises to the top as a fine improvisational highlight. Finally, after nearly 17 minutes, “August” gave way to the set-closing reprise of “Wizard Burial Ground”.
After opening their encore with “Kula”, the band paid tribute to Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul, who passed away this past week, with their debut of “Walk”. As they explained from the stage, “What’s up, New Jersey? Put your fists in the air! When we come to New Jersey, we come to kick f*ckin’ ass and play rock and roll. We lost a good one, we lost Vinnie…He’s up there with Dimebag [Darrell]. Pantera meant a lot to me growing up. Rest in peace, we’re gonna play some non-sissy type of music. Let’s have some fun.” Watch fan-shot footage of the end of the show, including the Pantera cover, below:
Umphrey’s McGee – “Wizard Burial Ground” (pt. 2, partial), “Kula”, “Walk” (Pantera cover)
[Video: rdeal1999]
Next up for Umphrey’s McGee is their highly awaited three-night run at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, CO. For a full list of Umphrey’s McGee’s upcoming tour dates, or to purchase your tickets for any of the shows, head to the band’s website here.
Below, you can check out full galleries of photos from Umphrey’s McGee’s Asbury Park performance courtesy of Andrew Blackstein. You can also check out a gallery of photos from their performance at House of Blues Boston the previous night, June 29th via Kevin Cole.
You can listen to a full soundboard recording of Umphrey’s McGee’s show at The Stone Pony here.
Setlist: Umphrey’s McGee | Stone Pony SummerStage | Asbury Park, NJ | 6/30/18 | Photos: Kevin Cole
Set One: Nipple Trix, Roctopus, Pequod, Andy’s Last Beer, Seasons, It Doesn’t Matter, You and You Alone, Remind Me
Set Two: Wizard Burial Ground, Sludge & Death, Xmas At Wartime, The Silent Type, Jessica, Cemetery Walk, Cemetery Walk II, August, Wizard Burial Ground
Encore: Kula, Walk
