On a beautiful, balmy winter night on the east side of Philly, Umphrey’s McGee closed out a sold-out two-night run at the Fillmore in spectacular fashion. Hayley Jane and The Primates opened the show and set the bar high right from the start.

Based out of Boston, the up-and-coming band features the energetic and highly charismatic front-woman Hayley Jane. Add the dual guitar playing of Justin Hancock and Greg Smith, a deep bass groove from Josh Carter, stellar drums from Ryan Clausen, and the occasional support from the Interstellar Dancers, and the songs become down right hypnotic. However, this night belonged to Umphrey’s McGee.

From the opening beats of “Bathing Digits” drowning the crowd with a beautiful blue light, the band took the 2,500 fans to a grooving “Dump City” to get the night started. The song ended with a bang and a toast to the crowd from Brendan. The melodic “Piranhas”, with some great harmonies between the band members, led to high energy “Slacker” with searing guitar solos, mad percussion, and a perpetual funk. The trippy feel of “It Doesn’t Matter” led the crowd into a entrancing haze for a solid eight minutes, and then blazed into a furious finale of guitar work to close the song. The crowd was in full boogie for “Crucial Taunt”, then leading to the spacey “Blue Echo”. From there, the harmonic “Alex’s House” came next. Closing out the set was “The Fussy Dutchman” with some great riff-trading between Brendan, Jake, and Joel, bringing the crowd to a jumping ovation.

After Umprey’s McGee celebrated their 20th anniversary just last week, Brendan Bayliss (guitar/vocals), Jake Cinninger (guitar/vocals), Joel Cummins (keyboard, piano, vocals), Andy Farag (percussion), Kris Myers (drums), and Ryan Stasik (bass) sound better and tighter than ever. You really cannot pigeonhole their music because it’s infused with so many different styles, influences, and genres that the band has truly made their own unique genre. However, they do jam and as one of the best jam bands on the scene, their experience, trust in each other, friendship, positive energy, and happiness shines through their music and into each and everyone who attends their shows. Smiles abounded, space was respected, and tired feet were the norms.

The dark and heavy metal “Sludge & Death” opened the second set with a bang. “Robot World” continued that theme with pounding bass, drums, and chomping guitar riffs accompanied with some melodic keyboard synthesizers. A light and airy “Out Of Order” was up next to the delight of the crowd as they sang along. The rolling cascade of guitars, vocals, and keys in “Puppet String” led to the reggae styled sing-a-long song “Partyin’ Peeps”. The rocking “The Silent Type” with extended jamming and searing guitar solos led into “The Triple Wild” with teases from Fleetwood Mac’s “Rhiannon” and Led Zepplin’s “Stairway to Heaven” interspersed within the song. The simply majestic “Glory” was next with such a beautiful addictive riff and then back into the finale of “Puppet String”. To close it out, a driving “Last Man Swerving” segued into a “Mad Love”, bringing the show to a pulsating conclusion for the packed room of adoring fans.

Umphrey McGee’s It’s Not Us tour continues to Penns Peak tonight and then out west and south. Head here for a full list of upcoming dates.

Listen to the full show audio below, courtesy of opsopcopolis:

Setlist: Umphrey’s McGee | The Fillmore | Philadelphia, PA | 1/27/18

I: Bathing Digits > Dump City, Piranhas, Slacker, It Doesn’t Matter, Crucial Taunt, Blue Echo > Alex’s House, The Fussy Dutchman

II: Sludge & Death, Robot World > Out Of Order, Puppet String > Partyin’ Peeps, The Triple Wide > Glory > Puppet String

E: Last Man Swerving > Mad Love

Check out the full gallery below from Sam Watson.