I love Umphrey’s McGee. Why? Because they fucking rock. They are a 6-piece jam band that was established in 1998. They are technically classified as “progressive rock” but in their career they have covered the highlights of over thirteen genres. For twenty rage filled years they have put us phreaks on a roller coaster ride by putting out twelve studio albums, creating seven (soon to be eight) hall of fame albums, and preforming two thousand, three hundred and twenty seven live shows (not including side projects, solo shows and sit in’s). They have opened my eyes to a new and better world of music. I had been toying with the idea of starting an UM based music blog but never went through with it. I was dragging my feet because I didn’t know where to start. I don’t know the first thing about starting a blog and honestly the whole project confused and scared me a bit. But there is so much I need to say about my love for music that I’m going to treat this as a learning experience and hopefully I will get something right along the way. I invite all of you to join me in my music exploration. I welcome all knowledge on the subjects that I will be focusing on. This blog is completely opinion based with some musical facts and statistics thrown in here and there. I will be getting most of my info through word of mouth or allthingsumphreys.com. All that being said, please enjoy!
My love for UM started in 2014. I was eighteen years old and fresh out of high school. My very first show was at the Fillmore theater in Charlotte, North Carolina. A few of my best gils and I went down for my sister’s bachelorette party. I was just starting to get into the jam band scene. My first concert was Hannah Montana. Yes, you read that right. She was my shit when I was in grade school. At the time of the bachelorette party I had also been to big shows like Aerosmith and the Backstreet Boys and even Toby Keith, but they all were in stadiums with assigned seating. My first general admission show was for my sixteenth birthday. My sister took me to see Rubble Bucket. They came out into the crowd for their encore “Came Out of a Lady” and played their horns and other instruments right in the crowd of people! I was in shock and super pumped after the show. I remember thinking to myself “I need to do this more often”. After that I started to go see the bands Pigeons Playing Ping Pong and Papadosio. I was really trying to broaden my horizons by trying out new bands that I had never heard of before, because you never know until you try, and it might be the best show you’ve ever gone to.
When told that we were going to see a band called Umprhey’s Mcgee I said…...who?? But I was (and still am) down for anything that involves a good time. Especially because I was preparing for college I was even more open to new experiences. But who knew that that night would change my life forever? Well I wish I could say that I remember more of that night than I do. All I remember is that there were a lot of people, I went to the bathroom a lot and Jake Cinninger. I was pretty drunk before I got to the show. Since I was 18 I had to do all my drinking beforehand. We also showed up late, which is something I wouldn’t even dream of doing now, I usually arrive before the opener goes on. But we became acclimated to the atmosphere quickly and soon began to rage. I was on my way to the bathroom when my first magical Umphrey’s moment happened. Out of the one million times I have gone to the bathroom, this one stuck out to me. The bathroom was to the left of the stage so to get to it I had to walk across Jakes path many times. This specific time that I was on my way to the bathroom I stepped foot in front of Jake. And as soon as I did, a perfect beam of light shone down upon him as he started to create these sounds that I had never heard before. He was doing this deep, raspy, throat singing and it completely stopped me dead in my tracks. It was like the whole venue was frozen as to shield my attention to the stage to help me feel my first tickle of Jake love inside. It was weird, for sure, but it stayed in my memory. I also remember dancing really hard, which is not a surprise for me. I love to dance and that ain’t no secret.
I DO remember my first Umphrey’s hangover vividly. With being so filled with energy after the show I only got 2 hours of sleep and we had to wake up and drive 8 hours home which turned into 10 with some nice stand-still traffic on the highway. After the show I started to listen to Umphrey’s, but only occasionally. Just the hits on Spotify. It wasn’t until their Lockn set from 2015 when I committed myself. This was my band and there was no turning back. It was my first Lockn festival and only my third Umphrey’s show. They played the first night. I didn’t know any of the songs (noob), but it poured down rain and everything happened perfectly. They hit all the notes perfectly. All the light changes lined up perfectly. Now, when I look back at the setlists of my first UM shows, it is obvious that I wasn’t worthy of the setlists that I was given. They played some killer shows and I didn’t even know the (bottom) half of it!
As you first start going to Umphrey’s shows (when you don’t know every riff and lick) you are mesmerized by the lights and the rapid change in musical tones. So even though I didn’t know any of the songs it sounded good. Really good. Umphrey’s stole my heart with their Umphrey’s magic. I started listening to them more often and started to discover some extremely special things about this band. Thanks to the nugs app I can listen to any live version of the linear (my favorite UM song) as I please and go back to any show since 2004. Listening to them live is a different sound than their studio albums. I could start to hear teases and embrace the progression of the jams. The improve that Umphrey’s creates is something out of this world. You know that feeling when a part of a song or a set of chords in a song tickles you so that you have goosebumps all the way to your scalp? That happens to me almost every time I listen to UM. In fact, I can’t listen to them in the shower if I need to shave because of the goosebumps! But that doesn’t stop me. I will forever dance to UM in the shower.
Going to live shows I am now able to pick up on the ques and follow most of the show. I love watching their fingers when they play, it’s probably my favorite part. They dance along the frets in a flawless routine. I have been to a total of 24 Umphrey’s shows and counting. I’m not as up there in numbers as some of the phreaks that I’ve met, but I still love them all the same. I have seen them four times this year already and am planning to go whenever I can! I hope to meet some new phreaks out there along my journey. I invite all of you to be open with me about your feelings towards UM and any other band that tickles your fancy. Please help me share the Umphrey’s magic that we all know and love!
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