Umphrey’s McGee celebrated their 24th birthday among friends. The prog-rocking jam band packed the Landmark with devoted fans, who stood at attention for over three hours under a stained-glass lightshow.
“It’s our f****** birthday, we want to have a party!”' yelled guitarist Jake Cinninger at the beginning of the show. From 7:30 to 10:40 p.m., the band did just that, effortlessly sliding through complex movements and unconventional time signatures with ease. With an eclectic smattering of reggae rhythms, sci-fi synthesizers, and bumping basslines, the band members partied their way through two sets of labyrinthine jams.
The engrossing light show was reminiscent of the black hole sequence from 2001: A Space Odyssey. And that’s exactly what each song, and the concert itself, was: a sonic journey through an electro-psychedelic wonderland — Umphrey’s McGee’s endlessly evolving polyrhythmic grooves wash over their audience like the prismatic searchlights roving round the stage.
The band members were unassuming in appearance, a marked difference from the dynamic decadence of the music they played. Bassist Ryan Stasik stood out from his bandmates by wearing a t-shirt featuring the face of the late Bob Saget, which got a lot of love from the audience. Stasik stood centerstage, anchoring the band and their sound with his hot pink bass guitar.
Though the band members of Umphrey’s McGee remain stationary when playing, (except for Joel Cummins, who frequently turns and switches between the five keyboards surrounding him), the music is anything but static. The zig-zagging arrangement of “Ringo” demonstrated the band’s stop-and-go prowess.
Even with two drummers, two guitarists, a bassist, and a keyboardist, each pushing the limits of their respective instruments, the mix never sounded jumbled or confused. On the contrary, each instrument is essential to creating the magnificent walls of sound that sometimes took over 10 minutes to construct. At their heaviest, the drums, bass, and keyboard became the sound of rolling thunder, the lights a monsoon of acid rain through which dueling guitar licks bolted like lightning.
Each performer showed off their chops, but the strobing guitar solos from Cinninger and Brendan Bayliss stole the show. The most stunning music came in breakdowns, when the guitarists let loose as the other players slowly developed a swirling backbeat that rose and rose until the soaring guitars reached a crescendo of electro-psychedelic rapture.
Throughout it all, the crowd was electric. Chanting, clapping, hooting, and hollering, fans were active participants in the birthday bash. When each epic jam finally came to an end, cheers and chants from the crowd maintained the volume and energy. Fans tossed their hands in the air, (fists together and pinky fingers extended), forming a ‘U’ for Umphrey.
Young and old, the friendly audience’s passion was palpable; this crowd knew the band’s material as well as the band did.
Though vocals are sparse in Umphrey’s McGee’s live sets, when lyrics did appear, many audience members joined in singing. When the band left the stage after performing “Partyin’ Peeps,” fans chanted, “We want the Umph! Gotta have that Umph!”
Even after three-hours of mind-bending music, fans were still going strong through the encore performance of “Slacker,” and probably would have stayed for another three hours if the band was up for it.
On their 24th birthday, Umphrey’s McGee still sounds ahead of their time. Juxtaposed against the grandeur of the Landmark, it felt as though space invaders had descended upon the old stage and abducted the audience for a cosmic joyride.
From reggae thumps to heavy metal crunch, jazzy runs to wah-wah funk, Umphrey’s McGee took audience members on a 3-hour sonic journey through a kaleidoscope of melodies as hypnotic as the shimmering lights above.
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