Listen, I don't care what your point of reference is for jam-band /virtuoso-rock. Maybe it's English Prog, maybe it's Phish, whatever. You have probably heard of Umphrey's McGee before, or maybe even seen them at some festival 4 years ago and thought they were allright, but I'll bet you didn't really understand what all the fuss was about.
There is considerable fuss surrounding this band, as I recently found out when they played The Regency Ballroom in SF. (Originally slated for The Warfield, the gig was moved to the Regency for some reason. more about that later). I had only just found out about UM, from Pandora of all places, when they came up on my Phish station. I was driving at the time, and being rather new to the backlog of Phish music, I thought it was phish I was hearing, and I thought it was the coolest damn Phish song I'd ever heard. So when I read their name (WTF is up with the name "Umphrey's McGee" anyway? first question anyone in their right mind wants to know) I went online in search of some explanation as soon as I got home. I downloaded 2 albums and started developing my own opinions about them pretty fast.
Namely, that these guys are fucking crazy-talented musicians. (never did find out about their crazy-dumb name) I couldn't stop talking about them for about a week after I first got into their music, and herein lies one of the first rubs I encountered about UM: I couldn't find anyone who really digs them. All the musicians I knew had heard of them before, maybe even seen them at a festival 4 years ago or something, but everyone I talked to about them was like "meh, they're OK I guess".
So when I found out they were coming through town in January, The Missus & I got tix. Actually, she got us the tix, and I should mention that she had considerable reservations about it. We only got them because they went on sale when my birthday was happening, and every time I would mention that she's gotten us tickets to an Umphrey's McGee show she was always quick to qualify by saying "HE really wants to go".
So the night of the show, as luck would have it we both worked all day & were pretty exhausted, but it doesn't take much energy to suck down a couple whiskeys and check out some proggy, folky power-rock, (I thought). I'd never been to The Regency Ballroom before, and I have no idea what made them switch the show to that venue, but first thing we noticed was that clearly, the Regency was having trouble accommodating the crowd. We arrived almost an hour and a half past the time the doors were slated to open (8pm) and still the line wrapped around the block. WAY around the block. And it was pouring rain. And there were some particularly mean homeless guys picking arguments with anyone who wasn't giving away their money as we waited in line for about 30 minutes. At least I got a good look at the other people lined up waiting to go in, and from what I determined they were overwhelmingly 25-35 year-old males with ironic facial hair and expensive t-shirts who seemed to enjoy baiting homeless guys; some middle-aged music-fans with no sense of fashion at all, and some crusty-looking neo-hippies who may have actually been on tour following the band (!). Not too many ladies in that line, and the few I did see seemed to not really care about whatever band they were going to see, more about the party that was erupting around them.
Jesus Christ, what a strange party it was. And this is maybe the defining point between fans of Umphrey's McGee and non-fans: the way they party. At Phish shows there is a mellower vibe, possibly an older, more "Greatful" vibe, but definitely a kinder, gentler vibe. Clouds of potsmoke, sure. Some crazy folks tripping their balls off & dancing like mad, definitely. At the UM show, it was much more of a chemical-vibe, I couldn't tell what weird shit these people were pouring into their brains, but they were definitely altered. And boldly asinine. I wanted to be up front to watch the music and we were essentially elbowed out by the end of the first set by sweaty, obnoxious hooligans with incredibly bad BO and absolutely no social couth. I wanted to say 'wait a minute bro, I thought this was a jam-band, didn't you see all the hippies out front?' Somebody did pass a blunt over my way but it was terrible tasting, I was suddenly worried that maybe I'd just taken a toke of something creepy and dangerous, because everyone around us seemed pretty creepy and dangerous.
The band were actually exactly what I expected, but not one bit more. Great players, tight arrangements, precise and explosive lighting. (Phish set the bar high on that count - you can't be a touring virtuoso-rock band without incredible lighting anymore) Why did I want to sit down then? They weren't very fun to watch for one thing, they all look like frat-guys in baseball caps and jeans, barely moving at all on stage. Considering how dynamic much of the music actually is, they might as well have been bagging groceries for all the energy they put into performing. (possible exception being the drummer, who was mostly hidden from sight but seemed to be both ambidextrous and killing his kit whenever I caught a glimpse)
I looked at my wife and she gave me the "I'm ready whenever you are"-face, and we split after the first set. As a musician, I would've stayed and watched the second set just to marvel at their chops and well-rehearsed delivery, but no point in putting someone I love through another set of the mayhem we found in the crowd. When we were on the way home and comparing notes it seemed clear that she is partial to the way her tribe parties at a Phish show, and couldn't get past the idiocy of the crowd. UM drew a lot of guys like me, music-heads standing in awe of the control & power a live band like UM has when they're in top form. But they also attract a young, gritty, fucked-up bunch of social deviants who don't seem to care what kind of music is going on around them, and god help you if your standing-in-awe gets in the way of how they rage a fuckin' show, man. For me, I'd rather listen to the albums at home.
So after doing just for a few weeks now I can honestly say that I think the music itself is lacking something fundamental, call it originality. When I was describing their music after I first heard it, I kept hearing myself referencing so many other great bands, but it never seemed like UM were venturing into any new territory. They are masterful at synthesizing all the best elements of things we've already heard before, but standing on the shoulders of giants does not a giant make.
A final note about the Regency: it's the number 1 place you don't want to be in the event of a fire. The incredible slowness of getting into the show was dwarfed by the unbelievable clusterfuck trying to escape.
- buzzsaw
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