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Umphrey's McGee delivers flawless, high energy performance
Taft Theatre : Cincinnati, Ohio : January 30, 2015
Out Of The Blue Publications Association, LLC ©Copyright 2001-2015
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Umphrey’s McGee played to a sold out crowd with support by Tauk at Cincinnati's Taft Theatre on Friday, Jan. 30.
Three nights into the winter tour and there is no evidence of oxidation to dust off from the post New Years' run break.
Fans were treated to a high energy show with a few surprises on the way down the rabbit hole full of extended
explorations and inspired jams. There is so much consistency with this band and they just seem to get tighter and
tighter.
The first set consisted of seven songs total over the span of an hour and a half while the second set and encore
completed a three hour journey with another nine tracks for 16 jammed out songs total. The intro music started and the
audience roared as Umphrey’s McGee took the stage and seamlessly transitioned into a quick sprint through “Gurgle”
to get things moving and then transitioning into “Mulche’s Odyssey.” The set pushed forward with “Cut the Cable” and
a “Bridgeless > Much Obliged” combo and then into an inspired 20-minute “Utopian Fir” with a quick tease of “Fool in
the Rain” (Led Zeppelin). Sometimes you get the whole song, but this time it was just a few bars.
A friend of Umphrey’s and Cincinnati native Nick Blasky replaced Ryan Stasik on bass for a go at “Ocean Billy.”
"Ocean Billy" is always an epic, but Nick added some incredible slap bass to the song that had the audience going
nuts. Meanwhile Stasik joined lightman Jefferson Waful on the boards for some collaborative presentation.
After the setbreak, Umphrey’s opened things back up with “Divisions” which was quite an energizing journey and then
went into a “Phil’s Farm > Prowler > Phil’s Farm” sandwich. “Puppet Strings” climaxed into “Bridgeless” and found
quite an excited response from the crowd. The rest of the show was joined by Mad Dog and His Filthy Little Secret
horns. Joel Cummins took the vocals on Steely Dan’s “Peg” for a more loungy type of twist to the momentum.
The horns really added a great energy to the stage. “Dump City” with horns was incredible and this song really
sounded great with the added timbre of brass instruments throughout. Umphrey’s McGee ended the night with the
horns on the first version of “Sledgehammer” in 388 shows when they last played it July 3, 2011 at Red Rocks in
Colorado. This was definitely a strong show that left people in Columbus and Cleveland wishing Umphrey’s would
come for a visit. My guess is Columbus will see them at The Lifestyle Communities Pavilion this summer.
Setlist:
Set 1: Gurgle > Mulche's Odyssey, Cut the Cable, Bridgeless > Much Obliged, Utopian Fir [1], Ocean Billy [2]
Set 2: Divisions, Phil's Farm > Prowler > Phil's Farm, August, Puppet String > Bridgeless, Peg [3], Dump City [4]
Encore: Sledgehammer [3]
[1] with Fool In the Rain (Led Zeppelin) tease
[2] with Nick Blasky replacing Ryan on bass; Ryan on lights with Jefferson
[3] with Mad Dog and His Filthy Little Secret horns
[4] with Mad Dog and His Filthy Little Secret horns; with Nachos for Two jam
Purchase Here via UMLive: 01.30.2015, Taft Theatre, Cincinnati, OH
More Photos of Umphrey's McGee | More Photos of TAUK
http://umphreys.com/