Umphrey's McGee 12/29/10 Riviera Theatre - Chicago, IL

Umphrey's McGee
12/29/10
Riviera Theatre
Chicago, IL

I: Bridgeless > Conduit, Utopian Fir, Search 4, Push the Pig, Hollywood Nights

II: Much Obliged > Bridgeless, Bad Poker, Tribute to the Spinal Shaft > Made to Measure > 2nd Self, Peg, The Triple Wide > Ocean Billy

E: Hurt Bird Bath


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I hung out at my friend Steve's apartment in Wicker Park for awhile before we made our way to the Uptown neighborhood.  We found a spot near the Riv on the street.  It was raining as we entered the venue.  We found a spot in the balcony on the Jake side.  I was disappointed to see that Consider It Dan had reserved many of the best balcony seats for their VIP/fan fleecing.  They played "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)" by Hall and Oats on the PA before the show and during setbreak.  UM took the stage around 7:35 to "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns 'n Roses.  This reminded me of the beginning of my favorite radio program The Jim Rome Show.  It was extremely hot in the venue. 

I was exahuasted from the drive from Massachusetts so I was in dire need of an energetic show. Thankfully that was what Umphrey's McGee delivered.  Barry Brown acted as the emcee of the event and let the crowd know of the aftershows going on down the street at the Kinetic Playground.  They briefly started playing along with the Guns 'n Roses then started up Bridgeless which they used to launch into their first jam of the night.  This piece of pre planned improv finally ended in Conduit.  This was by far the best version of this song they've done live so far.  The jamming in the middle was one of the highlights of the night.  Utopian Fir is always one of their biggest guns and this was another succesful exploration.  Search 4 was one I was really hoping for and this continued the energy with a crunchy rendition.  Push the Pig continued this improv heavy seat.  Finally they finshed off the stanza with the Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band cover, Hollywood Nights.  The part about heading west to meet up with some old friends was appropriate given the drive I'd accomplished the night/morning before.  I hadn't seen UM since Summer Camp and I was really impressed with the jamming in this first set of the New Years Run. 

Much Obliged acted as a launching pad to fresh sounding improv that eventually built to a peak that worked as a perfect transition back into the end of Bridgeless.  I liked the juxtapostion of Bad Poker to the beginning of th set.  Tribute was better played on this ocasion to when I heard them play it earlier in the year up in Madison.  It had yet another interesting jam that morphed into Made to Measure.  They teased around heavily with 2nd Self before staring the up the actual song.  Peg is one of my favorites by Steely Dan and this was a masterful cover version for which UM should be commended.  Triple Wide had a cool jam that led into the set closing Ocean Billy.  HBB was a strong encore.  This was a strong effort by UM.  Each set was filled with improvisation and the performance as a whole kept me engaged the entire time.