7/23/17 Umphrey's McGee @ The Landing at the Riverfront - Peoria, IL

With me working full time these days I had to get rid of my August 1st Phish ticket at Madison Square Garden.  I gave it away to someone who we went on an adventure with back in 2010.  I turn 36 on Tuesday so it's got me thinking a lot about getting older.  For my birthday my parents bought me a ticket to see Umphrey's McGee the previous Sunday in Peoria, IL.  Had I still been going to Phish I'm not sure I would have gone to this.  That's how I'm framing the narrative for this.  The show in Peoria made me rethink of what Umphrey's McGee currently is.  Just when you think you've gotten something totally figured out they throw you a curve ball that changes the game completely. 


This was my 157th time seeing the band over a span since 12/5/01 Union Bar in Iowa City.  With the band moving to different regions of the country and having families its somewhat changed the dynamic.  I burnt myself out on the band around 09-10.  That's when I scaled back on my involvement and have been able to keep interested from afar.  It seems like they've gone back to focusing more on the progressive rock side of things and eased back on the dance songs.  I liked how this Peoria show had plenty of danceable moments but stuck to a heavier sound overall. I'm not the best at estimating crowds but this wasn't a huge crowd by any means.  500?  The weather was gorgeous in the mid 70s.  The stage was now positioned underneath the 74 bridge.  That would be the third location on the property that I've seen Umphrey's McGee perform.  I liked how you could easily walk over next to the Illinois River.  It was a pretty sunset.  Scheduling outdoor concerts in the Midwest is a dicey proposition but this wasn't Jay Goldberg's first rodeo.  I saw him before the show.  This was a great experience for me.  He and his son have put on a lot of amazing nights of entertainment for me over the years.


On the way to the show I stopped at Culver's in Geneseo and had a Double Bacon Deluxe.  The Eat opener was appropriate.  That has always been the Umphrey's homage to King Crimson in my eyes.  The band took the stage to the track titled War by Vince DiCola on the Rocky 4 soundtrack.  They played most of that album during the setbreak.  Push the Pig with Peoria's finest in attendance kept the energy going.  That was the theme of the evening.  The show was like a geyser of energy.  Pony's new wooden colored bass has the best tone of his career.  The song wound down and Joel had a piano solo before they kicked into a hip hop sounding jam.  I wasn't familiar with the next two.  The first was an instrumental tune Cut Off and next was Onward and Upward during which you could tell something special was happening.  The inclusion of The Pequod was a nice breather moment.  It showed a maturation of the Umphrey's McGee setlist writing.  Conduit was a strong finish to a cohesive set.  I talked to NickMo for a while during setbreak. He's a good guy within this music community. 


This evening made me appreciate the Umphrey's prog classic All Things Ninja.  Attachments is a great newer addition to the catalog.  2 x 2 was a nice call and harkens back to some of the earliest days of the band.  Utopian included a Rupert Holmes cover in the middle and the second part had a jam that sounded a lot like the Around the Horn theme song.  Kula reminds me of the Davenport '08 show.  Wappy Sprayberry had a synthy jam led by Joel.  Cochise by Audioslave was a major highlight and was totally unexpected.  This was a great way to pay tribute to the recently departed Chris Cornell.  End of the Road again provided an effective juxtaposition.  Out of Order finished off a great show.  I grabbed the event poster and was out by my vehicle by the final notes.  I was home by 12:30.