Friday marked the second of three Umphrey’s McGee performances at Brooklyn Steel in New York City. NYC hosted Phish for a New Year’s Run, so many area Umphreaks caught Phish instead of heading to Atlanta for UM’s NYE celebration. As such, it was fitting and a nice move for the six-piece to perform the pair of covers they debuted on New Year’s Eve at The Tabernacle at Brooklyn Steel on Friday accompanied by a three-piece horn section.
The group opened the action with a song a piece off their 2018 studio albums as they plucked “Maybe Someday” from it’s not us and the “Push & Pull” off it’s you. Umphrey’s then lit into the improvisational highlight of the set, an exploratory 15-minute version of Mantis rarity “Red Tape.” The sextet last played “Red Tape” on August 19, 2018 – a span of 39 shows. Bassist Ryan Stasik, the evening’s MVP, engaged in impressive interplay with guitarist Jake Cinninger during the multi-faceted “Red Tape.” Next up was one of UM’s earliest songs, “Example 1,” along with a “Night Nurse” dance party, the high-impact “Little Gift” and slow-and-throbbing “Wife Soup.”
Last night’s first set ended with a cover of INXS’ 1986 smash “What You Need.” Umphrey’s was joined by a horn section of Mike Maher (Snarky Puppy) on trumpet, Chris Ott (Huntertones) on trombone and Dan White (Huntertones) on tenor saxophone. At the start of the second set, Stasik came out to acknowledge the winner of SiriusXM Jam On’s Fantasy Football League, Andrew Brass. Since a trophy wasn’t made, Ryan presented Andrew with a shot of tequila.
Saturday’s second set was an all-killer, no-filler affair filled with mighty improvisation. The sextet came out the gates with a 20-minute “Plunger” that saw the band dig hard into the final portion of the song. A sludgey jam was a thick masterpiece ahead of a transition into UM’s first “Turn & Dub” since December 31, 2017 – a span of 102 shows. “Turn & Dub” quick evolved into a dynamic jam under which Stasik laid a groovy bass line. From there, the horns returned for a euphoric reprise of the “Fat Man In The Bathtub” (Little Feat) cover the band debuted on New Year’s Eve. The horns stuck around for a well-jammed “Bad Friday.”
One of the best sets in recent memory came to a close with a majestic “August” that started with Stasik quoting Michael Jackson’s “Human Nature” during his solo at the beginning of the song. The band wasn’t done yet as they segued fan-favorite “Much Obliged” into the heavy as hell “Kula” for the evening’s encore. Umphrey’s McGee concludes the run at Brooklyn Steel tonight. A webcast is available via TourGigs. Listen to an audience recording of last night’s show taped by Opsopcopolis:
Watch video of the covers with the horns captured by Gregory Marcus:
Fat Man In The Bathtub
What You Need
Setlist (via All Things Umphreys)
Set 1: Maybe Someday > Push & Pull, Red Tape, Example 1 > Night Nurse > Little Gift, Wife Soup, What You Need[1]
Set 2: Plunger > Turn & Dub, Fat Man in the Bathtub[1], Bad Friday[1], August[2]
Encore: Much Obliged[3] > Kula
- [1] with Mike Maher on trumpet, Chris Ott on trombone, and Dan White on tenor saxophone
- [2] with Human Nature (Michael Jackson) intro from Ryan; with Isaac Teel and Jake on percussion
- [3] unfinished
