The Disco Biscuits and Umphrey’s McGee concluded a series of June co-headlining tour dates on Saturday in Portland, Maine and Sunday in Essex Junction, Vermont. The veteran jam acts each debuted new material and swapped guest spots over the course of the weekend.
Saturday’s concert at Thompson’s Point in Portland, Maine started with a set from the Disco Biscuits. Guitarist Jon Gutwillig noted it was the band’s debut at the venue and welcomed the crowd to the concert. The quartet then launched the seamless 90-minute set with a well-jammed “Caterpillar.” The Disco Biscuits explored multiple soundscapes before landing on “Freeze,” a song premiered at Atlanta’s Candler Park Music Festival on June 4.
The Disco Biscuits offered an expansive “Freeze” that bled into another new original, “Who’s In Charge?,” which was debuted one night earlier in Baltimore. Gutwillig utilized an auto-tune effect for his “Who’s In Charge?” vocals. The guitarist led the band to a huge peak before tDB broke down the jam for a transition into “Lake Shore Drive” and kept the new material coming by premiering “Space Train.” The new tune mixed elements of rock and electronica as only the Disco Biscuits can do. Gutwillig tacked on a closing “Space Train” guitar solo before the four-piece dropped into the end of “Caterpillar” to conclude their set in Portland.
Umphrey’s McGee closed out the action in Portland with a 75-minute set. The sextet went the instrumental route to launch their performance by linking the “You Got The Wrong Guy” intro and classic “Miss Tinkle’s Overture.” Next up was a lengthy “Similar Skin” featuring a dance party jam. UM then debuted “Small Strides,” the second single from their forthcoming Asking For A Friend studio album. “Small Strides” joins “I Don’t Know What I Want” as the only tunes from the LP performed live thus far.
The “Small Strides” premiere was followed by an expansive “Der Bluten Kat” that stretched beyond the 28-minute mark. Umphrey’s McGee then brought out the Disco Biscuits keyboardist Aron Magner for “Ringo.” Magner focused on synth for the first jam and piano for the second jam during his sit-in. Next, the sextet went it alone on a pairing of “The Floor” and “Wappy Sprayberry” ahead of a show-closing “In The Kitchen.”
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Umphrey’s McGee took the stage first on Sunday at Champlain Valley Exposition. The six-piece got their set underway with “Educated Guess” and “It Doesn’t Matter.” Next up was the opus “Mantis” complete with its “Preamble” intro. Then, UM drummer Kris Myers yielded his seat to Allen Aucoin for a high-octane “Miami Virtue.” Myers returned to his spot for the ensuing pairing of “The Linear” and “2nd Self.” Umphrey’s went on to close their set in Essex Junction by working “Attachments” into “JaJunk.”
The Disco Biscuits bookended their set in Essex Junction with oldie “Munchkin Invasion.” The 14-minute opener gave way to new original “Tourists (Rocket Ship).” Once again, the band employed auto-tune on their vocals as they did on “Who’s In Charge?” Last night’s “Tourists (Rocket Ship)” debut was a lengthy affair that spanned 23 minutes. More recently premiered material followed in “Another Plan Of Attack,” debuted three days earlier in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and “M1.” The latter was added to the band’s repertoire in 2021 and is the latest single from a forthcoming studio album.
“M1” flowed into an inverted “The Great Abyss” before tDB kept the seamless set going with another “Space Train.” The second “Space Train” in as many nights paved the way for the conclusion of “Munchkin Invasion” to end the frame. Umphrey’s McGee members Kris Myers, Brendan Bayliss and Joel Cummins emerged with Bisco for the evening’s encore. The Disco Biscuits and UM trio treated fans to debut covers of Pink Floyd’s “Brain Damage” and “Eclipse.” The two-song segment ends the iconic 1973 Pink Floyd album The Dark Side Of The Moon.
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Setlists (via tDB PT and All Things Umphreys)
Saturday, June 11
The Disco Biscuits
Set: Caterpillar > Freeze > Who’s In Charge? > Lake Shore Drive > Space Train [1] > Caterpillar
[1] New original, first time played
Umphrey’s McGee
Set: You Got the Wrong Guy > Miss Tinkle’s Overture, Similar Skin, Small Strides [1], Der Bluten Kat, Ringo [2], The Floor, Wappy Sprayberry > In The Kitchen
- [1] debut, original
- [2] with Aron Magner on keys
Sunday, June 12
Umphrey’s McGee
Set: Educated Guess, It Doesn’t Matter, Preamble > Mantis, Miami Virtue [1], The Linear -> 2nd Self, Attachments > JaJunk
[1] with Allen Aucoin replacing Kris on drums
The Disco Biscuits
Set: Munchkin Invasion > Tourists (Rocket Ship) [1] > Another Plan of Attack > M1 > The Great Abyss [2] > Space Train > Munchkin Invasion
Encore: Brain Damage [3] > Eclipse [3]
- [1] New original, first time played
- [2] inverted version
- [3] first time played, with Joel Cummins, Kris Myers & Brendan Bayliss
