Umphrey’s McGee resumed their three-night Red Rocks on Saturday. The band dusted off Frank Zappa’s “Dirty Love” during the encore.
Umphrey’s McGee — who premiered an Umphrey’s On The Rocks set earlier in the day which saw full band and Brendan + Jake performances (see the setlist below) — got the evening underway with a well-jammed “Nothing Too Fancy” which saw the band stretching out on the atmospheric opening segment before cycling through the composed sections. Guitarist Jake Cinninger would reel off some tasty tapping before the band dropped back into the reggae portion which featured Bob Marley “Rainbow Country” quotes.
“Nothing Too Fancy” would lead into “Push The Pig,” which saw Jake hopping on keys. “Push The Pig” then flowed itnto “Out Of Order” and “Rocker Part 2,” which saw some more tapping wizardry from Cinninger and a lengthy closing jam to wrap up the four-song seamless set opening section. Guitarist Brendan Bayliss led the band through “Intentions Clear,” which headed into the vibey intro to “Kula,” which escalated quickly. Cinninger then handled lead vocal duties on “Comma Later,” which saw the guitarist taking notice of the Red Rocks audience. UM bookended the set with the conclusion of “Nothing Too Fancy.”
Umphrey’s delivered “Leave Me In Las Vegas” for the second time in 2021 to kick off the second set. Umphrey’s debuted the song in 2009, as per All Things Umphrey’s, and played it once in 2012 before the song saw a renaissance in 2013 but then was not played again until this year at the band’s May 29 concert near Detroit. The band is also including the instrumental on their upcoming studio album You Walked Up Shaking In Your Boots But You Stood Tall & Left A Raging Bull and the band also released it as the lead single fot the album.
“Leave Me In Las Vegas” would segue nicely into “Mantis” before exploring a nearly 20 minute “2nd Self” ahead of a nearly equally expansive “Bridgeless,” which featured drummer Kris Myers locking the band into a groove laced with some synth from Joel Cummins as the rest of the band trickled in before a triumphant ending, although it wouldn’t be the last of the song for the evening. “The Bottom Half” came next before a set-closing pairing of Gregory Issac’s reggae classic “Night Nurse” and a return to “Bridgeless.”
UM would retake the stage at Red Rocks for a three-song encore beginning with just the third-ever “Hanging Chads,” featuring bassist Ryan Stasik and acoustic guitar. The aforementioned Zappa cover, “Dirty Love” came next led by percussionist Andy Farag who came out from behind his perc kit. Umphrey’s last played the FZ tune on October 18, 2018 in Urbana, Illinois, as per ATU. “Dirty Love” would segue into “The Floor” to close out the second night of Umphrey’s Red Rocks run.
Watch pro-shot video of “Nothing Too Fancy” and listen to full show audio via Don Olker below:
https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=545855220116185&ref=watch_permalink
Setlist (via ATU)
Set One: Nothing Too Fancy[1] > Push the Pig[2] > Out Of Order > Rocker Part 2, Intentions Clear > Kula, Comma Later > Nothing Too Fancy
Set Two: Leave Me Las Vegas > Mantis -> 2nd Self, Bridgeless, The Bottom Half, Night Nurse > Bridgeless
Encore: Hanging Chads, Dirty Love > The Floor
Notes:
[1] with Rainbow Country (Bob Marley) quotes
[2] with Jake on keys
https://www.instagram.com/p/CQUjdk0Jjm2/
