April 2009 - Posts
Well, were back in the big easy and gearing up for what has routinely become the latest Umphrey's shows around these days. Our average day begins with a noon load in, today's load in is at midnight if that sheds any perspective. It's an evening filled with naps and general R&R as everyone tries to find their wings. Channel flipping between Cubs, Cards, Red Sox, Bulls, & Blackhawks is keeping us entertained here on the bus.
One other note of interest today is that we had some fun with our friends on twitter. We hid a pair of VIP passes near Jackson square just outside St. Louis Cathedral and tweeted folks clues as to their whereabouts in this great city. It didn't take too long for those to get snapped up as music fans fill the streets down here for Jazz Fest. Head over to our twitter page and sign up to stay abreast of fun giveaways and contests.
One clue from today's giveaway...Down Somali Way!
As Jake was experimenting with a few pedals at the Grand Opera House in Wilmington, DE, I took the opportunity to grab a few minutes of this ambient meld he was playing around with. I also took the liberty of adding a some reverb when the time seemed appropriate.. This piece reminded of something Brian Eno would do before a sound check. Well done Jaco.
A few clips from last weekend's stint in the Big Apple. Many thanks to all of you who came out to our latest run of East Coast and Midwest shows over the past month. We had a ball as usual and are now glad to be home catching up on some much needed R&R.
We've always wanted a 3rd drummer and we finally found him.
Tonight our great friend and bass virtuoso Nick Blasky joined us for a rare double bass portion of the evening. This snippet of Bill Wither's "Just the Two of Us" was sandwiched inside Ocean Billy. This is only a tease but I must say the whole rendition was pretty good, for white guys.
A few sound check pictures...
Installment #2 of our ADITL series featuring UM's Lighting Crew Chief Wade Wilby. Wade manned the flip camera in New Haven, CT on April 5th for our acoustic show at the esteemed venue that is Toad's Place. With classic Wilby sprinkled throughout you are sure to enjoy this 20 minute "short". Pay particular attention to the impromptu Jake song dubbed "Empty The Tank" near the end of the clip as this was a classic piece of improv. Kris (understandably) needed to use the bathroom midway through his birthday show and Jake filled the break in the action with this appropriate ditty. (Shameless Plug) Click the link above to buy the track on umlive.net, it's well worth your dollar, we promise. Stay tuned for installments!
When 18 year old Derrick Meade was diagnosed with level IV lymphoma he could of asked for anything from the great people at the Make-A-Wish foundation. They offered him a 10 day all expenses paid trip to Amsterdam so he could see the city he'd always wanted. They offered him the best drum kit money could buy. He decided he'd rather spend the day with Umphrey's. To say we were flattered is an understatement.
It's easy to take a day for granted. It's easy to get in the habit of a daily grind and just go through the motions. Even in the business of rock 'n roll.
But today we were fortunate enough to be part of an experience that truly makes you stop and smell the proverbial roses. I guess its easy to overlook that we have had a lot of our wishes come true. Many we have worked hard for. Some due to just plain luck. As hard as the gig to gig struggle may be, ultimately, we are living our dreams. I don't think any of us really think about something as catastrophic as a terminal disease tearing our dreams apart. It's really never something you ponder when you walk to your position as the lights go down and the crowd starts screaming. How could sickness ever befall such a hard working group of individuals? The bottom line, however, is that it could happen to any one of us at any time. It serves as a sobering reminder of just how blessed we all are. Today we got to shed some of our light to a young man who was faced with this challenge, and in doing so, showed us that we should never take any of this for granted.
-The UM Family
We've been video heavy over here for the last week so I thought I'd share some pictures from the latest shows out here on the East Coast. My camera spent most of its time at front of house so there is no shortage of lighting pictures. But we start with stage manager extraordinaire Robbie Williams picture from the emergency room in Buffalo, NY. Watch out for those drum cases, they bite.
Before
After
Grand Opera House, Wilmington, DE
Penn's Peak, Jim Thorpe, PA
Ram's Head Live, Baltimore, MD
Luther Dickinson from the North Mississippi Allstars
Nikki Glaspie (Beyonce's drummer) replaces Kris for a DBK Jam
Acoustic show at Toad's Place, New Haven, CT
From the rafters at Lupo's, Providence, RI
The half you see, the half you don't
Jake provides some walk in music for a late load-in today at Toad's Place in New Haven, CT. We are gearing up for tonight's acoustic show which also doubles as a birthday celebration for one Kris Myers. Should be eventful...
Today, we bring you the first installment of a new 13 part series from the Umphrey's McGee family documenting an "average" day in the life of the band & crew. Today's first installment documents percussionist and all around good guy Andy Farag's day in Lawrence, KS on March 26, 2009. Carve out a little time for it as his "day" is almost 25 minutes. Enjoy!
And on 2nd thought, maybe we'll keep playing 2 sets a night. Happy April First.
After
much debate here in the Umphrey's camp we have decided to try tweaking the
format of a typical UM show. While
we've enjoyed performing 2 & 3 set shows over the years, there have been frequent discussions
about the classic approach of one long set and a lengthy encore. We figure there is no way to truly know
which is better unless we give it a shot.
Therefore for the remainder of 2009 we are going to alter the set times
of the "standard" Umphrey's show.
There
are many reasons for our decision and we felt it only fair to share a few of
those with our most avid fans.
Like many of you, we spend a healthy amount of our spare time going to
see live shows and couldn't help but notice most of the bands that inspire us
perform one 90-110 minute set and several songs for the encore. We feel it does a better job of
harnessing the energy and focus in the room. 3+ hour show tends to leave people with more and more
downtime and we want to maximize the time spent in the venue.
Additionally,
we are catching more flack from promoters around the country as everyone tries
to cut costs in these tough economic times. Our average day from when the truck doors first open to when
the last light is packed away is usually around 14 hours. The volume and duration of labor that a
show requires is taxing venues, promoters, and UM to the point of fiscal
insolvency. Cutting just 2 hours
off the daily show schedule cuts costs by over $5K per show. This is not the main reason for trying
the switch but an important one nonetheless.
We
are confidant that we can continue to provide you with nothing short of an
outstanding show each and every day despite the slight alteration in set
length. In fact, we think many of
you may actually prefer the amended format. We'll kick it off tonight in Buffalo and you can judge for
yourself by tuning in to our last iClips broadcast of this 5 night stand.
A preview of "The Set" tonight...
