1/17/20 Umphrey’s McGee @ Beacon Theatre, NY
Opportunity cost is a bitch. Last night was one of those man plans, God laughs kind of nights: either win-win or lose-lose, depending on whether you’re a glass half full or empty kind of dude. I tend towards the former and there would be no wrong choices, just tough ones. I had a ticket to see Billy Strings at the Capitol Theatre, bought it the day it went on sale a few months back after seeing him and his band crush The Stone Pony and The Brooklyn Bowl in short order. An energetic and engaging performer who is rewriting the rulebook on bluegrass, I was damn psyched to see this young phenom again (and the rest of his kickass quartet) . At 4:30 pm, a text comes in. “Hey Marc, we have a pair of 3rd row VIP tickets for Umphrey’s at the Beacon tonight. Yours if you can use ‘em.” Yeah! Ugh. Umphrey’s has been around, like, forever, but playing in NYC proper is always special, at The Beacon even more so. I love Billy Strings, though. But he’s so young and The Cap is soooo far (74 miles). I literally have a lifetime of Billy ahead of me. A few moments of mental ping-pong later, assigned seats in the third row proved too tempting to pass up, if not a 4.5:1 dollar value at the least. And the Beacon is 30 miles closer to home. So I found a good pair of hands for my Billy ticket and a friend (brother-in-law, actually) to join me up close for the Umph, and we descended upon NYC’s Upper West Side.
I was super psyched to log some quality time with an old college buddy from UW who lives in Chicago. He and I (and one of the Kenny’s who dropped these tickets in my lap) were actually together on the morning of August 9, 1995, the celebration of having just completed an early morning summer final turning to sorrow and devastation when his mom called with the news that Jerry Garcia had died. That was a very long way of saying that this was a close friend back in the day who I lost touch with and doesn’t music just have a way of bringing people together.
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Turns out 3rd row center was just the tip of the iceberg as seats 101 and 102 in row AA just ahead of me were empty. So I, um (pun mildly intended), appropriated them and spent the entirety of the first set rocking the rail with two seats and an aisle right under Jake Cinninger’s nose. Stage height at The Beacon is somewhere around my belly button so Cinninger’s Shroeder amp was an unobstructed 12 feet from my soon to be melted face. No wrong choices, here. UM came out with excitement to both to be touring again and kicking off their 3-night run in NYC. The entirety of this set came to me straight from Jake’s amp, so, needless to say, my ass was thoroughly kicked and my hearing partially damaged. Every time I turned around to see my buddy {who was wearing Snowcones}, he had this goofy ass grin on his face, so happy and engaged and present and completely fucking lost in the music. That far-out look spoke volumes more about the quality of the set than any description of a setlist ever could.
Ryan Stasik is like my musical hero, funny and down to earth and sick in the head in the funniest and best way. Check his Instagram to see what I mean, where he and his wife posed under a X-mas tree in denim Speedos, their toddler holding a 1.75L bottle of Jack Daniels. This dude is out there and, in an attempt to get my kids to read what I write, I’ll say that he was looking so VSCO up there with a scrunchie on the neck of his custom Sadowsky 5-string bass, natural wood with black hardware. Damn, that’s a seriously nice instrument (love you, JR). Anyway, his bass rocks my hips and my world and this night was no exception.
About halfway through the set, Brendan Bayliss recognized a fan who would be seeing his 99th, 100th, and 101st shows over this weekend run, “And he loves the slow sappy shit, so this is for him,” as they opened a “Wizard Burial Ground” > “Deeper” > “Wizard Burial Ground” sandwich with a “More Than Words” tease by one-hit 90’s wonder, Extreme. My apologies to Extreme, who claim not to be a one-hit wonder, but I sure as shit don’t know any of their other songs. #sorrrynotsorry.
In the wake of Neil Peart’s recent death, Bayliss sent his condolences as he introduced Kanika Moore (who plays in Doom Flamingo with Stasik), “because none of us can sing this song,” for a Rush cover of “Anthem” that was dedicated to Peart and his family. Suffice it to say they crushed it while Moore sang and kicked and danced around the stage in a fitted red corset with black pleather bikini bottoms and matching knee-high boots. Whoa. ‘Nuff said.
Umph opened the second set with “Suxity”, a just-released funky headbanger that played really well live, especially with the > “JaJunk” combo. Cinninger described this tune as part Sly Stone and part Alice in Chains. Nailed it — both the description and the set opener — so much so, in fact, that Bayliss quipped, “That was really fun. We should do that again.” My sentiments exactly. In typical UM fashion, there were a smattering of teases mixed thoughout their original set. “Wappy Sprayberry” had a pair of teases and jams from the Rolling Stones, “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” and “Jumping Jack Flash,” respectively, while the “Silent Type” encore had Ozzy’s “Crazy Train.”
This just in, Umphrey’s McGee is good at music. Like, really good. Don’t care what they play. Never have, never will. They cover all the bases with gusto and are a guaranteed good time. Had myself a blast, opportunity cost of not seeing Billy notwithstanding. Because life is about choices. Like my mom always says, “Doesn’t matter which one you make, just commit to it and make it work.” 13,627 steps later, I certainly did just that. And I had no desire to be in two places at once, even knowing that the incredible Mr. Strings was surely kicking ass and taking names at the Cap and having read the reviews that just keep pouring in. Interestingly, seeing UM Friday caused me to sell my Sunday so I could be home watching football with my sons tonight instead. Always a choice. Always an opportunity cost. And always family first, so I promise not to think twice when Umph rips the shit out of “Tom Sawyer” at the Bowl tonight. Or maybe “Spirit of the Radio.” Whatever. Have fun y’all.
Set One: Unsung Hero > JaJunk > Ocean Billy, Speak Up, Wizard Burial Ground* > Deeper > Den > Wizard Burial Ground, Anthem^ (Rush cover)
Set Two: Suxity > JaJunk, Breaker, Wappy Sprayberry? > Mulche’s Odyssey, Half Delayed > It Doesn’t Matter
Encore: The Weight Around > The Silent Type$
- Notes:
- * Began with More Than Words (Extreme) tease
- ^ Live debut, Kanika Moore on vocals
- ? “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” by The Rolling Stones tease, “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” jam
- $ “Crazy Train” by Ozzy Osbourne jam