Thursday, February 28, 2008

Spring Weekend Preview: Umphrey's Mcgee


A decade after Phish realized that their concerts still sold out even if they added the same 15 minutes of lazy funk to every song, jam bands are less a vital force than a cottage industry or, even worse, a 90's holdover. But if one band is fighting that perception, it is Indiana's Umphrey's Mcgee. Abandoning the Grateful Dead worship and southern rock clichés of their contemporaries, they instead opt for thrillingly perverse instrumental interplay-a la Frank Zappa without the sex jokes. Most of their press concentrates on their on the fly mid-jam chord changes, but they also have the songwriting chops to make albums like Anchor Drops and Safety in Numbers more than bong hit soundtracks. With a busy tour schedule (their run up to Spring Weekend contains 9 shows in eleven days) and their first live album in the rear view mirror, expect this six piece musical juggernaut to please even the least drugged out of the Spring Weekend throngs.

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