Today marks what would have been the 40th birthday of former Umphrey’s McGee drummer Mike Mirro. Mirro co-founded UM in 1998 while attending the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana and remained in the group through his departure in 2002.
An indelible component of the band’s early style and character, Mirro tragically passed away in 2014 at the all-too-young age of 36. Following his death, the Michael A. Mirro Neuroscience Fund was established by Parkview Regional Medical Center’s Mirro Center for Research and Innovation.
Mirro’s exuberant charisma projected from the stage during his tenure in Umphrey’s McGee. In addition to playing drums, Mirro also contributed vocals on several songs, singing lead on some early originals and covers. Here’s a video of UM covering War’s “Get Down” from April 19, 2002 at the Wild Duck in Eugene, Oregon posted by TheArgus2u:
Umphrey’s McGee paid tribute to their fallen former mate both onstage and with a touching video montage. Following and introduction by fellow co-founding member Brendan Bayliss, UM busted out the Mirro-penned “Last Call” on at The Tabernacle in Atlanta on New Year’s Eve in 2014. Stream the at the time 1,472 show gap bust out of “Last Call” via taper NSL and the video montage featuring UM’s cover of “(Don’t You) Forget About Me” below:
