Umphreys Busts Out Sledgehammer & Peg With Horns

Jam act Umphrey’s McGee continued their Winter Tour last night at The Taft Theatre in Cincinnati, where they were joined by a few old friends at various points of the performance including two cover bust outs. The evening also saw a band member operate the lights during an UM classic.

Nick Blasky sits in on bass, @ryanstasik sits in on lights #umphreys #theview

A photo posted by Jefferson Waful (@jeffersonwaful) on Jan 30, 2015 at 7:38pm PST

The show started off with the “Gurgle” intro preceding “Mulches Odyssey” and continued with a run through old favorites “Bridgeless,” “Much Obliged” and “Utopian Fir.” Umphrey’s welcomed longtime friend, frequent collaborator and Cincinnati native Nick Blasky for the set-ending “Ocean Billy.” Blasky replaced Ryan Stasik on bass, so Stasik moved over to the LD station to take over on lights for Jefferson Waful on the song.

The night’s old-school feel continued throughout a second set that included renditions of “Divisions,” “Phil’s Farm” (complete with “Prowler” in the middle), “Puppet String” and the end of “Bridgeless.” Michael “Mad Dog” Mavridoglou (trumpet) and Nick Gerlach (sax) then emerged to help Umphrey’s end the second set with a cover of Steely Dan’s “Peg” and the UM original “Dump City.” “Peg” was last performed by the band back on April 5, 2014 -a span of over 80 shows. Yet the encore was an even bigger bust out as Mad Dog and Gerlach contributed to the first UM take on Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer” since July 3, 2011 at Red Rocks (388 shows).

While video from last night hasn’t surfaced, watch pro-shot video of the band’s previous renditions of “Sledgehammer” and “Peg”:

Setlist

Set One: Gurgle > Mulches Odyssey, Cut the Cable, Bridgeless > Much Obliged, Utopian Fir, Ocean Billy[1]

Set Two: Divisions, Phil’s Farm > Prowler > Phil’s Farm, August, Puppet String > Bridgeless, Peg[2], Dump City[2]

Encore: Sledgehammer[2]

[1] Nick Blasky replaces Stasik on bass, Stasik on lights
[2] With Mad Dog’s Filthy Little Secret (Mad Dog on Trumpet, Nick Gerlach on Sax)

[Setlist via The Bort]

Umphrey’s Winter Tour continues tonight at The Fillmore in Detroit.