Umphrey’s McGee Fills Smoking Asbury Park Tour Closer With Bust Outs & Cover Debut

On Sunday night Umphrey’s McGee ended a busy few weeks of touring with a show at The Stone Pony’s Summer Stage in Asbury Park, New Jersey. UM loaded the setlist with bust outs, welcomed a special guest for a Black Sabbath cover and debuted their take on a song by one of New Jersey’s most legendary bands.

The six-piece opened with a “Plunger” they extended very nicely. Umphrey’s debuted “Plunger” back in 2004 and the 17-show gap between the version played at this year’s Summer Camp Festival and last night’s concert was the longest in the tune’s history. The evening’s first bust out came next as UM dusted off “Turn & Dub” for the first time in 130 shows. A glorious “Words” featuring an insane solo from guitarist Jake Cinninger followed. Umphrey’s then trotted out “Puppet String” and instead of finishing the tune segued into the first “Yoga Pants” since February. The Main Squeeze opened the evening and UM guitarist Brendan Bayliss announced TMS singer Corey Frye would be joining them.

Umphrey’s McGee then launched into Black Sabbath’s “Black Sabbath” as a lead in to “War Pigs.” The Chicago rockers hadn’t performed the pairing in 147 shows (last time played – January 31, 2015). Frye emerged for “War Pigs” and thrilled the crowd with his powerful vocals and dynamic stage presence. One more bust out was left as “Liberty Echo” made its return after a 131 show layoff (last time played – March 8, 2015). “Liberty Echo” gave way to the end of “Puppet String” to bring a sensational first set to a close.

An extended “Robot World” opened the second set and was the evening’s improvisational highlight. The sextet showed off their impressive interplay as they worked in a lyrical “Jimmy Stewart” within the first “Robot World” since April. “Hindsight” and the pretty instrumental “End Of The Road” were up next before the audience went wild for “Pay The Snucka.” While “Pay The Snucka” was an UM staple from 2001 through last summer, performances of the tune which references each band member have become rare as of late. Yesterday’s version was just the second of the year and marks the longest gap between “Snuckas” in its 15-year history.

Another improvisational highlight of the show was “Miami Virtue” which saw the group explore multiple jam spaces ahead of a segue into the first “Get In The Van” since April. A typically expansive “Ringo” eventually led to the members of the band dropping out leaving keyboardist Joel Cummins to solo as an intro to “Believe The Lie.” The year’s third “Gulf Stream” ended the second set. When Umphrey’s returned to the stage they lit into their first-ever “Last Caress,” a song by New Jersey punk/hardcore legends the Misfits who will soon reunite after more than 30 years apart and famously covered by Metallica. Bassist Ryan Stasik, who wrote the evening’s setlist, told JamBase “Last Caress” is a song he’s always wanted to cover. Drummer Kris Myers handled vocals on the cover. UM then said farewell with “Attachments.”

Videos (Captured by Paul Giza)

[Last Caress, Attachments]

[End Of The Road]

[Words]

[Turn & Dub]

[Black Sabbath > War Pigs | Captured by Kyle Miller]

Setlist (All Things Umphreys)

Set One: Plunger > Turn & Dub > Words, Puppet String > Yoga Pants, Loose Ends, Black Sabbath > War Pigs[1], Liberty Echo[2] > Puppet String

Set Two: Robot World[3] > Hindsight, End of the Road, Pay the Snucka, Miami Virtue > Get In The Van, Ringo, Believe the Lie, Gulf Stream[4]

Encore: Last Caress[5], Attachments

• [1] with Corey Frye on vocals
• [2] wity Roundabout (Yes) tease
• [3] “Jimmy Stewart” with lyrics
• [4] with Can’t You See (The Marshall Tucker Band) quote
• [5] debut, Misfits