Umphrey’s McGee Honors Vinnie Paul With Pantera Cover In Asbury Park

Umphrey’s McGee returned to the road for three shows in the Northeast between Thursday and Saturday. The six-piece’s Saturday night finale featured their return to the Stone Pony Summerstage in Asbury Park, New Jersey. UM used the occasion of what has turned into their annual visit to the Jersey Shore venue to pay tribute to Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul, who died on June 22 at age 54.

The sextet took the stage with the instrumental intro “Nipple Trix” and then dusted off the heavy-hitting “Roctopus” for the first time in 87 shows. Another rarity came next in the form of the first “The Pequod” since July 23, 2017. Oldie “Andy’s Last Beer” was followed by just the third-ever live rendition of it’s you track “Seasons.” The metal-tinged funk workout “It Doesn’t Matter” gave way to the beautiful “You & You Alone” before UM ended the opening stanza with “Remind Me.”

Umphrey’s kicked off Saturday’s second set with the heavy-metal instrumental “Wizard Burial Ground” which gave way to the similarly heavy “Sludge & Death.” The band went the opposite direction next with the pretty instrumental “Xmas At Wartime” off the recently released it’s you. Guitarist Brendan Bayliss went on to lead his mates through it’s not us single “The Silent Type” before UM dusted off a cover of The Allman Brothers Band’s “Jessica” for just the second time this year. A welcomed pairing of “Cemetery Walk” > “Cemetery Walk II” came next. Then, bassist Ryan Stasik unleashed a solo as the intro to an exploratory “August.” Umphrey’s eventually worked “August” into the end of “Wizard Burial Ground” to bring the set to a close.

Just the second “Kula” of 2018 was Umphrey’s choice to begin the encore in Asbury Park. Stasik then asked the audience to “get your fists in the air” and explained, “When we come to the Stone Pony we come to kick fucking ass and play rock and roll. We lost a good one…we lost Vinnie. He’s up there with Dimebag [Darrell]. Pantera meant a lot to me growing up. Rest in peace. We’re going to play some non-sissy music, so let’s have some fun.” Umphrey’s McGee went on to serve up a spot-on cover debut of Pantera’s “Walk” sung by drummer Kris Myers.

Watch a pair of fan-shot videos from Saturday’s show captured by gr8fuljon:

[Walk]

[Jessica]

Setlist (via All Things Umphreys)

Set One: Nipple Trix > Roctopus, The Pequod, Andy’s Last Beer, Seasons, It Doesn’t Matter, You & You Alone, Remind Me

Set Two: Wizard Burial Ground > Sludge & Death > Xmas at Wartime, The Silent Type, Jessica, Cemetery Walk > Cemetery Walk II, August > Wizard Burial Ground

Encore: Kula, Walk[1]

[1] debut, Pantera