Umphrey’s McGee Debuts Jackson Browne Cover & Breaks Out AC/DC Classic In Birmingham

Umphrey's McGee's Cruising Altitude Tour landed in Birmingham on Thursday for a concert at Iron City Music Hall. The setlist featured three surprise covers as the Chicago-based jam outfit played an impromptu AC/DC song, treated fans to a Pearl Jam staple they played just once prior and honored their crew by premiering a well-suited Jackson Browne tune.

The jam scene stalwarts opened the night with an all-original first set consisting of more recent fare to start followed by a string of classics. UM took the stage with the instrumental intro “Catshot” and then launched into “Make It Right.” The fourth “Triangle Tear” since 2020 and Asking For A Friend gem “Always October” came next. Each was extended with exemplary improvisation. The latter eventually gave way to the beloved instrumental “The Triple Wide.”

“The Triple Wide” birthed an ambient jam that eventually faded into oldie “Andy’s Last Beer.” Guitarist Brendan Bayliss then led his bandmates through fan-favorite “Hajimemashite” before Jake Cinninger starred on a hard-hitting “Ringo” to punctuate the 70-minute frame.

A potent “Maybe Someday” off 2018’s It’s Not Us began the second set. From there, Umphrey’s McGee turned Birmingham into “Dump City.” Cinninger called an audible within the proggy original and guided the group through “Thunderstruck.” Bayliss addressed the crowd in regards to UM’s first performance of the AC/DC hit since August 21, 2021. “I don’t know about you guys but that’s my favorite shit. When all of the sudden it’s like ‘Are we doin’ it? I don’t know. Should we do it? Yes, we should fucking do it. Do we know it? Do you remember it? It doesn’t matter, we should fucking do it,'” Brendan quipped.

The closing stanza rolled on with the Bayliss-sung “No Comment” and gorgeous instrumental “Pequod.” Umphrey’s then launched into a “Bridgeless” broken up by “Corduroy.” The “Corduroy” performance marked the six-piece’s first cover of the song from Pearl Jam’s 1994 album Vitalogy since debuting their version last August. UM ended Thursday’s second set by concluding “Bridgeless.”

Joel Cummins spoke to the audience upon his return to the stage for the encore. “We’ve got a lot of shows here coming up in March and at the end of the tour we usually give our crew some love and tell them how awesome they are,” Cummins said. “Nobody ever gives them love at the beginning of tour, so this one goes out to the crew.”

Cummins went on to perform “The Load Out,” Jackson Browne’s 1977 tribute to his roadies and fans. Cinninger chimed in on guitar to accompany the keyboardist towards the end of the cover debut. The band then swerved into a show-closing “Slacker.”

Stream an official recording of Umphrey’s McGee’s Thursday night show in Birmingham below via nugs.net:

Umphrey’s McGee partnered with nugs.net to provide free livestreams of five upcoming shows for “All Access” subscribers. The sextet will webcast their concert tonight, Friday, February 28 live from Chattanooga, Tennessee. nugs.net will also host broadcasts of UM performances in Knoxville, Tennesseee on March 5; Louisville on March 6; South Bend (Indiana) on March 7 and Milwaukee on March 8.

Setlist (via @UmphreysMcGee on X)

Set One: Catshot > Make It Right, Triangle Tear > Always October > The Triple Wide > Andy’s Last Beer, Hajimemashite, Ringo

Set Two: Maybe Someday, Dump City > Thunderstruck > Dump City, No Comment, Pequod, Bridgeless > Corduroy > Bridgeless

Encore: The Load Out* > Slacker

* – First Time Played (Jackson Browne)