Umphrey’s McGee Welcomes Jennifer Hartswick For 2-Night Chicago Homecoming At The Salt Shed

Umphrey’s McGee returned home this past weekend to share a bill with Andy Frasco & The U.N. for two nights at The Salt Shed in Chicago. Vocalist/trumpeter Jennifer Hartswick continued her long history of collaborating with UM by sitting in for multiple songs each night.

The sextet — guitarists Brendan Bayliss and Jake Cinninger, keyboardist Joel Cummins, bassist Ryan Stasik, percussionist Andy Farag and drummer Scotty Zwang — came out swinging on Friday with an expansive version of the title track from their 2009 album, Mantis, complete with its “Preamble.” UM stuck to the same era for the ensuing one-two punch of “Puppet String” and “The Linear.” The latter flowed into oldie “Andy’s Last Beer” before the hometown heroes presented one of their latest gems, “Concessions.”

Umphrey’s brought out Jennifer Hartswick next as Bayliss hopped on acoustic guitar for the final two songs of Friday’s opening stanza. Up first was “Bullhead City,” a ballad played by UM just six times over the past decades. Hartswick, who was featured on all but one of the last six versions of “Bullhead City,” provided harmonies behind Cinninger and Bayliss. UM and JHa then launched into a set-closing cover of The Doobie Brothers’ 1974 hit “Black Water.” Jennifer Hartswick not only sang backup on the cover, she also took an effusive trumpet solo.

The six-piece stacked adventurous takes on staples “Bridgeless,” “40’s Theme,” “Staircase” and “Hurt Bird Bath” to kick off the second set. From there, Hartswick returned to reprise the vocals from the “Electric Avenue To Hell” mashup UM fit on their Zonkey album. Hartswick belted out her portion of the tune, which mixes elements of UM’s original “The Triple Wide” with covers of AC/DC’s “Highway To Hell” and Eddy Grant’s “Electric Avenue.” Umphrey’s had only performed the mashup twice prior since 2019.

Brendan Bayliss had the crowd chant “Fuck you, Frasco” as a prelude to “Plunger.” The complex composition bled into the beloved “Hajimemashite” to close Friday’s second set. For the encore, Andy Frasco & The U.N. drummer Andee “Beats” Avila joined Andy Farag in perc world for the “Attachments” that gave way to the end of “Bridgeless.”

More surprises were in store for Chicago fans on Saturday night. After a “You Got The Wrong Guy” > “The Floor” opening sequence, standalone “Day Nurse” and inventive run of “Hiccup” > “1348” -> “Exit Signs,” Umphrey’s lit into the classic “Front Porch.” The old favorite featured both “Resolution” and “Waterfalls” within. The former saw Andy Frasco attempt to kiss Brendan Bayliss during a “Free Fallin'” jam, while the latter was an Umphrey’s McGee debut. Jennifer Hartswick handled vocals and U.N. member Sam Kelly was on sax for the TLC cover, a song the band played portions of as part of “Front Porch” in their formative days. The version of “Waterfalls” on Saturday was fully formed.

Umphrey’s came back for a second set highlighted by a “Booth Love” sandwich featuring a “The National Anthem” filling, 16-minute “Wappy Sprayberry” and crowd-pleasing “August.” The six-piece lit into “Ja Junk” to start the Saturday night encore. Hartswick re-emerged for Umphrey’s first cover of David Bowie & Queen’s “Under Pressure” since January 21, 2023 — a span of 246 shows. The Chicago-based ensemble went on to finish “Plunger” and the show sans guests.

Watch livestream replays of both shows at nugs. Check out fan-captured video of Hartswick teaming with Umphrey’s on “Electric Avenue To Hell” and “Under Pressure” below:

Setlists (via All Things Umphreys) & Official Audio (via nugs)

Friday, January 2

Set One: Preamble > Mantis, Puppet String, The Linear > Andy’s Last Beer, Concessions, Bullhead City[1], Black Water[2]

Set Two: Bridgeless > 40’s Theme, Staircase > Hurt Bird Bath, Electric Avenue to Hell[3], Plunger-> Hajimemashite

Encore: Attachments[4] > Bridgeless

Footnotes:

• [1] with Jennifer Hartswick on vocals and Brendan on acoustic guitar
• [2] with Jennifer Hartswick on vocals and trumpet and Brendan on acoustic guitar
• [3] with Jennifer Hartswick on vocals
• [4] ‪with Andee “Beats” Avila on percussion
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Opening Band(s): Andy Frasco & The U.N.

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Saturday, January 2

Set One: You Got the Wrong Guy > The Floor, Day Nurse, Hiccup > 1348-> Exit Signs, Front Porch > Resolution[1] > Front Porch > Waterfalls[2] > Front Porch

Set Two: The Silent Type, Booth Love-> The National Anthem > Booth Love, Wappy Sprayberry > Remind Me, August > Got Your Milk (Right Here) > 1348

Encore: JaJunk > Under Pressure[3] > JaJunk[4]

Footnotes:

[1] with Free Fallin’ (Tom Petty) jam [2] debut, TLC; with Jennifer Hartswick on trumpet and vocals and Sam Kelly on saxophone [3] with Jennifer Hartswick on vocals [4] with Top Gun Anthem (Harold Faltermeyer and Steve Stevens) tease

Show Notes: last Under Pressure 2023-01-21 (246 shows)

Opening Band(s): Andy Frasco & The U.N.