Simply ‘The Best’: Watch Umphrey’s McGee & Kanika Moore Honor Tina Turner At Brooklyn Bowl

Umphrey’s McGee returned to Brooklyn Bowl last night to wrap a run in New York City that also included shows at Brooklyn Steel on Friday (January 19) and Saturday (January 20). Vocalist Kanika Moore, UM bassist Ryan Stasik‘s Doom Flamingo bandmate, emerged towards the end of Sunday’s concert to lead the sextet through their first performance of the Tina Turner classic “The Best.”

Penned by Mike Chapman and Holly Knight, “The Best” was originally released by Bonnie Tyler in 1988. Tina Turner put out a cover of the song on her 11th studio album, Foreign Affair, the following year and scored a worldwide hit. Turner became synonous with “The Best” and the track usually came ahead of “Proud Mary” to close main sets on her final two tours.

Tina Turner sadly died on May 24, 2023 at age 83. Umphrey’s McGee previously teamed with Kanika Moore to pay tribute to Turner two days later with a collaborative “What’s Love Got To Do With It” cover at the Summer Camp Music Festival.

Umphrey’s McGee guitarist Brendan Bayliss introduced Kanika Moore towards the middle of last night’s second set saying he heard a rumor she was in the house. Moore took a spot between Jake Cinninger and Ryan Stasik to belt out “The Best” in the style of Tina Turner. Watch fan-shot video footage of the Tina Turner tribute from Sunday’s show below:

Sunday’s concert marked the 26th anniversary of the first Umphrey's McGee show, which took place on January 21, 1998 at Bridget McGuire’s Filling Station in South Bend, Indiana. The instrumental “Nipple Trix” intro at Brooklyn Bowl was followed by “Phil’s Farm,” a song played at Bridget McGuire’s on January 21, 1998. “Kimble,” the penultimate song of the first set, was the other tune performed 26 years prior to make the setlist last night at Brooklyn Bowl. UM’s early days were also represented by “Example 1,” “August” and “Hangover.”

Improvisational highlights for Umphrey’s McGee at Brooklyn Bowl included the aforementioned “Phil’s Farm” as well as “Hiccup” and “I Don’t Know What I Want” in the first set as well as lengthy versions of “Wappy Sprayberry,” “Small Strides” and “August” in the closing stanza. “Thank you Brooklyn for letting us do what we do for 26 years,” Bayliss told the crowd after the first “Kula” since April 2023 ended the second set. The band returned to cap the night with a “The Triple Wide” encore.

The sextet’s extensive winter tour resumes on Wednesday, January 31 at the House Of Blues Cleveland. View all upcoming tour Umphrey’s McGee tour dates below.

Official Audio (via nugs.net)

Setlist (via All Things Umphrey’s)

Set One: Nipple Trix > Phil’s Farm, Example 1 > Little Gift > Upward, Hiccup > Kimble > I Don’t Know What I Want

Set Two: Wappy Sprayberry > Crucial Taunt, Fenced In, Small Strides, August, The Best [1], Hangover-> Kula

Encore: The Triple Wide [2]

• [1] debut, Tina Turner; with Kanika Moore on vocals
• [2] with A New Hope (Williams) and Stairway to Heaven (Led Zeppelin) teases