Umphrey’s McGee & moe. Say Farewell To Summer Camp Music Festival With Collaborative Set & Encore

The Summer Camp Music Festival was held for the last time in its current form over the past weekend at Three Sisters Park in Chillicothe, Illinois. Longtime co-headliners and host bands moe. and Umphrey’s McGee bid the Memorial Day Weekend event adieu by joining forces for a collaborative set on Saturday and uniting to share the stage on Sunday to cover Simple Minds’ “Don’t You (Forget About Me).”

moe. has been a Summer Camp headliner since the festival’s debut at Three Sisters Park in 2001 with Umphrey’s McGee coming aboard in 2003 when the event began being held over Memorial Day Weekend. On May 16, Summer Camp producer Ian Goldberg announced the festival would begin an indefinite hiatus after this year's installment. Goldberg’s note mentioned plans to host a “redefined camping and music experience at Three Sisters Park every Memorial Day starting in 2024 that will be presented by Summer Camp.”

As usual, both moe. and Umphrey’s McGee performed at each day of Summer Camp 2023. Umphrey’s McGee’s first of two sets on Saturday was billed as “moe. and Umphrey’s McGee.” moe. was joined by UM guitarist Brendan Bayliss as they kicked off the frame with “Moth.” Bayliss’ fellow UM guitarist Jake Cinninger and keyboardist Joel Cummins swapped in for Brendan after “Moth” segued into “Meat.” Umphrey’s McGee then took over for an “In The Kitchen” featuring moe. guitarist Al Schnier.

The first cover of the set came in the four-slot as moe. teamed with Bayliss and UM percussionist Andy Farag on The Allman Brothers Band instrumental “In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed.” Next, moe. began their classic song “Rebubula.” One by one, the members of Umphrey’s McGee took over until it was just UM left on stage to close out “Rebubula.” Umphrey’s went on to play It’s Not Us single “The Silent Type” helped out by moe. guitarist Chuck Garvey and keyboardist Nate Wilson.

moe. and Umphrey’s McGee ended the collaborative set with three classic rock covers featuring each member of both bands. First up was Talking Heads’ “Crosseyed & Painless” followed by “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” with Mike Dillon and Goose drummer Ben Atkind adding to the Blue Oyster Cult cover. A giant cowbell was setup which moe. bassist Rob Derhak took a swing at with an oversized drum stick. The cowbells continued as UM drummer Kris Myers handled lead vocals on the “We’re An American Band” (Grand Funk Railroad) finale.

Umphrey’s was the last of the two bands to perform on Sunday’s final day of Summer Camp 2023. As such, they invited moe. to share the stage on a collaborative encore. moe. and UM selected Simple Minds’ 1985 smash “Don’t You (Forget About Me).” Brendan Bayliss usually gives a speech during the cover and used the opportunity at Summer Camp to discuss the festival, telling the crowd:

“Summer Camp, we love you all so very much. We have a lot of fantastic memories from this place. A lot of things that I don’t remember. Your fault. I will say one thing. The first time we ever came to Summer Camp, I sat down at catering and the guys from moe. sat down next to me and they talked to me just like I was a normal person. For the first time, it made me feel legitimate. Because I’m very illegitimate. The point is, if somebody like me can get somebody like them to come on stage with somebody like me, then maybe somebody like you can convince somebody like them that you are worth [it.] It made me feel special even though I’m not. We’re all going to get laid! And you (repeated), we’re all getting laid!”

Watch the final song performed by moe. and Umphrey’s McGee at Summer Camp below:

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

Saturday, May 27

Set One: Moth[1] > Meat[2], In The Kitchen[3], In Memory of Elizabeth Reed[4], Rebubula[5], The Silent Type[6], Crosseyed and Painless[7], (Don’t Fear) The Reaper[8], We’re An American Band[7]

Set Two: All In Time > Small Strides, Staircase, Wizard Burial Ground, Looks, JaJunk, Bad Friday, Tribulations > All In Time

Footnotes:

• [1] moe., with Brendan
• [2] moe., with Jake and Joel
• [3] with Al Schnier
• [4] moe., with Brendan and Andy
• [5] full band switch from moe. to Umphrey’s
• [6] with Chuck Garvey and Nate Wilson
• [7] with moe.
• [8] with moe., Ben Atkind, and Mike Dillon

Show Notes:
Moonshine Stage
first set billed as “moe. and Umphrey’s McGee”
last Rebubula 2014-05-03 (732 shows)
last (Don’t Fear) The Reaper 2013-08-15 (812 shows)

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Sunday, May 28

Set One: There’s No Crying In Mexico > 1348 > Domino Theory, 2×2 > Fenced In > 2×2, Wappy Sprayberry, Ringo

Set Two: Attachments > Booth Love, Bridgeless > Hajimemashite > Escape Goat > Bridgeless, Plunger > 1348

Encore: Don’t You (Forget About Me)[1]

[1] with moe.