Umphrey’s McGee ‘Never Cease’ To Amaze With Rarity’s 1st Performance In 15 Years

In September 2003, Umphrey’s McGee debuted a new original song entitled “Never Cease,” which was performed a total of four times that year, followed by another four times in 2004. The song was included on the second disc of the band’s 2007 studio effort, The Bottom Half, and played once more in 2009 before being shelved.

The long absence of the Jake Cinninger-written song from UM setlists ended on Saturday night at the band’s second of two consecutive concerts at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York. Midway into the first set, after a gap spanning 1,440 shows, “Never Cease” was played by Umphrey’s McGee for the 10th time.

The +15-year bust out was preceded by an uninterrupted opening sequence of “Drink My Drank” into “Bridgeless” into “Mad Love” into “Miss Tinkle’s Overture.” After treating fans to the original rarity, the first set ended with “I Don’t Know What I Want” into “Booth Love” into “Walletsworth.” Drummer Scotty Zwang of Sunsquabi took over the kit from UM drummer Kris Myers for “Walletsworth.”

The first “Forks” in over 300 shows opened the second set. The group then went into “In The Kitchen.” They then transitioned from “Attachments” to “The Linear” and a deft segue into Radiohead’s “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi” before returning to finish the “Bridgeless” started in set one.

The second set ended with UM classic “Slacker” and the encore featured another longtime staple, “Pay The Snucka.”

Stream official nugs.net audio of Saturday’s UM concert at The Cap and watch Chad Sclove’s audience-shot videos of the show below:

Setlist (via All Things UM)

Set One: Drink My Drank > Bridgeless > Mad Love > Miss Tinkle’s Overture, Never Cease, I Don’t Know What I Want > Booth Love > Walletsworth[1]

Set Two: Forks > In The Kitchen[2], Attachments > The Linear-> Weird Fishes/Arpeggi > Bridgeless, Slacker

Encore: Pay the Snucka

Notes:

• [1] with Scotty Zwang replacing Kris on drums
• [2] with Kat’s Tune and So What (Miles Davis) teases
• last Never Cease 2009-04-05 (1,440 shows)
• last Forks 2020-02-28 (318 shows)