Umphrey’s McGee Plays ‘Bay-less’ Set In Des Moines In 2003

Today, Umphrey’s McGee announced a case of “wicked flu” would be keeping guitarist Jake Cinninger sidelined for the time being, beginning with the band’s show tonight with Joshua Redman at College Street Music Hall in New Haven, Connecticut. Ahead of tonight’s single-guitarist UM concert, here’s a Throwback Thursday look back at another one-guitarist Umphrey’s performance for which Brendan Bayliss was unable to attend.

UM’s April 18. 2003 set at the Bacchanalia Festival held at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa featured a five-piece version of the band made up of Cinninger, bassist Ryan Stasik, keyboardist Joel Cummins, percussionist Andy Farag and at-the-time newly supplanted drummer Kris Myers. Throughout the Bay-less performance Cinninger, Cummins and Myers traded duties handling vocals usually provided by the absent co-founding member of the band.

Myers switched up the lyrics to the normally Bayliss-sung “In The Kitchen” to reference the guitarist’s prior family commitment keeping him away. Cummins also altered the lyrics during his attempt at singing “Front Porch” to reference his predisposed band mate. Cinninger took on the vocals for “Divisions” which featured the band’s country-fied “Johnny Cash Version” of the Bayliss original. Other highlights included a cover of Taj Mahal’s “Chevrolet,” the debut (and one of only two UM performances) of James Brown’s “Licking Stick,” Joel covering Brendan’s “Syncopated Strangers” vocals, rarity “Kat’s Tune” and the “Willie The Pimp” encore.

Listen to a soundboard matrix recording shared by Jon McLennand below:

Setlist (via All Things Umphrey’s)

One Set: Intro[1] > Mulche’s Odyssey, Chevrolet > In The Kitchen[2] > Front Porch[3] > Space Funk Booty, Divisions[4], Rainbow Country -> Syncopated Strangers[5], Kabump > Kat’s Tune, Ringo, Dump City, Blue Echo -> Licking Stick[6] > Pay the Snucka[7]

Encore: Willie the Pimp[8]

Notes:

• [1] with Voodoo Chile (Jimi Hendrix) tease
• [2] with Kris on vocals, lyric changes referencing the absence of Brendan, and Paradise City (Guns N’ Roses) tease
• [3] with Joel on vocals; with lyric changes referencing the absence of Brendan
• [4] with Jake on vocals; “Johnny Cash version”
• [5] with Joel on vocals for last verse
• [6] debut, James Brown
• [7] part III only
• [8] with Jake singing Born Under a Bad Sign (Albert King) lyric