Umphreys McGee Releases 2004 Show With Phil Lesh

Umphrey’s McGee rolled into the Bay Area on October 22, 2004 for their second performance at Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. The show features many highlights, but is best remembered as the night Phil Lesh sat-in with Umphrey’s in front of a capacity crowd. Today, the band has unveiled the previously unreleased, remastered matrix recording from their vault in a variety of formats.

The first set contains one memorable moment after another, including the debut of instrumental “Great American,” with the venue appropriately serving as the song’s namesake. “Great American” quickly became a setlist staple for Umphrey’s. There’s also a gorgeous “Divisions” > “Glory” > “Divisions” sequence within the opening stanza. As our glowing report from that night indicated, rumors spread like wildfire through the Great American Music Hall during setbreak that Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh was in the house. The rumor turned into reality early in the second set when Lesh emerged to replace Ryan Stasik on bass for the end of “Robot World.” Umphrey’s and Phil Lesh then collaborated on UM’s first “Franklin’s Tower” since 1998 (790 shows). Other standouts from Set Two include “Visions” > “The Bottom Half” and a version of “Hurt Bird Bath” that featured a cover on Talking Heads’ “Making Flippy Floppy” in the middle of the song.

This archival release is available exclusively via the band’s UMLive.net portal in a variety of digital formats including lossless options. Umphrey’s even pressed a special three-disc set for those who want a physical version of the release. The band also announced they’ve reduced pricing on CDs for all shows hosted on UMLive.net. Those who subscribe to UMLive.net will automatically have streaming access to this show as well as over a thousand others.

Setlist (via All Things Umphreys)

Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA
October 22, 2004

Set One: Roulette, Utopian Fir > Great American[1] > Utopian Fir > Syncopated Strangers, Plunger, Mail Package > Divisions > Glory > Divisions, Hot for Teacher

Set Two: 2nd Self > Robot World[2] > Franklin’s Tower[3], Nemo, Mulche’s Odyssey, Visions > The Bottom Half, Hurt Bird Bath -> Making Flippy Floppy -> Hurt Bird Bath

Encore: All In Time

[1] debut, original
[2] with Phil Lesh replacing Ryan on bass for ending
[3] with Phil Lesh on vocals and bass

Notes:
last Franklin’s Tower 04.24.1998 (790 shows)