Umphrey’s McGee Breaks Out The Band Cover In Honor Of Garth Hudson In Charlottesville

Umphrey’s McGee stopped into the Jefferson Theater in Charlottesville, Virginia on Wednesday. UM honored The Band keyboardist Garth Hudson, who died on Tuesday at 87, with a rare cover of “Up on Cripple Creek.”

Umphrey’s McGee launched the concert with a bust out of the original variety, “Restrung.” Previously titled “Unsung Hero,” UM renamed the song “Restrung” and included it on their 2021 instrumental album You Walked Up Shaking In Your Boots But You Stood Tall And Left A Raging Bull. The Charlottesville “Restrung” in Charlottesville closed a gap of 286 shows.

The band then took a journey on “Remind Me” followed by a substantial “Wife Soup.” A standout, 17-minute “Syncopated Strangers” followed ahead of “Roctopus” and “All Things Ninja.”

UM concluded the first set with their first “Up on Cripple Creek” in 1,081 shows. Umphrey’s last played the song on April 19, 2012 at Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa, Oklahoma. That play was a tribute to The Band’s Levon Helm, who passed away the same day UM played “Cripple Creek” at Cain’s. As he did in Tulsa, UM guitarist Brendan Bayliss handled Levon’s lead vocals on “Cripple Creek” in Charlottesville with keyboardist Joel Cummins holding down Garth Hudson’s signature clavinet line.

Released on The Band’s 1969 self-titled album, “Up on Cripple Creek” is a groundbreaking song as a proto-funk tune. Central to the song’s funkiness are Garth Hudson’s contributions on the clavinet. “Cripple Creek” is seen as one of the first times (if not the first time) a wah pedal was used with the clav on a recording. This pairing would fuel the funk explosion of the 1970s. Running a clavinet through a wah pedal is standard in keyboard rigs today.

Set two got underway with staple “All In Time” followed by “Out of Order.” A top shelf “The Silent Type” came next ahead of a cover of the John Lennon featuring David Bowie funk cut “Fame.” “August” counted as the penultimate song of the second set before UM bookend with “All In Time.” The band paired up oldies “Mail Package” and “Kimble” for the encore.

Official Audio (via nugs.net)

Next up on UM’s winter tour is a performance at Penn’s Peak in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania tonight (January 24). Find UM’s full itinerary and ticket info below:

Setlist (All Things Umphreys)

Set One: Restrung > Remind Me, Wife Soup, Syncopated Strangers, Roctopus, All Things Ninja, Up on Cripple Creek

Set Two: All In Time, Out Of Order, The Silent Type, Fame, August > All In Time

Encore: Mail Package > Kimble

Show Notes:

• last Restrung 2021-06-18 (286 shows)
• last Up on Cripple Creek 2012-04-19 (1,081 shows); played in remembrance of Garth Hudson