Umphrey’s McGee Welcomes Horns & Debuts Police Cover And Original On New Year’s Eve

On New Year’s Eve, Chicago jam sextet Umphrey’s McGee concluded a three-night stand at The Fillmore Auditorium in Denver. UM played three jam-filled sets that included plenty of collaborations with a four-piece horn section, a cover debut and the first live rendition of their recent single.

Umphrey’s McGee began the action with an opening set bookended with “Nothing Too Fancy.” The band linked the first section of the jam-vehicle to an improv-heavy “1348.” Jake Cinninger then led his mates through “Got Your Milk (Right Here)” from his Ali Baba’s Tahini days. UM hadn’t played “Got Your Milk” since March and took it deep, while the “Tribute To The Spinal Shaft” that followed was the first since August. “Make It Right,” one of the most played “Raw Stewage”-birthed tracks of all-time then led into the end of “Nothing Too Fancy.”

Michael “Mad Dog” Mavridoglou on trumpet, Jeff Coffin on saxophone, Chris Ott on trombone, and Josh Quinlan on saxophone – a.k.a. Mad Dog & his Filthy Little Secret horns aided UM on most of the second set including the “Turn & Dub” > “Smell The Mitten” opening sequence. Nicely extended versions of “Remind Me” and “Slacker” were pure UM, but the horns returned for a wild “Utopian Fir” > “I Want A New Drug” > “Utopian Fir” sequence. Umphrey’s McGee ended the frame by their lonesomes with the Cinninger spotlight piece, “Glory.”

The band used “Wappy Sprayberry” as the final song of the year and worked the Ryan Stasik-heavy number into “Auld Lang Syne.” Next up was the first ever live rendition of “The Silent Type,” the debut single off the soon-to-be-released it’s not us. UM slickly segued “The Silent Type,” which is based on a repeated “Lyrical Stew,” into “Den” and back again. A raging 15-minute “Ringo” and intense “Conduit” were followed by surprisingly the evening’s only cover debut – The Police’s “Canary In A Coalmine.” Brendan Bayliss nailed the lead vocals on a song The Police never played live. The horns were given freedom to solo on this one ahead of the “Attachments” set closer. Umphrey’s said farewell by harkening back to their Prince Tribute over Halloween weekend in St. Paul. The band and the horns encored with “I Wanna Be Your Lover.”

Check out photos taken on December 30 by Jeremy Williams:

[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”693″ gal_title=”20171230 UM Colorado Williams”]

Setlist (via All Things Umphreys)

Set 1: Nothing Too Fancy > 1348, Got Your Milk (Right Here) > Tribute to the Spinal Shaft > Make It Right > Nothing Too Fancy[1]

Set 2: Turn & Dub[2] > Smell the Mitten[3], Remind Me, Slacker, Utopian Fir[2] > I Want a New Drug[2] > Utopian Fir[2] > Glory

Set 3: Wappy Sprayberry[2] > Auld Lang Syne[2], The Silent Type[4] -> Den -> The Silent Type, Ringo[5], Conduit[2], Canary in a Coalmine[6] > Attachments[2]

Encore: I Wanna Be Your Lover[2]

• [1] with (Don’t Fear) The Reaper (Blue Oyster Cult) tease
• [2] with Mad Dog and his Filthy Little Secret horns
• [3] with Mad Dog and his Filthy Little Secret horns; with The Jetsons theme (Curtin) tease
• [4] debut, original
• [5] with Much Obliged jam and Entrance of the Gladiators (Julius Fučík) tease
• [6] debut, The Police; with Mad Dog and his Filthy Little Secret horns

Notes: Mad Dog and his Filthy Little Secret horns were: Michael “Mad Dog” Mavridoglou on trumpet, Jeff Coffin on saxophone, Chris Ott on trombone, and Josh Quinlan on saxophone