Virtual Crate Digging In The nugs.net App – Volume 3: Umphrey’s McGee Bust Outs Edition

Welcome to the third edition of Virtual Crate Digging in the nugs.net app, where JamBase’s editorial staff goes digging through the archives of the 10,000+ shows available for streaming via the newly launched mobile application.

Late last year, nugs.net launched their first subscription streaming service. For $12.99 per month or $129.99 per year, subscribers can gain unlimited access to the nugs.net app’s catalog of live sets (and studio albums) from artists such as Widespread Panic, Umphrey’s McGee, Pearl Jam, The Black Crowes, the Disco Biscuits, Gov’t Mule and moe.. Non-subscribers may access a rotating selection of “Featured Shows” and nugs.net radio completely free. The app is available for both iOS and Android devices.

So far in 2016, Umphrey’s McGee has played 19 shows during which they’ve played 144 different original compositions and 26 different covers. Looking at the “Gap Chart” maintained over All Thing’s Umphrey’s is a pretty crazy illustration of just how deep the live repertoire is these days. It has actually made us here at the JamBase office discuss over Slack the question of, has any band ever had a more diverse setlist night to night?

Thus far we have come up empty, and believe the Chicago sextet may be doing something few rock bands have ever done, where they regularly are bringing a song to the stage after a 80+ show gap since it was last played, while also regularly building songlists where the majority of the tunes were last seen 10+ shows in the past. Keeping up with the catalog is where the nugs.net app comes in handy. Have a look at five selected 2016 bust outs, and check a full list of everything you can hunt down in the app, as well as have a listen to “Jessica” right here in the article, no app required.

“Jessica” (159 Show Gap) – 2016-02-03 College Street Music Hall – New Haven, Connecticut

Wanting to get a little more out of the almost 160 show bust out of this The Allman Brothers Band instrumental classic, UM was not content just playing it deep in the first set, but also weaved elements of “Jessica” into the second set UM original “Utopian Fir.” Give “Jessica” a listen:

“Great American” (89 Show Gap) – 2016-01-29 Orpheum Theater – Madison, Wisconsin

Debuted in 2004 at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, the instrumental “Great American” has long been a showcase for Umphrey’s McGee’s improvisational skills (despite the current lack of a second jam). Despite how heavy in rotation it once was, “Great American” had its longest gap since its debut finally broken at this show in Madison at the end of January.

“Gravity’s Real” (276 Show Gap) – 2016-01-30 Wings Event Center – Kalamazoo, Michigan

Nothing’s ever really gone with this band. Not a silly song they hate from the late 1990s, and not a one-time piece of music played only once. “Gravity’s Real” is the latest example of the latter. Played once during the “First Quarter Raw Stewage” set at UMBowl in 2013, “Gravity’s Real” made a triumphant return sandwiched in the middle of UM classic “All In Time” in Kalamazoo to the delight of hardcore UM fans.

“E.T.I.” (276 Show Gap) – 2016-02-04 State Theatre – Portland, Maine

This Blue Öyster Cult cover, despite only being played 30 times since its 2003 debut, has produced a number of noteworthy jams, including this performance and such classics as 10-9-2009.

“Dear Lord” (146 Show Gap) – 2016-01-27 House of Blues – Cleveland, Ohio

“Dear Lord” is a beautiful instrumental that holds a special place in the band’s heart as it was performed by bassist Ryan Stasik, keyboardist Joel Cummins, guitarist Brendan Bayliss and late original drummer Mike Mirro at a recital that predates the band by two months. Long a rarity, “Dear Lord” was beginning to pick up its appearances in the rotation in recent years (being played an almost unprecedented seven times in 2013), but had disappeared deep onto the shelf until this performance broke the almost 150 show gap.