Umphrey’s McGee celebrate 20 Years with NYC run

Umphrey’s McGee celebrated 20 years together as a band over January 17-19 with a trio of shows at The Beacon Theater in New York City, alongside stops at Sirius/XM Studios and The Cutting Room to promote the group’s latest release It’s Not Us.

Umphrey's McGee 20For the January 19 show at The Beacon, Umphrey’s added songs off It’s Not Us – “Remind Me,” “Speak Up,” “Looks,” and “The Silent Type” – into a setlist that featured a “JaJunk” sandwich in set 2, a monster version of “Hurt Bird Bath” (see video below) and Talking Heads’ “Making Flippy Floppy” with guitarist Oz Noy joining in.

Set 1: There’s No Crying In Mexico > Remind Me, Anchor Drops > Day Nurse > White Man’s Moccasins > Speak Up > Mulche’s Odyssey, Making Flippy Floppy[1]

Set 2: JaJunk > Push the Pig[2], Looks, Hurt Bird Bath, 2nd Self, Conduit, The Silent Type > JaJunk

Encore: Bad Friday

[1] with Oz Noy on guitar and Brendan on percussion and keys
[2] with Jake on keys; with Lose Yourself (Eminem) jam

On night 2 of the run, Umphrey’s dusted off part of Guns n Roses’ “Paradise City” inside of “Utopian Fir” (see video below) for the first time in nearly 1500 shows. Acoustic versions of “Memories of Home” and “You and You Alone” followed “Fir,” and were joined by the horns of Peter Apfelbaum (TAB, saxophone) and Mike Maher (Snarky Puppy, trumpet) for a vigorous combo of “Attachments” and Sturgill Simpson’s “Call to Arms.” Set 2 was a gift that kept on giving, with little room to breathe amid “Wappy Sprayberry” > “Wife Soup,” “August” and “The Linear” > “In the Kitchen.”

Set 1: You Got the Wrong Guy > Spires > Walletsworth, Utopian Fir > Paradise City[1] > Utopian Fir > Memories of Home[2], You & You Alone[2], Whistle Kids, Attachments[3], Call to Arms[3]

Set 2: Maybe Someday, Wappy Sprayberry > Wife Soup, In The Kitchen > Little Gift, August, The Linear > In The Kitchen

Encore: Hajimemashite > Pay the Snucka[4]

[1] one verse
[2] with Jake and Brendan on acoustic guitars
[3] with Peter Apfelbaum on saxophone and Mike Maher on trumpet
[4] with Eruption (Van Halen) tease

For the 20th anniversary show, Brendan Bayliss spoke from the heart from the stage, opening the show up by saying,

“On behalf of the band and the crew, I just want to say thank you for the last 20 years. It’s still very surreal to us, and because of you our dreams became our reality, so thank you so much. Tonight we’re going to take you backwards through time over the last 20 years. We’re going to play a song that we debuted each year. We’ll start with something new and end with something old. And we hope you like it.”

And with that, Umphrey’s McGee journeyed 20 years in reverse, starting with the recent debut “Half Delayed” and ending with their classic “All in Time.” In between, the band let loose with fan favorites and heavy hitters that have been developed into jam vehicles over the past 20 years, a dream setlist for Umphreaks and an impressive way to mark the start of their third decade performing together.

Set 1: Half Delayed, North Route > Draconian, Similar Skin[1] > No Diablo, Comma Later > Puppet String[2] > No Comment > 1348, Gulf Stream

Set 2: The Floor[1] > Eat[1] > Higgins[3], Bridgeless[1] > Ocean Billy > The Triple Wide > Ringo[4] > 40’s Theme

Encore: All Things Ninja[5] > All In Time[6]

[1] unfinished
[2] incomplete
[3] with Can’t You Hear Me Knocking (The Rolling Stones) jam
[4] with Voodoo Child (Jimi Hendrix) teases; unfinished
[5] intro only
[6] with Divisions, 10th Grade, and Nachos for Two teases; also with Thunderstruck (AC/DC) tease

Setlists via Allthings Umphreys

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