One week after starting their joint tour, Umphrey’s McGee and moe. gained moe.mentUM as they barreled into Perinton Amphitheater.

Presented by Rochester Events, moe. and Umphrey’s McGee combined in blustery fashion with two barnburning 90-minute sets, culminating with an epic cover of Pearl Jam’s “Corduroy” to close out the night.

moe. and Umphrey’s McGee brought their moe.mentUM tour to Perinton Amphitheater. Photo by Brian Ferguson.

Torrential rainfall and severe wind gusts swept through the area on Thursday, bringing downed trees and power outages that brought traffic to a standstill, with a brief reprise on Friday afternoon. The clouds parted before showtime with just a couple of short hours to spare. For eager concertgoers in Fairport, the timing was a welcome contrast to the delayed and shortened sets at The Rooftop at Pier 17 one week prior.

Much like last year’s combined tour stop in the Syracuse area, this moe.mentUM tour stop was treated as a home game for Western NY natives, moe. As the visitors, Umphrey’s McGee led off the night. Minus guitarist Jake Cinninger, percussionist Andy Farag took on a larger central role, while Joel Cummins was particularly animated and pushed forward musically on keys.

UM started with an extended instrumental combo of “The Triple Wide” > “Half Delayed”. With an enthusiastic duo of dancing ASL interpreters onstage supporting the area’s deaf and hard-of-hearing community, Bayliss apologized profusely for opening with 15 minutes of instrumental music and threatened to “talk shit” for a while to give the pair some action.

Perhaps coincidentally, the band followed the monologue with “Speak Up,” which featured elongated solos first from Cummins on keys, then from Brendan Bayliss on guitar, before the whole band eventually found their way back. Given the extra space with their missing member, everyone became more important. Ryan “Bassik” Stasik was prominent throughout the night, exceeding his usual rhythmic foundation with several extended solos and interesting fills.

Joel Cummins of Umphrey’s McGee brought their moe.mentUM tour to Perinton Amphitheater. Photo by Brian Ferguson.

Heads were banging and thrashing in unison during UM crowd favorite “2 x 2”, but the biggest applause came from another Umphrey’s staple, “Higgins” once the band finished. Cummins’ synth pierced the night sky with full auditory bliss during the jam on “Pure Sensation” before “Remind Me”. The band hovered momentarily before they went full-on metal through several stops and starts, before Bayliss shredded chunky riffs to the crowd’s delight.

Umphrey’s McGee ended their 90-minute set with a fun cover of the classic “Kid Charlemagne” by Steely Dan. As the band reached the last verse, Bayliss asked the well-known question, “Is there gas in the car?” He improvised his answer by quipping, “it’s so expensive these days,” and promptly tore into the finishing licks to end the set.

The bands clearly emphasized the importance of giving each other equal time in the spotlight. The set break featured an efficient changeover by the stage crew, reminiscent of a NASCAR tire change.

As the gorgeous final days of spring cooled off and turned to dusk, moe. wasted no time getting heated up by launching directly into a rip roaring “Timmy Tucker” crowd pleaser. Nate laid down the organ immediately before turning things over to Al to bring the song down to its familiar landing.

Al Schnier of moe. and Umphrey’s McGee brought their moe.mentUM tour to Perinton Amphitheater. Photo by Brian Ferguson.

Nate Wilson has been a full-fledged member of moe. for just over three years, but finds a way to stand out during every song, including his own “In Stride”. moe.rons recognized the main event had arrived as the bass thumped before a note was sung from “Bullet” as it pierced through the Fairport sky.

A long buildup and Chuck Garvey’s squealing guitar telegraphed “St. Augustine” to the attentive hardcore fans, while a heavy dose of Jim Loughlin on vibraphone led off the intro of the Allmans cover “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed”. At some point, after Nate’s fingers did a lot of work, drummer Scotty Zwang of UM snuck in to join in tandem with Jim behind the moe. percussionist’s kit as the outro continued to build to a climax. The moe. classic, “Plane Crash” followed the instrumental “Jazz Wank” to bring the second set of the night to an exhilarating landing.

Chuck Garvey of moe. and Umphrey’s McGee brought their moe.mentUM tour to Perinton Amphitheater. Photo by Brian Ferguson.

Symbolic of the respect and brotherhood these bands feel for one another, the encore was a shared event that became the true featured act on this night. “Happy Hour Hero” kicked off the encore with Bayliss and Farag from UM joining the full moe. band.

Garvey, Derhak, Wilson, and Amico tagged out, resulting in a full UM takeover, joined by Schnier and Loughlin. “The Linear” has gained a more prominent place in the Umphrey’s arsenal of late. It cleared the runway for the takeoff of the “Corduroy” grand finale.

The full stage super jam session has become a customary highlight of the moe.mentUM tour, full of spontaneous energy and adventurous jams. For moe. and Umphrey’s McGee, the gratitude for their place on stage for their fans, with each other, and for each other, continues to gain moe.mentUM after all these years together.