Wade’s World: An Inside Look at USTORM

The Back Story: Phish’s multi-genre approach to songwriting swept the country by storm and created a giant roving community eerily similar to the Grateful Dead’s. The difference was this community was full of musicians with ears keen to what was happening on stage and wanted to expound upon it. If this sound can fill an arena, than what about a new sound inspired by Phish? It was this question that sent many dorm-room hopefuls to music stores to buy that first axe, or run out and fill out an application at their local sound company. This new generation of inspired individuals would end up creating a new genre of music that defied any labels previously applied to music. The core of it all: improvisation. It was only natural the label of “Jamband” was applied to the new breed of bands, such as the Disco Biscuits and moe.

These bands shared success when their impetus was off the road and even started to sell tickets while they were on the road, building their own tiny communities of “jamband fans.” While this may seem like the ideal situation that all of us band and crew members were looking for, there was an underlying curse. As more and more bands started to surface, the scene became more and more divided. Disco Biscuit kids would NOT be caught dead at a Widespread Panic show, and likewise, moe.rons would rather eat glass than listen to STS9. The large, vibrant community that inspired us to go down this road is becoming more and more separated and negative. Hidden Track’s tag line of “My Band Can Beat Up Your band” isn’t so far from the truth of the scene’s fan bases.

On one hand you have the very positive progression of music, and on the other you have the negative subdivisions of fans that keeps splintering as new kids get into the scene. There is relatively nothing or no one trying to keep the vibe of the community alive, as once-hippy promoters are running around trying to sell Bloc Party tickets and book Wilco at their festivals, and once-positive message boards are now just dens of hate and disgust.

I finally found that positive feeling again at USTORM’s 1st birthday party. None of us knew what was going to happen. Umphrey’s McGee guitarist Brendan Bayliss just got on the phone and started calling his friends in the scene that he enjoyed playing music with to celebrate his non-profit organization’s first year of operation. What ended up happening was some really good music, very inspired improvisation, and a long-awaited sense of community.

Being that it is the opening week for a lot of ball clubs, I will announce the lineup like a baseball team.

YOUR 2007 USTORM DEGENERATES OF ROCK

Player

Position

Team

Jeff Austin

Starting Mandolin

Yonder Mountain

Al Schnier

Guitar

Moe

Brendan Bayliss

Guitar/Vocals/Dad

Umphrey’s McGee

Andy Xanadu Farag

Percussion City

Umphrey’s McGee

Ryan Stasic

Bass/No Vocals

Umphrey’s McGee

Kris Myers

Drums

Umphrey’s McGee

Ron Johnson

Bass

New Monsoon/KDTU

Jennifer Hartswick

Trumpet/Vocals

Trey Anastasio Band

Aron Magner

Keysmageddon

Disco Biscuits

Marc Brownstein

Bass

Disco Biscuits

Josh Quinlan

Sax

Ray’s Music Exchange

Jake Cinniger

Drums/Guitar

Umphrey’s McGee

Robbie Williams

Stage Manager

Umphrey’s McGee

Wade Wilby

Production Manager

My Chemical Romance

Adam Gerard Budney

Lights

Umphrey’s McGee

Kevin Gregory

Sound

Yonder Mountain

Bob Ston

Monitors

Umphrey’s McGee

As you might have guessed, rehearsal was a little “loose” and gave way to some good dialogue and song selection for the following evening. It was quite the treat to see Al Schnier, Brendan Bayliss, Jeff Austin, and Jake Cinninger on Drums perform an acoustic Crazy Train that never made it to the set (for good reason).

A bluegrass version of I’ve Just Seen A Face with Al and Brendan was arranged while we drank and cheered. Don’t Do It was attempted in the ruckus and didn’t find its way to the actual set. Jim Pollock (thank you again for the amazing posters) was even getting down to Chameleon, with Josh Quinlan and Jen Hartswick taking short solos. Vince Iwinski, manager for Umphrey’s McGee, raised a toast: “To Good Intentions.” We were all here doing something for the community (or “The Kids” as we say) while reinvigorating our own community. Spirits were high and everyone was feeling the comraderie that was abound.

The next day at soundcheck, clocked in at an excruciating 3 hours, the good vibes continued to roll. Arrangements for tunes were set in stone, lyric sheets were printed, clams were ever-present, lights were focused, the guest list found its way to the box office, the musicians caught up with one another as they broke off into little rehearsal groups and Brownie finally decided to show up with nothing but the clothes on his back. It was time to open doors and see if this thing was going to trainwreck as hard as we thought it would.

Kids from the Off The Streets Club opened the show with an acapella version of Happy Birthday, after which they were presented with a check for $3,000 from USTORM. Next up, the comedy stylings of Jeff Austin and Brendan Bayliss occasionally interrupted by song. These guys need to take this act on the road…and quick. The banter was perfect, and one of the better versions of Always Up ensued.

Jake Cinninger was the first one thrown under the “Who has to play with Brendan and Jeff first” bus and rolled through soulful versions of Susannah and That’s The Way. One of the greatest parts musically throughout the night was the way so many individual voices with such character complemented each other in the mix. You have Brendan Bayliss, Jeff Austin, Jake Cinninger, Jennifer Hartswick, and Al Schnier, all from COMPLETELY different schools of singing, pulling off these really soulful and original sounding versions of all these old rock songs. Grave was absolutely one of those songs and a huge highlight of the evening.

As far as the first set is concerned, it was the set closing rendition of The Band’s immortal song The Weight that got the musicians feeling that “Last Waltz” atmosphere, all just really thankful to be in each other’s presence for one night to mess around, show off, do something good for the community, and just rock out. It was particularly amazing to watch Jeff Austin play with a drummer. His playing and personality were electric all the way, headbanging and lunging, and even confessed to wanting an axe multiple times throughout the night to go “Neil Young” style with. Maybe someday Jeff.

The second set was a whole new ballgame, with the crowd and band in equilibrium agreement, and the electric guitars were coming out of the boat (thanks Robbie). In The Kitchen was the first pitch. Brownie later confessed to anticipating the crowd’s expected response of “Chicago,” imitating the crowd yelling and throwing their hands in the air. Of course, the crowd did not disappoint and the first jam was in motion. Everyone was making good eye contact and the changes seemed pretty natural. Lots of smiling and no one really taking the lead made for a good first team jam that landed at Pink Floyd’s, Have A Cigar.

What happened next had to be seen to be believed. Al came waltzing back on stage and started a vamp that would become an intense, room-filling, balcony-rocking version of Life During Wartime, and that set the tone for the rest of the evening. Everyone in that place was moving. Jeff Austin looked like he could have put his foot through a monitor and destroyed his mandolin. Al was stomping, Jake was DESTROYING the drum set, and Magner banged his head off the side of the piano and just kept fucking rocking.

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This one-year-old birthday party just turned into a rock show. Thank God we sent the kids home early.

Dear Prudence was highlighted by an amazing guitar solo from Al that really made me realize what a great guitar player he is. I also have to say the same about Magner, having heard him on a real piano. It was just great to see these musicians out of their element and showcasing their talents without the usual distractions they have in their own bands.

Zappa Time was a blast, with Josh Quinlan turning in a far out solo for the jam out of Willie the Pimp that would dissipate into Karma Police, with Brendan and Al singing harmony. The two sounded great together, and by the song’s epic outro heightened by the lyrics: “For a minute there, I lost myself,” they had the crowd booming every word.

It was time for another original, this time from the moe. catalogue. Once the crowd realized Moth was the selection, the place was electric. The jam out of this was incredible and gave way to a Hartswick-led version of Helter Skelter that sent everyone into a frenzy. Jen’s voice was raspy and rocky and gave a vintage tone to this already filthy version. As the improv began to fizzle down, Brendan put down his guitar and grabbed his bottle of water. A smooth groove was laid down and the horns floated in a sexy melody. Two girls in the front row must have been huge Beck fans because they noticed it was Debra right away. Bayliss nailed it, in its original key of G, like promised, with amazing delivery.

Clocking in at an enormous two hours and nine minutes, there had to be some cuts to the set. The crowd never heard Partyin’ Peeps or Can’t You Hear Me Knockin, both of which were planned for the encore as well as a Bitches Brew jam. But what didn’t get cut was the set closing run of Home Again > Brain Damage > Eclipse that was the perfect nightcap. The whole thing would have gone down in flames without this in-depth rehearsal:

[youtube]p11jM9CjDoM[/youtube]

Brownie came off stage with a smile from ear-to-ear and said “I want to play this version for my boys.” It truly was a version to be proud of. The crowd once again joined the band in song, rawkus and inibriated, like you should be at 1 am at a one-year old’s birthday party.

Late in the Evening put an exclamation point on a great weekend that saw almost $20,000 raised for USTORM and created a positive sense of community. I want to thank all the musicians, the most solid crew evs, the fans, and everyone at USTORM for putting something really positive together. I hope we do it all again next year.

We here at HT hope so, too, Wade…and we want front-row tickets!

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13 Responses

  1. Thanks for the recap Wade! You make me nervous…cuz now I have to go write my review!

    Personal thanks for taking care of my belongings! What a night! Great time had by all….this sure sets the bar high for future events!

    -b

  2. With UM not playing as many shows in Chicago as they used to, it’s the one’s like these and the annual Jake/Brendan Christmas show that really resonate as the special hometown shows…A great read Wade.

  3. Those first 5 paragraphs need to be read by all “jam band” fans. I can’t say enough about how well you put that.
    ::returns to den of hate with message of peace and love::

  4. Very nice read Wade. The evening was great – thanks to all…

    Just to clarify…the accounting for the evening is still taking place. We don’t have any kind of “official” talley of the total amount raised after expenses, etc. We look forward to updating everyone in the near future with regards to how much was raised, and more importantly, where some of those funds are going.

    THanks again to everyone that participated. It was a great night…let’s do it again next year, huh?

    Thanks!

    Barry Brown (and Brendan Bayliss, Kevin Kostelecky
    and Mike LeMaistre
    The USTORM Foundation

  5. Thanks to Barry and all the board members of USTORM for the hard work they have put in over the last year. Sometimes it’s important to give as well as receive. (that’s what she said!)

  6. “There is relatively nothing or no one trying to keep the vibe of the community alive”

    We saw this too, MIDWESTpeeps is here to help gel a community that has so much potential to be great. Sorry for the shameless plug but it seemed like a good place.

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