Umphrey’s McGee Kicks Off Virtual Tour

With album sales continuing their steady decline, artists have had to think outside the box to market their new releases. Umphrey’s McGee came up with a number of innovative ways to get their fanbase excited about their latest disc, Mantis, and their latest ploy could mark the start of a new trend for the industry: virtual tours. Each day this week the group will unveil a high-quality video from their vaults at five different websites including a preview of their February 5 appearance on Soundstage.

The virtual tour kicks off this afternoon at UM’s iLike page before it moves to our hallowed halls for tomorrow’s clip. The action picks up on Wednesday at AltSounds and WNEW on Thursday before Pop Culture Madness! unveils the final video on Friday. We’re honored to be part of something that’s clearly the wave of the future.

Here’s a look – in no particular order – at the videos the five sites will be debuting as part of the virtual tour…

07.30.06 Fuji Rock Festival, Japan — “Bridgeless”
08.04.06 Lollapalooza, Chicago, IL — “Higgins”
08.31.08 Red Rocks, Morrison, CO — “Wappy Sprayberry”
10.28.07 Vegoose, Las Vegas, NV — “Wizard Burial Ground”
08.21.07 Soundstage — “Morning Song”

Be sure to keep your eyes on HT tomorrow for our exclusive clip.