I can’t believe they came to Albuquerque!” exclaimed the young girl in the printed sundress. But I don’t think she was referencing President Obama and his entourage’s visit to the Duke City earlier that day. Rather, as we were standing in the upstairs bathroom of The Historic El Rey Theatre in downtown Albuquerque, she must have been talking about the true reason New Mexicans from all walks of life came together this night: Umphrey’s McGee was in town!
So, they both hail from Chicago. And one had a small security detail rather than Secret Service; more dreds in their crowd than crewcuts; and ice cold beer being served in place of coffee and tea. But the funkified sounds and sheer wizardry of Umphrey’s McGee (affectionately known as “UM”) ensured that we, who came from all over the state and beyond, were the privileged.
Enveloped by soft fog machine-induced smoke and backed by rhythmic crimson, cerulean and flaxen stage lighting that, at times, resembled the Tibetan sun, Brendan Bayliss (guitar/vocals), Jake Cinninger (guitar/vocals), Joel Cummins (keyboards/vocals), Andy Farag (percussion), Kris Myers (drums/vocals), and Ryan Stasik (killer bass) appeared on stage playing the theme music from “Sanford and Son”. Following a little tweaking of their sound, and some very cool and well-timed lighting changes from the booth to my left, UM exploded into a 19-minute rendition of “2 x 2”. The crowd erupted into a frenzy of dance moves, including everything from simple bluesy grooves and hippy sways to all-out head-banging!
UM’s entire first set ran a little over an hour and included tunes from their latest album, Mantis (released on inauguration day, 2009 – go figure!) and a very hip take on Wings’ “Band on the Run." It ended with a 13-minute “Mulche’s Odyssey”.
During the band’s one and only break, the crowd begrudgingly moved from the dance floor to mingle near the bar or to duck outside for a quick smoke.It wasn’t much longer until the dance crowd found their way back to the floor and UM settled in for their second phenomenal set which encompassed the sounds and imaginative spirit of reggae, metal, surf music and, yes, even Beethoven. They ended an hour later with an absurd 26½-minute version of “Der Bluten Kat”. The dance party never seemed to stop!
Once they left the stage, you could feel the vibration of unleashed energy. With fists pumping and feet pounding the delicate flooring of this historic venue, the Umphreaks went wild with anticipation of a climactic encore. And they were NOT disappointed.
Amid the hooting and stomping, UM reclaimed the stage with a sweetly melodic “Hajimemashite”, my husband’s favorite. But what really finished off the night was an Umphrey’s special mash-up of the Beatles’ “Come Together” and Nine Inch Nails’ “Closer”. With lyrics like “I want to fuck you right now… over me”, this creation they dubbed “Come Closer” was a triumphant finish… and much classier than, let’s say, “Hail to the Chief”.
