wow. UM getting blown off their own stage three nights in a row. What a debacle.
you underestimate the power of 3 nights of UM in chitown for NYE. they put on a good show! and there are bound to be some good collaborations with all that talent at the Aragon for the weekend.
UM opened for Los Lobos at the Roots River Festival last year. I was backstage after UM came off the stage, before Los Lobos started, and the guys in LL were blown away by UM and were having them sign copies of their CD and were giving them all kinds of praise. It was cool to watchit all go down and afterwards when chatting with Brenden, he was really excited that a band that he\'d listened to for years was so excited to see him play. glad to see they could invite LL to their party.
^^i agree.. and props again for picking up horns on a big night. something thats way too infrequent in the so-called jam-band circuit. TB should absolutely look into a trumpet/sax combo to fill their sound even more, the funk thickens.
I\'m a huge UM fan. Saw them 3 weeks ago in St. Paul and seeing them this weekend in Davenport, IA. Noticed the listing in the free Chicago paper "The Reader" today. Sort of surprises me. They can sell out the Aragon without any help, they do it every New Years. I think it\'s just a way for them to engage their audience to discover other great musicians and maybe some interesting interplay between them will commence.
They can sell out the Aragon without any help, they do it every New Years.
12/30/05 and 12/31/05 were the only times UM has played at the Aragon.
they have increased either the size of their NYE venue, or the number of days every year.
2000: 31st @ the cubby bear
2001: 31st @ the Vic
2002: 30th & 31st @ the Vic
2003: 29th, 30th & 31st @ the Vic
2004: 30th & 31st @ the Riveria
2005: 30th & 31st @ the Aragon
that is some ser progress
Here\'s the deal with UM: They play a great song like "All in Time" and then they go into a space jam for about 10 minutes. Then they play another great song like "The Crooked One", and then they go into another space jam. Their song structure is really good, but the jams are too mellow - they don\'t have the hard rocking riffs and scorching fast guitar solos like the Breakfast. I respect their ability but they need to go in the direction of Alt rock and away from jam. Even though I love jams (or structured instrumental compostions), UM can\'t seem to produce great instrumental passages the way they can produce great songs.
UM will do fine. They have quite a following in the Midwest and receive much love in Chicago. There will definitely be some minds expanded by the great choice of opening acts. Like Leith said, props to the management for being able to put together such a diverse and solid collection of musicians.
these guys are becoming one of my favorite bands right now. They have some amazing talent, and have really solid albums. i agree their songs are way better than their jams, but i can\'t wait to see them again with more knowledge of their tunes. 2 night run in burlington = bad timing. i wish these guys the best of luck, even though they definitly do not need it
October 4th Toad\'s. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
i\'ll give them another shot but i wasn\'t impressed when i last saw them.
I stand corrected on my Umphreys history. With my fervent passion for this band, I have lost my head once again. Just got back from the River Roots Festival where they again put on a major kick ass performance last night. Then saw Kris with Drop Q later in the night. Got the New Year\'s tix yesterday. Can\'t believe the Breakfast is going to be here in 5 days!!!
i\'ll give them another shot but i wasn\'t impressed when i last saw them.
you should check out the album "Local Band Does OK". Gavin got a copy and since i burned it its been in my cd player nonstop. i am now an official fan. "Safety in Numbers" sucks taint
^So does anchor plops imo. For a while it was the only umphreys i had really heard so i hated on em but after listening to Local Band my opinion about them has changed. i still havn\'t seen em live or listened to any recordings of live shows.