Kris Myers lights it up during '1348' at The Pageant, St. Louis, MO on 12/29/11
Ryan Stasik remembers a couple December shows of yesteryear that are now available for half off during the UMLive flash sale.
12/16/07 Carribean Holidaze, Runaway Bay, Jamaica
Playing on the beach is always awesome. Playing on the beach under the stars in Jamaica is particuarly awesome. And playing with Andrew Tosh & his giant spliff on that beach was most awesome. Keller Williams joined in on the fun for a great version of Partyin' Peeps as well. Good times people.
12/31/04 The Riviera, Chicago, IL
Hmmmm, Jugglers, trapeze, Jake on drums, horn with Ophelia and sledgehammer, Mini Kiss running around stage drunk on my tequila.....I'd say this is worthy of a listen!
And we are proud to feature Micah Gordon, Director of Production at Nugs.net/LiveDownloads.com, as a guest blogger reflecting on a few decemeber gems.
12/29/06 Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, IL
This was my first New Years run experience with Umphrey’s McGee. Unfortunately I was only able to go to the first night because I had to work on the 30th and 31st but as far as I was concerned the band played like it was New Years Eve. The Ocean Billy book ends were perfectly haunting for the reverberant Aragon Ballroom, the 2nd set All In Time opener was spectaculr, but the highlight of the show was the 17 minute August. Performed with soaring guitar solos this one is not to be missed.
12/31/07 Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, IL
I was back in Chicago for three full nights of Umphrey’s McGee at the Aragon. This venue was the site of my first concert ever as a 7th grader and many more shows throughout high school. I had never really heard good sound in this room but the Sound Caresser had the place dialed in. It was the first time that I had ever heard the pipe organ in use and also the first time that I'd seen the band perform with horns. The countdown is a moment that I will never forget. I knew that there was nowhere else in the world that I wanted to be at that moment.
12/30/08 Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, IL
The Auditorium Theatre is such a beautiful room that brings out the best in any artist. This show was my favorite of the three night run featuring Stanley Jordan and Joshua Redman. I had seen lots of sit-ins with lots of band in the past where the band played around the guest. Tonight, Redman became the 7th member of the band. It felt as if he was had playing with them since day one. And when you thought it couldn’t get any better, they brought out Stanley Jordan. The trio of guitars during 40’s Theme between Jake, Brendan and Stanley was over the top.
Joel Cummins reflects on a couple of old gems that are currently on sale at umlive.net. Head over and stock up on some new cheap tunes for the Holidays.
12/3/04 Variety Playhouse, Atlanta GA
The end of 2004 marked a turning point for the band as we sold out many of the shows in towns where we had never had a sell out before. The Variety was another sold out affair and also marked the 2nd night in a row that the fire marshall shut the show for a few minutes because it just got too darn crazy in there. Some fun improv inside the Haunt, FF & Much Obliged and a few rarities such as Pequod, Ahab, Kat's Tune, Metallica's "And Justice For All" highlight this show before it concludes with a wild version of Front Porch. Enjoy the energy of
this 2004 classic from one of our favorite early venues to throw down in the South!
12/01/07 Borders, Ann Arbor, MI
The hilariousness of this set cannot be described in words. I can still remember being slightly hung over and walking into the first ever Borders book store that Saturday morning. And I thought to myself, these people have no idea what's about to happen. We laid down a rock show on our practice gear, including the wildly inappropriate set closer of Wizard Burial Ground. With lattes being shaken off of tables in the cafe, we knew the Borders cooking section where we had set up would never be the same. Also of note, enjoy my various comments and questions as I traverse around the crowd with the wireless microphone the kind people at Borders provided for us. And this one is less than $3!
Rocking out in the food & wine department
Joel fielding some Q&A during Kat's Tune
Rachel Lowen, our merchandise development guru, walks you through the the details of just how it all goes down. Head over to our ebay page and bid on any one of this year's mash up costumes, support The People's School of Music and help us get the next generation of kids musical education.
October is always a little weird around the office. Most days, the UM HQ chugs along to a healthy melody of tour planning, merchandising, coming up with fresh ideas to get the music out there- all the good stuff. While none of that slows down, there is certainly a pinch of pizazz added to the mix as the mash-up costume planning begins, and conference tables once covered in contracts and guitar strings becomes overrun with faux facial hair, spirit gum and character wigs.
For the last four years, since the boys adopted musical and costume mash-ups as a central theme to our Halloween shows, I've worked with the band to piece together their outfits for the big night. The process typically starts with a comical group email chain in mid-September with lists of "hilarious characters with first names for last names", and by October 1 the costume scouting is underway. The most fun characters to piece together, are those with an iconic era to their image, and familiar costume pieces recognizable with little explanation- see: Brendan's Richard Simmons short-shorts. We gather the images of the two characters being mashed-up, choose which piece from which character to wear, and then I hit local costume shops, thrift stores, and the interwebs to create the look.
Rachel & The Band backstage at the Tabernacle
Working in branding, my eyes have become trained to spot trends, and some interesting ones have emerged from year to year with the band's costume choices. Andy seems to go for sports legends and iconic American characters. Brendan and Jake have both stuck with eccentric guitarists from year to year, keeping in character for much of the show- often to a truly surreal level (see: Jake as Paul Stanley). Ryan has historically been the easiest, as no matter what the character, he's (hilariously) already owned much of his costume- "I'm doing Dr. Evil Knievel, and I'll just need the bald head, since I have a full Evil Knievel suit...I'm doing Brett Michael's Jackson, but I'll really just need the blond wig and Ed Hardy tee since I have the Michael Jackson outfit and red Thriller jacket at home." Kris has proven himself to be a character actor through and through, often choosing a mash-up for emphasis on the personality- Larry David Letterman's Top 10 Lists, and Pamela Anderson Cooper's reporting as examples. Joel has portrayed keyboardist mash-ups two of the four years we've done this, and total "big personality" wild cards the other two years. Can't wait to see what he comes up with next year.
We've learned some valuable lessons over the years- mainly, over all else, wear something you can play in! (see: Kris' Incredible Hulk Hogan in 2008).
Helping the guys create their mash-ups is one of the most fun parts of my job here at UM HQ. The creativity and spirit of the band never ceases to amaze.
Till next year,
Rachel