Tale of the Show: Umphrey’s McGee- 01/14/24
Diving into the details behind their recent trip to The National and the elite jams that make Umphrey’s McGee stand out
The Set Up: Welcome to Richmond
Richmond, VA contains a passionate musical community, but the town’s biggest shortcoming is a lack of major venues. The amphitheater at Richmond Raceway draws decent acts, including a great show from String Cheese Incident in 2023. The Richmond Coliseum hosted some memorable Dead shows, including a storied and dramatic night captured on Dicks Picks Vol. 21, but now it collects dust downtown amidst failed reconstruction attempts.
With cities like DC and Raliegh within driving distance and arenas in Charlottesville and Norfolk, we often get skipped over by big tours. Our outlook is improving though. Plans are in motion for GreenCity, which will include a 17,000 arena on the north side of town, and construction is underway on the Richmond Riverfront Amphitheater to open in Spring 2025, but all across the city you can find small stages and rock boxes filled with music on any given night.
Until everything plays out for our new venues, there’s currently one undisputed king of stages in Richmond: The National – our best version of a Fillmore or Capitol Theater, where up to 1,500 people can gather under ornate balconies and terracotta features preserving more than a century of the city’s musical history. When it comes to energetic live shows, The National is the best place in town.
Making their 13th appearance at the venue, Umphey’s McGee paid us a visit during the first leg of their 2024 dates, wrapping up a four-night run of North Carolina and Virginia. As they say, never miss a Sunday show, and UM came out ready to give it up to a faithful audience for the first big jam band to come into town this year.
This is my first time seeing UM live. My experience listening to them was limited going in, essentially having fresh ears for these jam veterans. Growing up, long before I got on the bus, I was always drawn to heavier forms of music. Metallica, System of a Down, and Rage Against the Machine were some of my favorites, but I had a wide interest in that genre from a young age. Fast forward to the present day, after years of embracing jam bands, finding one with a hard rock edge sounded like a great match.
Venue Vibes
One thing that strikes me as a Deadhead who branched out into the overall jam band world is the number of Dead icons spread throughout every crowd I find myself in. The band that helped form this community remains a constant presence in our hearts long after Jerry’s passing. The National has held its fair share of Dead history, one time hosting Ratdog along with numerous visits from Dark Star Orchestra, but these halls are filled with stealies every time I visit.
The crowd tonight was largely dialed in, with heads bouncing in rhythmic unison and many fans throwing up the band’s hand gesture between jams. But as we’ve all encountered from time to time, the dreaded vibe-killers lurk. Vibe-killers come in many forms: drunk main characters, the couple who can’t stop their conversation for anything, the sloppy wook; they’re all welcome to the show as much as anyone and they often make their presence felt.
Tonight’s encounter featured a group of bros who settled directly next to me. They loudly talked about the Cowboys v Packers game that night and went on about “woke pansies” and “better days” at an obnoxious volume. One particular hard-nosed individual had a speaking voice matching his charming personality and used it to cheer during all quiet moments and yell song requests to the stage.
On the scale of vibe-killer, I rate this group a solid 9/10, especially with the rest of the room feeling so much more laid back and playful. I eventually gave up my place by the soundboard to get away from the distraction, spending the second set roaming the room where every spot has a great view.
Let’s Get On With the Show
Richmond winters have become increasingly unpredictable in recent years, and this January date had a strong nip to the air. As such, the building filled up early with people ready to light the metaphorical fire. The house lights drop less than 15 minutes after start time, and the band hits the stage showing no signs of fatigue from four nights of traveling across the mid-Atlantic region.
Photo by Alex Falls
Going into this show, the most common thing I read about UM was how much they lean into their hard rock influences, but as the show progressed I was impressed with how dynamic those influences really were. Killer sequences that sound more at home in a metal show than a jam show eventually find their way into the space we all crave from a great sequence, where eclectic and expressive styles form a headspace illustrating the room’s collective consciousness right before our eyes.
In place of the clean and dreamy tones I’m used to from Jerry or Trey, I was getting pummeled with crunchy guitar riffs and slamming drum fills in a way that reminded me of my favorite hard rock shows growing up. Periodically, flavors of jazz and reggae would enter the tapestry, both complimenting and contrasting the night’s aggressive edge. Full unison while wielding massive power; an intricate web of styles being woven in real time.
Jake Cinninger’s guitar work rolled through the room like a freight train, hitting high peaks and painting soothing spaces – a tough balancing act considering the muscle everyone else in the band brings to the equation at the same time. Kris Myers returned to his seat just before this tour after receiving shoulder surgery. His recovery must have gone well, as his slamming fills rung out with full gusto. The intricate light show spinning above the stage and the thundering sounds all around tied us all together in this musical moment.
This is the kind of musical communication that keeps us all coming back. Standing in a small room like The National while a spirited performance shakes the floors and sends vibrations up your spine – it connects everyone in the room who opens their mind to the flow. While I didn’t find quite the same stimulation I get from the Dead or Phish, I did find meaning in the medley of UM’s musical influences on display, accompanied by a fanbase that turned out with energy to spare on a Sunday night.
Photo by Alex Falls
With shows this high quality, our new venues can take their time getting things right. Even when we finally have our state-of-the-art arena, The National will always hold a special place in the hearts of this musical community. How lucky we are bands like UM exist, who know how to roll into town, fill up this intimate room, and tap into our collective vibes to create memories like these before hitting the next town and doing it all over again.
2024 has come and UM kicked off the jams with style. Here’s hoping for a year of great jams ahead!
