After three days of being showered with rain, covered by clouds and fog, Oregon bid us a sweet, sunny farewell as we crossed back into the promised land of California to take part in day four in a row of the Umphrey's McGee 2009 West Coast Tour. The entire journey was a dramatic, mountainous blanket ...view article

The excitement can be seen on every one of the other 49 faces in the Crystal Ballroom's waiting area as the anticipation for the Umphrey's McGee's second StewArt event reaches it's peak. After a few moments, the door opens and pianist Joel Cummins enters the room first, followed closely by the rest ...view article

Monday was a well needed day of rest. After only 4 days of tour but an impressive 1500 miles on the road, the Brians and I were ready to relax a bit in good ol' San Francisco. We made use of the free evening to catch up on some sleep and make some progress on our developing “Terpes” (tour ...view article

McNear's Mystic Theater in Petaluma, California was the first sold out show of the west coast tour to my knowledge. With a capacity of 550 and a proximity to San Francisco of some 40 miles, it's easy to understand why. Umphrey's was definitely feeling the energy last night as they proceeded ...view article

The West Hollywood show at the House of Blues seemed different than any of the other west coast shows. It was the first show we didn't drive to; we flew down via Virgin Airlines. This show also had a large population of Phish heads in attendance due to the imminent Festival 8 in Indio Valley; ...view article

There is something classic about the heart of downtown Chicago, a draw to it that is undeniable. A hop away from the Chicago river, and below the cities attractive skyline; The House of Blues lights up the night. Though the House of Blues is a smaller venue it has an antique design and has a calling ...view article

Some music seems to surpass all the rest and breakthrough barriers on genres, listening to the music come together by the band Railroad Earth emphasizes the captivating uniqueness that string instruments can create. This band sheds a light onto the stage and on the night before Halloween at the Vic ...view article

With toils and trouble all through Chicago, there was only one concert that could spook like no other. Down in the loop there brewed chaos as witches, zombies, ghosts, ghouls and even Max (from Where the Wild Things Are) s wormed the Auditorium Theater looking for life in the night. Antsy, wide eyed ...view article

When I was but a wee little fourth grader in Saint Paul, MN I worked on a group research project about a place that I had never seen and, as far as I was concerned, was too far away and too wild to possibly exist in the same universe. Yosemite National Park in California was about as distant to me ...view article

Few would argue that listening to decades-old recordings of the Grateful Dead's Tuesday, May 9, 1978 show at the Onondaga County War Memorial in Syracuse, New York, is a viable substitute for having attended the actual concert. That being said, Dead Heads and music fans of all ages got a rare ...view article