The sun seemed to smile upon the Rockies as the clouds broke driving
into Denver from Aspen for the continuation of the Colorado edition of
the Umphrey’s Mcgee saga.  Still feeling the bitter pangs of last
night’s bender at the Belly Up and craving more than the five hours of
sleep we were able to fit in to keep on schedule, we were living that
old regretful adage of “shouldn’t have had that one more drink last
night.”  Blissfully watching the snowy mountainsides turn back into
rock, concentrating on just getting there, I couldn’t have guessed how
special the rest of my day would be.  It is not often that a fan gets
to spend most of the day with their favorite band..  On this particular
Saturday in Denver, Umphrey’s McGee made it possible for me to do just
that.  The Fillmore Auditorium in Denver, whose maximum capacity
teeters around 3700 concertgoers, housed the 4th installment of
Umphrey’s McGee’s StewArt Series, and only a few hours later, the
biggest show the band has ever played in Colorado.  This first segment
will be a review of the actual show followed closely by one dedicated
to the S2 event.

Umphrey’s has a lot of competition in Denver.  They are one of the
biggest bands on the jam scene who has yet to even co-bill, let alone
headline a show at the pristine natural wonder that is Red Rocks
Amphitheatre.  However, with the addition of light designer Jefferson
Waful added to the mix, a new light rig and placement concepts for
those lights, their 2009 release “Mantis,” the ideas they have gathered
from the S2 events, and the culmination of the years of hard work which
all of the members have put into the production of the Umphrey’s
machine, they are now in as good of position as ever to really start
seizing their share of the Colorado.  Before this night, I was unaware
how big the market for live music is in Denver.  Looking at the
calendar in the local rag, there were at least five shows, including
Umphrey’s, that I would’ve seen on this given night in the Mile High
City.  Also, it seemed as if all I heard the entire time I was there
was Grateful Dead music.  For a live rock and roll music lover, Denver
seems like a pretty happening place and on Saturday, Umphrey’s most
definitely capitalized on it..

When I arrived, the empty wooden dance floor in the massive Fillmore
Auditorium more resembled a basketball court than a concert hall. 
Fellow Midwesterners Cornmeal were taking the stage as I walked in to
find the sweet spot where the lights, sound and sight line of the
musicians would all be optimal.  Dancing and half way paying attention
to the soulful bluegrass provided by Cornmeal, I studied the stage set
up, only half way realizing the sheer amount of lights that Waful was
able to pack onto the behemoth bandstand.  By the time Cornmeal
finished their set, the wooden floor could not be seen under the swarm
of music hungry fans as the space between each person gradually
diminished to less then their own phone booth’s worth.  It was clear
that this was going to be an event not to be missed, and from my
perspective, not many people were going to miss it.

Umphrey’s McGee took the stage to the call of hundreds of fans
singing “We want the Umph.”  They certainly couldn’t have come a moment
too soon as the room exploded with cheers.  Reggae remix “Turn and Dub”
opened the set and within three minutes, the song started exploring
some hard rock improvisation, driving the song from cool reggae into a
heavy two minute jam which cleared a large space for some intense
guitar soloing by Jake Cinninger before sliding gently back into the
original selection.  Finishing the end of the song, the band followed
bassist Ryan Stasik into a dub jam with fluttering guitar blended this
time by Brendan Bayliss before Kris Myers picked up the pace of the jam
to help it lead it into the electrifying “1348,” the closing track from
Mantis.  The heavy rock theme of “1348” lent itself well to a heavy
metal themed, structured improvisation led by heavily distorted guitar
whacks of Cinninger as it rocked toward the opening lines of
“Bridgeless.”  Umphrey’s characteristically does not repeat the same
song on a tour, but having twice repeated the first half of this
unbelievably technical song with too many notes to need a bridge, I was
surprised to hear it again, and even more surprised that it was again
left unfinished as they launched it, on the back of another metal
tinged solo by Cinninger, back into the manic end of “1348.”

After a breather and a drink, Myers uncorked the jazzy, bubbly intro
of the title track from their 2004 album “Anchor Drops.”  The audience
swayed as Bayliss serenaded us the message to “Breathe easy,” before
allowing Cinninger to steal that breath with a momentary blues guitar
fury before returning to the mellow groove.  That smoothness would only
last for another moment as the fizzling ending of the song arrived and
another metal induced rage fell over Cinninger as he opened the
forceful funk of “Tribute to the Spinal Shaft.”  The eruption cooled
for an ethereal jam section before returning to the main theme of the
song which opens back up into a guitar lick upsurge by Bayliss after an
impossible composed harmonized riff by both guitarists.  Slow funk
takes over as the steam is released into a slow, easy jam.  The jam
builds within a moment to sharp dual guitar melody from the spacey jam
before an increase in tempo by Myers to give it a more danceable base
which grooved in and out of the parts already played.  Without any
further place to go in “Tribute,” the jam faded into the reggae intro
of “FF.”  The song escalated quickly into a driving, feel good disco
rock jam as Cinninger launched fireworks from his arsenal of guitar
licks as Waful dazzled the audience with strobe light spectacle.  After
again fading back into an airy flit, Cinninger dialed in the opening
synthesizer lines of the timeless Who masterpiece, “Baba O’Riley.” 
Allie Krall, fire starter fiddler from Cornmeal, was invited out to
join the fun as the septet blazed through the glorious jam section of
the song, peaking majestically with a Cinninger Krall duel in front of
sparkling LED’s as the song ended the stunned audience erupted.

There is probably nothing that could prepare a person for what
Umphrey’s did during the second set.  The primal energy of “Wizard
Burial Ground” began the furious march through one of the most intense
sets I’ve ever seen.  Waful really turned up the heat as Bayliss and
Cinninger rampaged through the harmonized section into an unrelenting
solo by Cinninger.  The front lights dropped as Stasik started in on
the opening riff of “Wappy Sprayberry,” leaving “Wizard” unfinished. 
Blue and red beams raced around the stage behind the silhouetted band
as they built the dance party intro into the rock and roll verse.  A
four to the floor trance jam began to build as each member found a
place to fit themselves in for a sonic race to an unrelenting techno
and back into a heavier, almost industrial take on the which which
continued into the verse with heavy guitar chords from Cinninger and
deep, heavy synth of Joel Cummins.  Without a breath or warning, the
band leaped into the animated opus of “Miss Tinkle’s Overture.”  A slow
jam in the middle built into the thunderous finale as it raved up to
its apex with lights flashing in every direction before flashing like
lightning to its frenzied conclusion.  This block of music was easily
the most intense part of the night, highlighting the synchronization of
each member with each other and the music with the lights.

The band gave the audience a small reprieve, flaoting into th