January 15th held a mellow afternoon in San Diego with just a small layer of hazy clouds in the sky, almost 70 degrees and no sign of rain. However, in the San Diego House of Blues, weather fronts collided unleashing a powerful musical storm called Umphrey's McGee.17356
With the epidemic-like spread of the Guitar Hero and Rock Band video games, Rock and Roll music has been packaged neatly into five little buttons as mind numbing, modified studio versions of classic hits are practically put on repeat in households throughout the world. Perhaps to counterbalance this ...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
Fourteen months ago, on Halloween, Umphrey's McGee played one of the most impressive shows I'd ever seen. The buzz surrounding the event was undeniable and the actual show was religious. At the time the band was on the precipice of some major changes. Light design artist Jefferson Waful was ...view article
Led by drummer José Medeles (Breeders, 1939 Ensemble, Revival Drum Shop), Railroad Cadences & Melancholic Anthems is a drummer’s tribute to guitarist and DIY iconoclast John Fahey. Joined for a series of guitar and drum duets with M. Ward, experimental guitarist Marisa Anderson, and Chris Funk (Decemberists, ...view article
As the sun dropped behind the thick timberland's of the northwestern mitten, Umphrey’s McGee came out as cool as the air. Kris Myers and Joel Cummins were facing a double-header of music that evening, as they had just wrapped up another amazing set with their other project, Digital Tape Machine, ...view article
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
San Diego was visited by an embarrassment of musical riches on this particular Tuesday night. In patchouli-soaked Ocean Beach, the city's own beachside Haight Ashbury, Leftover Salmon's Vince Herman led his Great American Taxi side project through an evening of bluegrass-tinged, southern-fried rock.
.jpg "Umphrey's McGee - 1/15/2010: House of Blues; San Diego, CA")
.jpg "Umphrey's McGee - 10/24/2009: Umphrey's StewArt (S2) Crystal Ballroom Portland, OR")
.jpg "Umphrey's McGee - 01/16/2010: The Regency Ballroom; San Francisco, CA")
.jpg "Umphrey's McGee - 10/25/2009: Eureka Theatre, Eureka CA")
