Located on the banks of the Des Moines River, the Simon Estes Amphitheater was the site of yet another Umphrey’s McGee ‘musical-Mona Lisa’. A truly beautiful setting for a night that would include some of summer’s most electric moments. The ever-present feeling of the impending Fourth of ...view article

Autumn came late this year to San Diego, "America's Finest City." But the damp, chilly sea air belied the rising temperature inside the Gaslamp District's House of Blues, where Grace Potter and the Nocturnals (GPN) heated things up with their scorching stew of roots-inspired rock that included liberal ...view article

My first exposure to the avant-garde jazz trio Medeski Martin and Wood (conveniently known as MMW) was at the State Palace Theater during a Jazz Fest weekend in 1999 New Orleans.  MMW was still relatively new, but had the distinction of opening for Phish in 1995, which stamped them with the Phish ...view article

Holidaze is not the kind of festival that anyone ends up at by accident or gets dragged to by a friend.  It’s an exclusive event for only the most die hard of fans, of which even fewer make the cut to get tickets ten months in advance to see their favorite bands throw down on the beach at the ...view article

Coming off of one of their most prolific tours in recent memory, selling out nearly every show they played (including The Fillmore in Denver, Colorado), Umphrey’s McGee descended on the ever-familiar frozen tundra of Minneapolis for two consecutive nights at the First Avenue.

The raucous ...view article

The Aragon Ballroom in Chicago was a storm of rock and roll energy on the second to last day of 2009 as hometown heroes Umphrey's McGee laid musical carnage on a few thousand lucky ears.  This New Year's run marks the 12th anniversary of the momentous three days of fury that is to Umphrey's fans ...view article

Any moderately warm, sunny day spent in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park is bound to be a good day.  This past weekend proved to be no exception to this general rule as people young and old packed the park for the 18th annual four day long Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival.17356

Six stages ...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

For no other reason than seeming regional proximity, San Diego is sometimes overshadowed by the Los Angeles/Orange County megalopolis; that seemingly unending, 150 mile slab of asphalt and concrete that stretches from the dusty San Fernando Valley in the north to quaint San Clemente to the south.  ...view article