umphreys mcgee orlando

Gotta Have The UMPH! Umphrey’s McGee playing Orlando & St. Pete! | August 21 & 23 | House of Blues Orlando & Jannus Live, St Pete |

by • August 13, 2015

Face melting guitar solos one moment into a full blown dance party the next! A friend once explained the sound of Umphrey’s McGees to me:

“Imagine Zeppelin, Floyd, the Talking Heads, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Van Halen, and Black Sabbath had a baby.”

For the 3rd year in a row Umphrey’s McGee is making a multi night run through the Sunshine State with 3 stops this year; Orlando – Friday, August 21, Miami – Saturday, August 22, and St. Petersburg – Sunday, August 23. Something about the blue skies, sunny weather and beaches always seems to put the band in high spirits as they throw down two sets of rock n roll.

GET THE UMPH! TIX FOR HO– USE OF BLUES ORLANDO – AUG 21!

GET THE UMPH! TIX FOR ST. PETE AT JANNUS LIVE – AUG 23!

Earlier this summer I watch this band mesmerize a sold out crowd at Red Rocks Amphitheater in the middle of a lightning storm and couldn’t have been happier. Umphrey’s Mcgee formed in South Bend, Indiana and have been honing their craft on the road relentlessly since ’98. In recent years they have been playing well over a 100 shows a year with a new and varied setlist every night. The improvisation and variety of the music makes it worth catching multiple shows when they are in the area (Orlando & St. Pete for me). With 71 shows under their belt this year (as of this writing) they have already covered 95 different songs which they mix in each night with originals from their nine albums.

GET THE UMPH! AT HO– USE OF BLUES ORLANDO – AUG 21!

GET THE UMPH! IN ST. PETE AT JANNUS LIVE – AUG 23!

The band’s experimentation on their music and how it’s experienced has spilled over into their lives shows in many different ways. Since 2009, Jefferson Waful has traveled with the band as lighting director/wizard, and once you’ve seen them live you may agree with me that he is like a 7th member of the band ‘playing’ the lights like an instrument. Just check out this shot our staff photographer, Matthew Wright took of their show earlier this year in St. Augustine!

umphreys mcgee live review

Not to be out done by the visual experience, the sound team have put together a program called “Headphones & Snowcones.” Bad news up front is you do not get a snow cone but what you do get is much better (and I love snow cones), a live pristine soundboard mix delivered to you via a wireless monitor and a pair of high fi headphones.

I used a pair of the headphones last year for the House of Blues Orlando show and could not stop grinning from the opening note till the encore finished and curtain dropped. My one reservation going in was that the headphones might be isolating from the live experience of the crowd but in fact the opposite was true. Countless strangers went from befuddled to blown away as the odd guy wearing headphones at the show offered them a minute or two of the perfect sound.  Included with the headphones (or available on its own) is a full MP3 copy of the nights show to relive in all its glory.

GET THE UMPH! TIX FOR HO– USE OF BLUES ORLANDO – AUG 21!

GET THE UMPH! TIX FOR ST. PETE AT JANNUS LIVE – AUG 23!

Opening the show is one of Mitch‘s favorites, J. Roddy Walston & The Business, an epic piano-rock band. Check out their single “Heavy Bells” below. 🙂

Hope to see yall there. I plan to be wearing headphones both nights. \mm/”

GET THE UMPH! TIX FOR HO– USE OF BLUES ORLANDO – AUG 21!

GET THE UMPH! TIX FOR ST. PETE AT JANNUS LIVE – AUG 23!

Umphrey’s McGee Orlando & Umphrey’s McGee St. Pete Tampa preview by Mike Miller.


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