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Umphrey’s McGee in Toronto

Photo by Andrew Dubinsky

Umphrey’s McGee
Danforth Music Hall
Toronto, ON
October 24

Eclectic aficionados, music nerds, progressive rockers disguised as a jamband: all apt descriptions of Umphrey’s McGee. In calmly and consistently hitting the road over the past decade and a half, the Chicago six-piece has earned its place as one of the most dependable touring units in the game. Setting up shop in the recently-converted general admission confines of the Danforth Music Hall, the powerful and airtight band turned in its best Toronto show to date.

With a cloud of smoke quickly forming in the evidently lax venue, “Depth Charge” opened the first set in ominous fashion. The novice instrumental led into “Ocean Billy,” a sprawling fusion of orchestration and dance-rock bliss. Brendan Bayliss carved out precise bolts of guitar punctuation while fellow axe-wielder Jake Cinninger soloed, the ripping jam cooling down before Joel Cummins’ quartet of piano notes led a massive finish. Two songs in and the night was already a success.

As set one rolled on, “Made To Measure” suffered from multiple personality disorder – never living up to the promise of its spacey intro. A segue into “Professor Wormborg,” however, allowed Cinninger to tear some high notes and redeem the segment. His authority continued on “Cemetery Walk” before Bayliss joined in for fiery dueling action and some lead locus of his own on “Fussy Dutchman.” A cover of “Miss Gradenko” (by The Police) was then played by request for a persistent fan up front, briefly delaying the emphatic set-closing “40’s Theme.” Taking over vocal duties, Cinninger put some umph (pun intended) into the performance – enthusiastically gesturing with his hands before a sultry jam emerged. The subdued vibe would not last long, Bayliss eventually traveling high up his fretboard during a pummeling peak replete with white lights and intense energy.

The second set was mildly redundant, but that didn’t diminish the technical command and playful elements on tap. A “Plunger” > “Higgins” > “Plunger” sandwich kicked things off with Kris Myers absolutely owning his snare drum in a swirling tornado of breakbeat-laden jamtronica. Bayliss signaled a big guitar showdown with a series of neck slides and another emphatic climax had the fist-pumpers fulfilling their roles once again. Next it was funky white boy time, as bassist Ryan Stasik did his best Dr. Dre impression and Cummins coerced some textbook west coast rap synths on “Push The Pig.”

Sounding like an Aphex Twin track during its dark introduction, “1348” soon galloped into elastic improvisation that saw Myers working his tail off and Cinninger tearing his guitar a new one. “Utopian Fir” gave way to “Turn & Run,” the band dipping into the reggae well perhaps one time too many by this point. Still, a sample of Bob Marley’s “Exodus” bridged the transition into Paul McCartney’s “Live and Let Die,” which capped the set in flawlessly-recreated glory. Following some jokes about the upcoming presidential election, the playful encore of “Pay The Snucka” saw Cinninger teasing a number of Rush tunes before its death metal finale ended the proceedings. True to form, Umphrey’s McGee was diverse, explicit, and undeniably fun.