A new Podcast from MusicMarauders Live featuring interviews wit Al from moe., Lucas from Lotus, and Ben from the Henhouse Prowlers. I discuss the last month of live music out here on the Front Range as well upcoming shows.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Umphrey's McGee with Jimkata at The Fillmore 3-9-12
The anticipation of Umphrey’s McGee’s night at The Fillmore
had reached monumental proportions throughout the Front Range for weeks prior
to the show. Fans’ hopes and expectations floated around the message boards and
at shows continued up until the night of their sold out performance. Following
what has become a yearly pilgrimage for two nights of UMph at The Belly Up in
Aspen. The Fillmore show is a chance for the masses to reunite to catch the
band in Denver.
Before Amy and I headed into The Fillmore we stopped by
Pete’s Monkey Bar to wish my good friend Rogelio a Happy Birthday. We left the
festivities early and went inside the venue around 7:40 because Jimkata went on
promptly at 7:45 PM. I checked into the pit for my three songs to get some
shots of the band. I had never heard of these guys until I found out they were
filling the opening slot. Jimkata is a guitar-driven electro-pop outfit along
the lines of the Disco Biscuits accented by the indie-tinged vocals of Evan
Friedell. The most striking thing about them is how loud they are. It was room
shaking. Musically they are a tight band driven by the versatile drumming of
Packy Lunn who went from broad sounding blasts from the kit to the tight
syncopated snaps of his drum pads. Jimkata blended elements of rock and
electronic equally to create an inviting and interesting sound overall. I will
say that Evan’s vocals detracted a bit from the jams, but every band has to
have a singer. Highlights from their set included a stunning track entitled
Electronic Stone and an intrepid song called Die Digital. Their hard-edged
energy made them a perfect fit as the opener for Umphrey’s Mcgee, and I was
happy to get in early for their show. As they wrapped up their set the Fillmore
quickly filled in for the main event.
Umphrey’s entered the room and Waful’s lights began to dance
behind the band. I’ve had the pleasure to watch this band grow from playing restaurants
to a crowd of less than fifty to selling out shows and performing at some the
best venues and festivals across the country. UM opened with a new track, Gurgle that debuted this year
and has only been performed three times and always as a show opener. Here is
the rest of the setlist.
SET I: Gurgle> 40’s Theme, Ocean Billy, Miami Virtue>
Morning Song, In The Kitchen> Glory> In The Kitchen
SET II: Puppet String, Domino Theory, Booth Love*>
August, The Liner> Got To Hell, Ringo**> Voyager> Ringo
ENCORE: Hajimenashite> The Triple Wide> Billie Jean
*with Dominic Lalli on Saxophone
**with Soul Food II Jam
Umphrey’s hit the ground running with a high-energy
demonstration on why they are jam’s last great heroes. They perform with so
much raw power that they literally ooze chutzpah with every lick. The took the opportunity
during the show to perform several tracks off the Death By Stereo including a
first set Miami Virtue that segued gracefully into Morning Song. The highlight
of the set if not the show was a rowdy In the Kitchen into Glory into In The
Kitchen. The Glory was like an all out dance party and the return to In The
Kitchen saw Bayliss playing reckless with the lyrics and amping up the muscle.
They opened up the second set with a song I saw debuted at
Summer Camp last year, Puppet String. It’s a ripping tune with the one two
punch of Bayliss’s vocals and Jake’s finger tapping on the fret board. The
Booth Love saw Big Gigantic’s Dominic Lalli join the band on sax, to really
push it over the top. They
transitioned into their now classic August, which is a track that I was stoked
to hear given the fact that it harks back to the days of yore in the world of UMph.
The second half of the set two saw the afterburners pushed to the limit. The
Liner into Go To Hell was face melting. The Go To Hell specifically was like a
dark trip to the underworld with top notch shredding and some solid percussion
from both Andy and Kris. I will also say that Kris included a lot more
electronic drumming than I’ve seen him do in years past. It really felt like Umphrey’s
is continuing to evolve not only with their songwriting but also in their
instrumentation. The Ringo sandwich with Voyager as the roast beef was an
amazing close to an incredible show.
They had been lightly teasing Hajimenashite all night long
so it was appropriate to see it in the encore. I grabbed my coat during Triple
Wide, but was suddenly struck by a dance party when the boys ripped into Billie
Jean. It was a great punctuation mark to the night and fun way to end this
stellar show. We headed back up to Fort Collins truly buzzing from what we had
witnessed. So much energy so much power, witnessing Umphrey’s McGee nowadays is
like taking Ritalin and drinking a red bull. The icing on the cake of the
entire night was the announcement of their Red Rocks show with Railroad Earth
on September 14. I look forward to seeing them there, but first I’ll be seeing
them rage for three nights at Summer Camp.
Video
Cornmeal and Hot Buttered Rum 3-3-12
Cornmeal over the years has become a not to miss show when
they come to town. After seeing their stellar performances at Summer Camp and
State Bridge this summer, I’ve become so enamored with their sound that I find
myself anticipating their Front Range shows months in advance. Their co-bill
with Hot Buttered Rum only added to my excitement for this particular night at
The Ogden in Denver, Colorado. I haven’t seen Hot Buttered Rum since November
of 2010 and in that time Matt Butler left the band to pursue Everyone Orchestra
full time and they replaced him with Lucas Carlton. He has a slightly less
prominent sound in the mix but is still very accomplished his role as their new
drummer. They opened with a rowdy Crest, here is the rest of the setlist from
HBR’s Facebook page.
SET I: The Crest, Texas Eagle, Late In The Evening, Missoula
To Miami, Squall, Let The Love Come Through, Busted In Utah, Blackberry Pie,
Entangled, Fruit Of The Vine, Angeline The Baker, Ramblin’ Girl, Beneath The
Blossoms, Poison Oak, Working Man
The new Hot Buttered Rum has a fresh sound and the solid
energy that made me a fan of their way back when. They still tour pretty
heavily but have not been as prominent on The Front Range as they have in years
past. The room began to fill in as they started the show. Set up on stage right
was Denver’s most renowned live painter Scramble Campbell. Scramble danced
wildly as he splattered paint on the canvas. It’s great when he’s in the room;
it’s even better when he is on the stage for everyone to see. Hot Buttered Rum
slayed the crowd with classics like Busted in Utah and Working Man. The room
reached a fevered pitch as they finished their set, which lasted about an hour
and forty-five minutes. HBR is a powerful bluegrass experience and seeing them
with Cornmeal was simply stunning, but I’ll get to that in a minute.
Cornmeal has truly proven to me in the last year that they
are a band that will always deliver. They bust their ass in every city they
play. With their high-octane jamgrassadelic style, they produce a palpable
energy that is infectious. Cornmeal began the show, as they seem to do most of
the time with a flurry of sound. It’s almost akin to an orchestra tuning,
before they go into their first song. Their two-hour set had so many highlights
and great moments. Whenever I think I’ve seen them at their best, I get a show
like the one performed at the Ogden and it just blows me away. For a band that
tours relentlessly, their road tested sound continues to develop. They are so ridiculously
tight that their live show leaves nothing to be desired. High points of their
set included a strong I’m Coming Back Home and a huge When The World’s Go You
Down. We were also treated to a jamgrass version of Steve Miller Band’s
Swingtown, which saw Kris Nowak in the pocket getting his rock on. They sounded
great and if they had ended there that would have been plenty, but what the
crowd received was a half hour encore of Hot Buttered Corn.
ENCORE: Pay Yer Dues, Honkytonk Tequilla, I Can See The
Light (At The End of The Tunnel), Sympathy For The Devil
(With Cornmeal and All of HBR except Lucas Carlton)
What some of my friends have called a clusterpluck it was a
giant stringed hoedown that culminated with Wavy Dave singing a brilliant
Sympathy For The Devil. It was a great end to a truly amazing show. The energy
from start to finish is the reason why I see both of these bands. The
combination of both was something I could only dream of. As I walked out of the
Ogden I was buzzing form the adrenaline that built up over the course of the
night. My final thought of the evening was that Hot Buttered Corn needs to do a
national tour.
Video
Trey Anastasio with The Colorado Symphony
We began our once in a lifetime concert experience hopping
into Ro and Scotties tour van. We parked close and hit up Rock Bottom Brewery
for some pre-show provisions. It was a great dinner with friends and an
excellent way to start the night. We went our separate ways at the entrance as
we all had seats spread throughout the 2634 seat Boettcher Concert Hall. The
majority of the crowd opted to dress for the occasion. Wooks, hippies, and fans
that would normally wear tie-dye donned top hats and sports coats. It most
definitely felt like an event as the crowd streamed in. The room was a 360-degree
experience with the audience surrounding the 60 plus person orchestra. We were
warned to restrain from photography, taking video, excessive cheering, and to
respect the hall prior to Trey coming to the front of the stage. Despite the
warnings and the notice that they were recording the show the crowd couldn’t
help themselves from whooping it up from time to time. The audience was like a
shook up beer can ready to explode. Trey eased into the show with a smooth
First Tube. Here is the setlist from phish.net.
SET I: First Tube, Water In The Sky, Divided Sky, Brian and
Robert, Goodbye Head, Guyute, Let Me Lie, Stash
SET II: Time Turns Elastic, If I Could, You Enjoy Myself
ENCORE: Golden Slumbers> Carry That Weight> The End,
The Inlaw Josie Wales
While Trey focused his setlist on his more orchestrated
Phish songs, he did have a microphone and sang a number of songs throughout the
evening. The first of which was a beautiful Water In The Sky. Alternating
between his acoustic and electric guitar many times within the same song Trey
was on point all night long. It was obvious that he was restraining himself from
time to time from his solo driven shows with Phish. The Divided Sky was a high
point in a night chocked full of them. Seeing some of my favorite songs
performed with a massive orchestra was simply mesmerizing. I found my head
bouncing around the stage, there was just so much to see that I was dizzy by
the end of the first set. Trey took to the vocals for Brian and Robert and the TAB
tune Goodbye Head. The Guyute was simply incredible and taken to a place that I
never would have expected to see live. The way that Trey wove his licks into
the sound of the symphony was breathtaking. The Let Me Lie was a nice touch but
the Stash was the excuse the crowd needed to explode. Disregarding the caution
not to cheer the prerequisite claps made their way into the mix before it
became a massive sing along on the, “Maybe So, Maybe Not” section.
During the short intermission the crowd rushed out to the
smoking section and makeshift bars set up around the viewer. One bartender
commented that they have never had a service like this, ever. After a short twenty-minute
break everyone returned to their seats and promptly got TTE’d. This is by far
the longest and the best Time Turns Elastic, which really only seemed off
during the vocal parts. It was great to see this song performed as it was truly
intended and finally made sense. They moved the second set along with a short
but magnificent If I Could. The show seemed very string heaving with the
woodwinds and brass section only chiming in occasionally. They got their chance
to truly shine during You Enjoy Myself. The YEM contained a fake out where Trey
would usually say boy there was a long trombone hit. It was huge punctuation
mark on a great night out. The encore consisted of a Beatles Mash Up before he
closed with a moving Inlaw Josie Wales.
After the show we left quickly heading
back to Fort Collins for Leftover Salmon. Unfortunately we arrived for the last
couple songs and the encore. I can say that they the stripped down version of
the band sans Bill McKay was tight and full of utter happiness. I was bummed to
not catch the second set, but was happy that I was able to catch a little bit
of Leftover joy.
Video
We headed down to the Aggie to celebrate Amy’s birthday with
The Henhouse Prowlers and hometown heroes Head For The Hills. The Prowlers had
new members Dan Andree on fiddle and Starr Moss on guitar, which I felt was a
marked improvement from when I saw them last time in December. As part of a
22-day tour of Colorado and the West Coast they took the opening slot for H4TH.
This is a great match up and a way for the Prowlers to be exposed to an
entirely new audience. They took the stage sharply at 9 PM. They have a unique sound that combines
a traditional sound with very modern lyrics and their show on Saturday was no
exception. Songs like Syracuse about a couple of Dead Heads who are neglectful
parents and a cover from the Stanley Brothers got the audience pumped. They
began to an almost empty room and finished with a packed audience screaming
loudly. They had a great show and once again impressed me with their backyard
picking style.
Head For The Hills continues to be a bluegrass powerhouse on
the Front Range and beyond. Finishing up their 20 date run of the Midwest and
the South with a return to the land of their origin, they came out sounding as
good as I’ve ever seen them. Their four-piece lineup follows the well-worn path
bands like Yonder Mountain String Band, but H4TH differentiates themselves by
being truly authentic in their songwriting and their musicianship. They got the
night going strong with a great version of Nellie Kane in the first set that
steamrolled them through the rest of the show. I’m so overwhelmed every time I
catch them live. They are proof that bluegrass is alive and well and there are
still bands out there that can make an impact. With a slot at Telluride this
year, they continue to accomplish great things and show the rest of the country
that bluegrass is alive and well in the West. They are magical and I would
highly recommend that you see Head For The Hills when they come to your town.
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