The 8th annual Levitate Music and Arts Festival is making a return this summer. A full list of jam band regulars have been announced as performers for this year’s festivities. Set for July 10-12, the Massachusetts-based festival will have a host of vendors in addition to the performers to complete the fan experience. Food, art, and music will be shared at the festival during what is set to be an eventful and entertaining weekend. Vendor applications will be made available today, February 10.
The full list of performers includes: Jack Johnson, Phil Lesh & Friends, Stick Figure, Tash Sultana, Old Crow Medicine Show, Dirty Heads, Umphrey’s McGee,moe, Toots & The Maytals, Trevor Hall, Billy Strings, Mt. Joy, Nahko and Medicine for the People, Goose, Protoje, Jade Bird, Durand Jones & The Indications,Too Many Zooz, The Elovaters, Fruition, Busty and the Bass, Mike Love, Sun Parade, The New Motif, Sundog Organ Trio, Aubrey Haddard, Gentle Temper, Mihali & Friends will also be hosting a “Very Special Community Jam,” ft. Jackson Wetherbee, Hitch, & James Calandrella.
For tickets to and more information on the Levitate Music and Arts Festival, visit their official website.
Back in June 2019, Sam Beam (a.k.a. Iron & Wine) joined forces with folk/Americana group Calexico for the full length LP, Years to Burn. This would mark the second time the two bands collaborated, the first being EP In the Reins from 2005. The bands musical styles perfectly complement one another, resulting in luscious harmonies and arrangements.
John Convertino of Calexico at Webster Hall – Photo: Joseph Buscarello
Before the show started, stage hands marched a seemingly endless amount of instruments on stage. Nine acoustic guitars moved in alone, followed by accordions, upright basses, electric guitars and horns. I have experienced seeing both of these bands individually and this collection of instruments is not surprising. Sam Beam typically brings a dozen or more musicians out for an Iron & Wine show and Calexico has such a full Americana sound with dense horns and strings. None of these attributes were lost in bringing the two bands together.
The set drew heavily from the two collaborative projects, but they also performed covers of each other’s songs and other bands. This first one was a cover of “Glimpse,” a track off Calexico’s 1996 debut Spoke. Sam introduced the song by saying “this song was the first Calexico song I ever heard.” The other Calexico cover was “Flores y Tamales” from 2018s The Thread That Keeps Us. While there were no Iron & Wine covers at Webster Hall, they were playing songs like “Boy With A Coin” and “Naked As We Came” at other stops. Full setlist below.
The show ended with two more collaborative tracks, but with opening band Half Waif joining them on stage to provide additional vocals. Had you not known that this show was a collaboration between two separate groups, you would think this was a band that has been writing and performing together their whole career. Their musical styles are already complementary and there is a clear friendship that adds a ton of energy to the stage.
Setlist: Father Mountain, Prison on Route 41, Follow the Water, In the Reins, Glimpse (Calexico cover), Sixteen Maybe Less, The Bitter Suite, Bring on the Dancing Horses (Echo and the Bunnymen cover), Flores y Tamales (Calexico cover), [Solos], Red Dust, I Lost It (Lucinda Williams cover), Midnight Sun, Burn That Broken Bed, What Heaven’s Left.
Iconic rockers, The Rolling Stones, have announced a North American Tour for 2020. The slate of performances are scheduled this spring, beginning on May 8 in San Diego, California and concluding on July 9, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL.
This latest leg is a continuation of their widely popular “No Filter” tour – marking their seventh consecutive decade on the road. With no more than six performances scheduled each month, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners will focus on major arenas. Beginning on the West Coast at the SDCCU stadium, they will perform throughout the Midwest, the Southwest and the Northeast and Canada.
Tickets for the North American Tour will be made available on February 14. Early registration for tickets can be made on their official website.
A list of tour dates can be found below.
May 8 – SDCCU Stadium – San Diego, CA
May 12 – BC Place – Vancouver, BC
May 16 – U.S. Bank Stadium – Minneapolis, MN
May 20 – Nissan Stadium – Nashville, TN
May 24 – Circuit of the America – Austin, TX
May 29 – Cotton Bowl – Dallas, TX
Jun. 6 – New Era Field – Orchard Park, NY
Jun. 10 – Ford Field – Detroit MI
Jun. 14 – Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium – Louisville, KY
Jun. 19 – FirstEnergy Stadium – Cleveland, OH
Jun. 23 – Heinz Field – Pittsburgh, PA
Jun. 27 – The Dome at America’s Center – St, Louis, MO
If you’re a vinyl collector, you may want to sit down. Apollo Masters, the California facility that supplies lacquer used for master discs, which are then used to manufacture vinyl records, suffered a devastating fire on Thursday, February 6 in Banning, CA at a manufacturing and storage facility. The fire caused complete destruction of the facility, but thankfully no employees were injured.
A message from Apollo Masters on their website says: “To all of wonderful customers. It is with great sadness we report the Apollo Masters manufacturing and storage facility had a devastating fire and suffered catastrophic damage. The best news is all of our employees are safe. We are uncertain of our future at this point and are evaluating options as we try to work through this difficult time. Thank you for all of the support over the years and the notes of encouragement and support we have received from you all.”
As reported by Pitchfork, Ben Blackwell, co-founder of Third Man Records said “From my understanding, this fire will present a problem for the vinyl industry worldwide. There are only TWO companies that make lacquers in the world, and the other, MDC in Japan, already had trouble keeping up with demand BEFORE this development.” (emphasis is Blackwell’s)
Blackwell also noted that while there have been ‘whispers’ of other companies entering the lacquer marketplace, Apollo was the primary supplier of the styli used in the vinyl pressing process.
Duplication, a Toronto-based company offering vinyl, CD and DVD pressing and printing shared on Twitter, “Disaster for the vinyl pressing industry,” and “There will be a lacquer shortage and possibly plants having to close or scale back operations for a while.”
David Read of Duplication spoke with Smack Media about the potential loss, but offered a bit of hope for the path ahead, and how this crisis is not new for the industry either: “Everybody’s talking to each other and competitors are talking to each other. It’s in everybody’s best interest to get lacquer masters back up and running whether it be Apollo or someone else. When all of the plants closed in the ’90s, everybody was selling their records and then the vinyl resurgence happened and everyone (the last remaining manufacturers) got flooded.” Since then the vinyl industry has seen substantial annual growth with a renewed interest in record collecting.
For a more indepth look at the situation, check out the details here.
“It started out because of the love of Queen, and today it’s still going because of the love of Queen,” is how Randy Gregg characterizes his New York City based tribute band, Almost Queen. Now in their 16th year, Almost Queen is selling out shows across the U.S., including the The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, N.Y. where we caught the band performing.
Joseph Russo (as Freddie Mercury)
Paying homage to one of the UK’s most iconic bands are Joseph Russo (as Freddie Mercury), Steve Leonard (as Brian May), John Cappadona (as Roger Taylor), and Randy Gregg (John Deacon). I spoke with Gregg a few days before the Capitol show to gather some insight into a “tribute” based rock and roll band.
“Almost Queen is first and foremost, a proper band,” he proclaims. “I see a lot of tribute bands out there and they do a great job, but I see that they focus, (are) so focused on trying to emanate and trying to do this, that they have lost the sight of your first reason: to be a band and play. We play. If we weren’t doing Queen music and we were doing the Rolling Stones, we’d kill that too because these four guys are first and foremost, a band.”
Almost Queen – The Capitol Theatre
“Back fifteen; sixteen years ago, I don’t even know if there were any Queen tribute bands around.” Randy recounts. “It was like a dare you even try to attempt playing Queen music. We did a lot of rehearsal in that first year. Our goal was to perform the songs you hear on the radio, studio versions is what we wanted to shoot for. ”
Randy Gregg (as John Deacon)
It started out because of the love of Queen, and today it still going because of the love of Queen
Randy Gregg, Almost Queen
Almost Queen – The Capitol Theatre
“We wanted to get as close to Queen as possible,” Gregg shares. “ We knew that we never could be what that band was. But we wanted to get into the ballpark. That’s why we call the band Almost Queen. ‘Cause there is no way we could be Queen and that’s just the end of it. So from day one we had an excuse that if you don’t feel we were that good, it’s called Almost Queen.”
John Cappadona (as Roger Taylor)
With 15 studio, seven EPs, two soundtracks and other recordings to draw from, determining what Queen songs to play on any given night can be a challenge. Gregg incorporates a technique based on where the band is performing. “If it’s the first time going into a venue, here’s the hit’s list. ‘Cause there is an expectation. You don’t want to hit them with anything out of the ordinary right away. Then boom, we did great, we are coming back for that next gig and here are these couple of songs we are going to take out and put these couple of songs in. Give it a different flavor. Third time back, lets put in a couple more, deeper cuts. I have set lists saved on my computer for years. If we’re playing (a) venue for the eighth time, in eight years, I will pull out eight different set lists. I never wanted to have it were we get a revue that says Almost Queen was great, but same set list. It’s always about keeping it fresh.”
Almost Queen – The Capitol Theatre
With 16 years performing as Almost Queen under their belt, I asked about the preparation before a show. “It’s a pretty cool vibe backstage. One or two people could be cranking some tunes in the back. It’s a lively vibe; it’s an exciting vibe. We know what we are going to be doing in a half hour. It’s pretty chill but it’s pretty exciting. We are just doing our normal routine, getting dressed, stretching out, warming up vocals, having a beer, putting on makeup everything that’s involved with a rock and roll show. The excitement builds per minute as that goes on. “
Steve Leonard (as Brian May)
Being a tribute band, what happens as you walk on stage for that first number? Is there a loss of person and a transformation? A transformation into Queen? “It is very close to that,” Gregg reveals. “When the lights go out, the place becomes hysterical as the intro comes on. That moment of walking out on stage when that intro comes on, it’s like a real deal rock show. That is the vibe that you get when you walk out into it. Within that time of the intro, you are absorbing this energy coming from the crowd, this excitement, here it is, you feel it all. Then, at that first start of the note, all of our minds go right to the music.”
Almost Queen – The Capitol Theatre
The energy level at The Capitol Theatre was peaking the dials. The band played for almost two hours, with people singing and dancing throughout the night. Mid show, lead singer Joseph Russo engaged the audience in an impromptu a cappella vocal round, making everyone a member of the band. The love for Queen was in abundance, emanating from the stage and being returned exponentially by those in the house.
Almost Queen – The Capitol Theatre
Taking the night to another level, the proceeds from the Almost Queen merch table are donated (as they are with every show) to The Mercury Phoenix Trust, which was founded by Brian May, Roger Taylor and Jim Beach in memory of Freddie Mercury, who died from HIV/AIDS in 1991. The goal of MPT is to fund the work of global charities fighting aids worldwide. “We are very proud to donate our merch,” Randy noted with a gratifying tone to his voice.
Almost Queen – The Capitol Theatre
What started as love for a band, that has snowballed into sell out shows, and promotes compassion for one’s fellow man to boot, has me thinking that maybe the band should change its name from Almost to Absolutely Queen.
Those were the days of our lives, yeah The bad things in life were so few Those days are all gone now but one thing’s still true When I look and I find, I still love you I still love you
These are the days of our lives Brian May / Freddie Mercury / John Deacon / Roger Taylor
Organ Fairchild will debut at new Buffalo hotspot Duende on February 15 at 6 p.m. The brand new band is comprised of local Buffalo veteran musicians Joe Bellanti, Corey Kertzie and Dave Ruch.
Since 1983 these Buffalo natives have performed numerous times together around the “jam band scene” including in groups like Wild Knights, Sonic Garden and Acoustic Forum.
Playing their own original music, the local Buffalo musicians will debut in traditional organ trio format consisting of an organ, guitar and drums, with bass parts being covered by the keyboardist’s left hand. Music enthusiasts can expect an updated take on this classic music setup with funky and syncopated sounds designed to get you moving.
“We’ve always had so much fun playing everyone else’s music that I guess it just didn’t occur to us to see what we could be creating ourselves,” said Ruch. “The music we’ve always played together has a fair amount of improvisation embedded in it, so that can satisfy a creative itch in itself. But we’ve NEVER had so much fun playing together as we are now, with our own tunes and ideas at the forefront.”
Fans can attend this debut event for free with the first 50 people through the doors receiving a Greg Meadows designed sticker.
Rochester is a strong music city, based mostly on its flourishing local scene. Touring acts aren’t as kind to this city between cities. But every once in a while a band comes through, latches on, and rides the tide to local hero-dom. The Wood Brothers are such a band.
First opening for the poster-child of Rochester hero bands, Tedeschi Trucks Band. Then breaking through as a club pass band at the Rochester International Jazz Fest. They quickly returned as a main stage headliner, and headlined at the Lilac Festival soon after that. Wednesday night they were back at the Kodak Center for a rare wintertime visit. Tedeschi Trucks, Jazz Fest, Lilac Fest, Kodak… hitting all the Rochester sweet spots, it’s no wonder they’ve found a place in the city’s hearts.
On top of that, they welcomed Rochester-native, Kat Wright, to open their whole tour. Excited to be back in her hometown, she recalled Rochester memories, got shout outs from friends, family and fans in the crowd, and dedicated a song to a friend celebrating her birthday. Her usual eight-strong Indomitable Soul Band was stripped down to her, Bob Wagner on guitar and Josh Weinstein on bass. They rearranged some older tunes for the occasion, threw in a cover of Bonnie Raitt’s “Love Me Like a Man,” and introduced a few new ones, like the sultry slow burning “Let Me In” and the bluegrass-infused reggae of “Can’t Explain.”
The Wood Brothers had some new songs in their arsenal as well, coming with a stellar new album in tow. They opened with the first track, “Alabaster,” with “Little Bit Sweet” and the West-African inflected “Don’t Think About My Death” not too far behind. Though for the most part they stuck to the tried and true classics, digging through their songbook generously, presenting the full spectrum of their wares.
The seated crowd was soon on its feet, filling the aisles, dancing and singing along. The best dance moves as always though, belonged to bassist Chris Wood. His fancy footwork only outmatched by his fancy fretwork, both on display during a rumbling bass and drums segment during “Who the Devil.”
Midway through their set, during the old-school format portion of the evening with Jano Rix out front on his ‘shitar,’ the band injected the excellent Rochester local scene into their set. They invited Aaron Lipp on banjo and Wright on vocals for a rollicking rendition of the Wood Brothers oldie “One More Day.” The set peaked at the penultimate “Happiness Jones” with its funky grooving soul on full display.
Oliver Wood made sure to seal the deal on the mutual feelings between band and crowd before calling it a night, “We love Rochester!” One thing seems certain, it won’t be long before the two meet again.
Setlist: Alabaster, American Heartache, Atlas, Little Bit Sweet, Shoofly Pie, Don’t Think About My Death, Luckiest Man, Mary Anna, Little Bit Broken, Postcards from Hell, Pray Enough, Who the Devil, Loaded, One More Day*, I Got Loaded, Happiness Jones, Snake Eyes.
Encore: Chevrolet (Ed & Lonnie Young).
* with Aaron Lipp on Banjo and Kat Wright on vocals.
Nominees for the 2020 Capital Region Thomas Edison Music Awards were announced this week. NYS Music is honored to be nominated for Art Publication of The Year, along with the numerous other creatives from the local music community, including two photographers who go their start with NYS Music, Dave DeCrescente and Frankie Cavone.
About 100 members of the music community have been invited to vote on the nominees. Winners will be announced at the awards ceremony – 6 p.m. Sunday, April 5 on the MainStage at Proctors in Schenectady. Several local artists will perform including special collaborations just for the event. Performers are expected to be announced in March.
Rachel Hamlin, administrator for the 2020 awards said,”the nomination process took over two months during which 40 members of the music community met 25 times to discuss who should be domination.” Among these discussions was the decision to change the 34 categories included in this year’s awards.
Feedback received from last year’s awards ceremony saw requests from the local music community to eliminate several categories while replacing them with six new ones including: Metal/Hard Rock Artist of the Year, Country Cover Band of the Year, On The Verge Presenter of the Year, Best Hang, Music Recording Studio of the Year and Record Label of the Year.
Jim Murphy, co-founder and co-organizer of the event, stated: “Adding the country cover band category allowed us to separate and nominate more country artists, and we separated metal and hard rock music from punk and hard core for similar reasons. The absence of recording studio and record label categories last year was an oversight we had to fix.”
Erin Harkes: Musician, comedian and host of the 2019 The Eddie’s Music Awards Show.
“The Best Hang category was something this year’s judges mulled over and favored. It represents the favorite hangouts of people in the local music community when they are off duty,” according to Sal Prizio, co-founder and co-organizer.
The Thomas Edison Musical Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held on a night separate from the Eddies Music Awards this year. On March 9 at Universal Preservation Hall in Saratoga Springs a dinner and induction ceremony will take place. Recently announced was the six Class of 2020 inductees including; The Accents, Blotto, The Fidelitys, Hal Ketchem, Lena Spencer and John Sykes.
Here is the full list of 2020 Eddies Music Awards nominees:
Solo or Duo Artist of the Year
The Age
Jocelyn & Chris Arndt
Taina Asili
The Parlor
Sean Rowe
The Sea The Sea
Alt / Indie Artist of the Year
The Abyssmals
Candy Ambulance
Greens
Laveda
Pony in the Pancake
Sky Furrows
Punk Artist / Hardcore Artist of the Year
Blood Blood Blood
Brick by Brick
Eternal Crimes
Mystery Girl
Prince Daddy and the Hyena
Spell Runner
Metal / Hard Rock Artist of the Year
Black Electric
The Clay People
Dirt Church
Drug Church
Greasefire
Johnny Booth
Jam Band of the Year
Ampevene
Annie in the Water
Glass Pony
Hartley’s Encore
Let’s Be Leonard
The Purple Stuff
Rock/Pop Artist of the Year
Jocelyn and Chris Arndt
Bear Grass
Girl Blue
Sirsy
State Champs
Wild Adriatic
Solo or Duo Artist of the Year (Cover)
Chris Dollard
Dos Amigos
PJ Duo
Erin Harkes
Carmen Lookshire
Rich Ortiz
Party Cover Band of the Year
The Accents
The AudioStars
Bad Chaperones
Funk Evolution
New York Players
The Refrigerators
Country Cover Band of the Year
Big Sky Country
The Kyle Bourgault Band
Moonshine Junkies
Red Haired Strangers
Skeeter Creek
Whisky Highway
Country / Bluegrass Artist of the Year
Blind Crow
Dyer Switch Band
Jim Gaudet and the Railroad Boys
The Gibson Brothers
Three Quarter North
Marty Wendell
Americana Artist of the Year
Eastbound Jesus
The Lazy Suns
The Mckrells
The Nellies
North & South Dakotas
Zan & the Winter Folk
Blues Artist of the Year
Amy Ryan Band
Annie and the Hedonists
The George Fletcher Blues Band
The Resonators
Soul Sky
Wyld Blu
Folk / Traditional Artist of the Year
Drank The Gold
Lost Radio Rounders
Michael Jerling
John Kirk and Trish Miller
The Sea The Sea
Bob Warren
DJ of the Year
DeeJay Element
DJ Ketchup
DJ Siroc
DJTGIF
DJ Trumastr
Intell Hayesfield
Hip Hop/Rap Artist of the Year
JB aka Dirty Moses
Johnny 2 Phones
KATANI
OHZHE
Promise the Unbreakable
Selli Paper
Electronica Artist of the Year
Bare Mattress
Horse Apples
Major Niño
Money Montage
Raisi K. (The Raisin Man)
Soo Do Koo
R&B / Soul Artist of the Year
The Age
Charles O’more
Pink Nois
Lee Reh
Souly Had
Victory Soul Orchestra
World Music Artist of the Year
Taina Asili y La Banda Rebelde
Golfstrom
Heard
Robanic
Sten & Maria Z
Alex Torres & his Latin Orchestra
Classical Artist of the Year
Albany Pro Musica
Capital Region Wind Ensemble
Empire State Youth Orchestra
Musicians of Ma’alwyck
Saint Rose Camerata
Schenectady Symphony Orchestra
Jazz Artist of the Year
Joe Barna
Michael Benedict
Peg Delaney
Chuck Lamb
Dylan Perrillo
Keith Pray
Promoter of the Year
Greg Bell (Guthrie Bell Productions)
Ted Etoll (Step Up Presents)
Mona Golub (Music Haven Concert Series)
Peter Lesser (The Egg)
Margie Rosenkranz (Eighth Step)
“On the Verge” Presenter of the Year
Asylum Albany
Bee Sides Cassettes
Chateau Shows
Little Booking Agency
Place for Jazz
Super Dark Collective
Live Production Crew of the Year
Aces
Albany Audio
Denis Entertainment Group
High Peaks Sound
Live Sound Inc
Specialized Audio-Visual Inc.
Record Label of the Year
Albany Records
Cacophone Records
Equal Vision
Five Kill Records
Magnetic Eye Records
Upstate Records
Best Hang
Chrome
Desperate Annie’s
The Low Beat
Oh Bar
Olde English Pub
Speakeasy 518
Music Recording Studio of the Year
AAA Recording Studio
Blue Sky Recording
Don Fury Recording Studio
Hyland Recording
Overit Studios
White Lake Music & Post
Arts Publication of the Year
The Chronicle
The Collaborative
Nippertown
NYS Music
Preview (Times Union)
The Spot 518
Music Journalist of the Year
Amy Biancolli
Katie Cusack
Michael Hallisey
Indiana Nash
Jim Shahen
Tamani Wooley
Radio DJ of the Year
Brian and Chrissy WGNA
Art Fredette RadioRadioX
Andy Gregory WEXT
Bill McCann WCDB
Jeff Morad WEQX
Chris Wienk WEXT
Radio Station of the Year
RadioRadioX
WCDB
WEQX
WEXT
WGNA
WVCR
Photographer of the Year
Frankie Cavone
Dave DeCresente
Rudy Lu
Andre Pilarczyk
Shannon Straney
Kiki Vassilakis
Music Video of the Year
Jocelyn & Chris Arndt “Outta My Head”
Taina Asili “We Are Rising”
Buggy Jive “Another Song About the Moon”
The Clay People – “GenRX”
Front Biz “Little Mutants”
Joe Mansman and The Midnight Revival Band – “Blood/Grain/Cocaine”
pencildive “Cricket Man”
Prince Daddy & The Hyena “Lauren”
Record of the Year
Brother Hemlock “Good Ol Days”
TJ Foster “You are the Future”
Gibson Brothers “Cool Drink of Water”
Honey Slider “Ghostlighting”
Charles O’more “Nineteen + Won”
Sam Reed ft. The Heavenly Echos “Prophet”
David Tyo “Long Way Home”
Madison Vandenberg “What I’m Looking for”
Album of the Year
Jocelyn and Chris Arndt “The Fun in the Fight”
Taina Asili “Resiliencia”
Bright Dog Red “How’s By you?”
Candy Ambulance “Traumantic”
The Figgs “Shady Grove”
JB!! aka Dirty Moses “Libations”
Jim Gaudet “Real Stories and Other Tall Tales”
Prince Daddy and the Hyena “Cosmic Thrill Seekers”
Fresh from their October residency, Garcia Peoples have announced the release of Nublu 10-10-19, NYC, ahead of their performance at Freaks Ball XX. Slated for a March 6 release, the residency featured the release of One Step Behind, with with special guest Tom Malach on sax throughout the 50 exploratory, barnburning minutes of the title track.
Andy Cush, bassist in Garcia Peoples, shared his thoughts on the release: “Listening back to the recording of this show, I remember standing onstage, eyes closed, deep in concentration, hoping everything would hold together the way it’s supposed to. It was the first (and to date the only) time we’d ever played “One Step Behind” live as an ensemble with Tom’s dad, the great saxophonist Bob Malach, who’d overdubbed his contributions to the album version after the basic tracks were already in place. Naturally, and happily, hardly anything went quite the way we expected onstage. The music on this tape is at its most alive when you can hear us abandoning the plan and surrendering to the unknown.
“From the outset, we knew we wanted to push ourselves at this show to take “One Step Behind” as far out as possible, searching at its boundaries for previously undiscovered zones. I like to think we found a few. In particular, there’s a groove-oriented stretch in the middle that we played with more openness than ever before, which—for me, at least—has directly impacted the performances we’ve given since then. Perhaps by the time this tape comes out, we’ll be exploring territories of “One Step Behind” that we didn’t even realize existed back when it was recorded. A map only gets you so far. Sometimes you just have to follow the sound.”
Pre-order the album via Bandcamp and listen to Show Your Troubles Outhere. Freaks Ball XX takes place on Saturday, February 15 at The Bell House in Brooklyn, NY.
Umphrey’s McGee has announced the long awaited return of their football game-themed live concert experience, UMBowl, taking place on May 1 and 2, 2020 at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY, the event now takes place over two days, instead of the traditional single day show.
UMBowl began in 2010 in Chicago and continued to be an immensely popular and immersive fan event, running each year through 2016. Each show consisted of a single four-set show, with each set representing a ‘quarter’ of a football game. Each set had a unique theme, with various ways for fans to interact with the band, including voting in real time on what song they should play next. Past themes to sets have included ‘Choose Your Own Adventure,’ with fans voting in real time, ‘Raw Stewage’ where fans cast ballots on their favorite moments of improv over the years, which the band then turns into “real” songs, and ‘Stew Art’ sets where the band improves based on audience suggestions in real time.
This year, with the show held over two nights, the band will continue to have an interactive side of the event, playing three-set shows each night, with two sets of interactive ‘quarters’ and a third set of simply Umphrey’s McGee.
For more information on UMBowl and Umphrey’s upcoming tour dates, visit umphreys.com or thecapitoltheatre.com. Read our coverage of UMBowl V and watch “All Things Ninja” below.
