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Ryan Stasik
There is nothing like the budding beauty of Chicago in the Spring and no more amazing of a place than Wrigleyville, home to the Chicago Cubs. Just round the corner from the home plate entrance to the renowned Wrigley Field is the go-to joint for Cubby fans year-round, aptly named the Cubby Bear. What better way to kick off the 2013 Scamp season with a lil’ pre-fest shindig than with a pre-jam with two members from one of Summer Camp’s headlining jam legends.
Ohhhh mama, that’s right! Jake Cinniger and Brendan Bayliss of Umphrey’s McGee are planning on tearing down the Cubsters house May 9th to make sure you Scampers have your game face on for 2013! And they won’t be alone in laying down the shiz and amping the Chi-town scene for what’s to come. They’ll have a little help from one of Chicago’s own, Zmick, a four piece prog rock band whose sound is dubbed ‘dungeon funk’! If you haven’t allowed your ears the hypnotic pleasure of taking in the multi-layered bass-laden grooves of these boys, then do yourself a favor– DO IT NOW!! (If you love UM, you’ll dig Zmick and I say this as a hardcore prog. rock bass head)
Just a little jammage to get us all toasty before the big party! Rock Balls!
I was able to catch my annual Umphrey’s McGee show at the Pageant in St. Louis on Mardi Gras eve. Besides music festivals, they always come to the Pageant once a year either in the fall or winter, and it’s really hard for me to miss them since I’ve been seeing them every year since 2005. When they first began their set, they got warmed up with “Drink My Drank” with some nice mardi gras themed purple, yellow, and green lighting. Then played “Plunger” off of my FAVORITE album Anchor Drops. Everyone of course screamed (including myself), since who doesn’t love hearing some oldies? As I was running around gathering and finding different friends I caught some of “2×2″ and “Comma Later”. Once I was settled into one spot with my friends, we busted into a sing-a-long to “Mantis”. Umphrey’s then completed their first set with the rest of “Plunger”.
Umphrey’s strolled out for their second set and started the with the smooth sounds of “Puppet String” showcasing Stasik’s funky bass playing, followed by another one of my favorite live songs, “40’s Theme”. Next up, they played another one of my favorites off of Anchor Drops, “Wife Soup”. My friends and I sang and danced it up hard to this number. The audience then when nuts when they played a Wing’s cover “Live and Let Die”, followed by another crowd favorite, “Bright Lights, Big City” off of The Bottom Half. Next, they played “Deeper”, and whenever I hear that song, all I see is Stasik rollerblading in short shorts like in their music video, I’m sure I’m not the only one too, haha. Lastly, they ended with the second half of “Mantis”. After enough cheering, Umphrey’s came out to play a silly song about each member called “Pay The Snucka” for the encore. Like usual, Umphrey’s put on a fantastic show. I loved how they included a very broad range of old and new songs this time, which left me extremely satisfied. Now I can’t WAIT to catch them again at Summer Camp in a couple months!
your girl,
-Mo