"All In Time…" – Camp Counselor Jason Reflects on 9 Years of Umphrey's McGee Fandom

For nine years, and roughly 100 concerts, I feel as though the average age of the fans near me were roughly my age. We grew together and met up with one another at various locations across the midwest and at certain festivals. For a while in the beginning, at least for me, the crowd had a large frat boy feel to it. But as time went by the backwards frat boy hats dwindled down and those that did sport their best cap started rocking their favorite Umphrey’s pins. There also seems to be a much larger female presence now than there was many years ago. The ratio of men and women is much more balanced now-a-days than it was back in ‘06. The same goes for the age of the attendees. You’ll see more and more middle aged folks at an UM show than you would of a decade ago. As we grew up and acquired adult jobs, with a real disposable income, we would travel even further for shows. Some of us moved to different parts of the country, but we made sure to make it out for some of Umphrey’s landmark shows like Halloween, New Years, and Red Rocks show, etc. Those of us who couldn’t drop a handful of money to fly out to Colorado or Boston would happily put together a killer setup for couch tour and rage with their friends. Umphrey’s McGee has been playing larger venues, and has been selling out shows left and right. I remember my girlfriend at the time winning a backstage meet and greet pass from 93XRT at Chicago’s Northerly Island show on the first STUMP tour. We had no trouble getting most of the boys to sign our 8×10 photos the radio station provided. Kris on the other hand was just outside the backstage area and we caught him walking out of Umphrey’s bus with a friend. We landed his autograph and one of the other winners had asked him, “What’s up with the New Years move?” Kris said something like “We’re getting bigger, gotta move onto bigger venues.” Moving the New Years show from the Aragon was a big deal for me. Sure the sound isn’t all that great at the Aragon, and it gets really hot there, but that was where I first saw Umphrey’s in 2005. It was a strange realization that I may never see them there again, or at least not on New Years. Now their New Years run has taken them and their fans to the deep south. Their following down south might not be the largest, but one thing’s for certain, their fans will travel a long way to catch an epic run. As of right now, this is the furthest I’ve ever traveled for any concert. After a ten hour drive from Nashville, TN to Madison, WI I can’t help but wonder why I do this to myself. What else on this planet would give me an incentive to travel this far? It just shows the power of music, the experience you can’t quite explain to friends, family and your boss, and the connectivity one feels to something bigger than themself. So with that I’ll wrap this up and set out in the cold crisp Wisconsin air to enjoy Umphrey’s 2000th show.  ]]>