Plenty of Umph

Umphrey's McGee rocked the Rams Head last night. For a band that I've felt can sometimes slow down a little too much and risk losing the audience, they kept the energy up throughout the whole show. They were extremely sharp, and stayed perfectly in sync with each other while the music bounced around all over the place. Kenny from The Bridge came out and beat-boxed for a little in the middle of the second set, with Jake joining in as well, which to my knowledge isn't something often seen at an Umprey's show.

I stood right behind the sound booth and had a great view of the stage. I also had the opportunity to notice a few things about the band's sound setup:

1. They have their own digital soundboard, meaning most of the controls are on two side-by-side wide-ass computer screens. I don't know much about audio stuff, but this just looked really cool. Umphrey's obviously takes technology very seriously.
2. The guy running this board was constantly making adjustments to all sorts of controls, all without any cues from the band. Again, I have no idea what he was actually doing, but it seemed like he managed the sound extremely well.

Consequently, the band sounded fantastic. Everything was crysal clear, as it should be when a band that's serious about performing plays at a top notch venue like Rams Head.

An official artist lineup announcement for the All Good Music Festival should be forthcoming February 28th. Some guy was talking about it during setbreak and said the following are some of the bands expected to be on that lineup:

The Black Crowes
Robert Randolph & the Family Band
Benevento/Russo Duo w/ Mike Gordon
Umphrey's McGee
The Bridge
and a few other high profile acts I don't remember.

Looks like All Good is kicking it up a notch. BAM!