The Intro Blog/Umphrey's @ Murat Theatre, Indianapolis (3/14)

i've been thinking a lot lately about reactivating my blogging. now that myspace activity has dwindled to almost nothing, and the ORANJE blog is used for ORANJE and is not necessarily an outlet to write about the random stuff i think about on a daily basis, i figured i should find a new outlet for writing.

so, i thought i would start it off by telling a little story about last saturday's Umphrey's McGee show at the Murat Theatre in downtown Indianapolis. the band played two nights (friday and saturday) and i attended the saturday show with a good buddy of mine.



my boy and i have watched these guys work hard and grow their talent, name and fanbase for about 10 years, and have become good friends with them along the way. this is one of the best groups of people you'll ever meet in the music business, from the band to the crew, they work their asses off, and despite having reached an incredible level of success with their work, they have not changed at all as people and are still very genuine in their friendships and interactions. however, most fans who are not lucky enough to know them personally are just there to see great shows. and Umph delivers as consistently as any band i've seen, only getting better each time i see them.



it seems like every time my buddy and i hit a show together, either something really incredible happens, or something really hilarious happens. last saturday night was jam-packed with both. i'll do my best to recap the night, although words can not describe the perfect timing, classic moments, musical journey and one of a kind conversations that took place that night.

it started off with an arrival down to mass ave, and a score on a street spot near the venue. grabbed the guest passes from the box office to avoid the mob that would hit the venue 20 minutes later. then we hit macnivens to kill some time and grab a beer. i order an alpha king. we keep the macnivens visit pretty short and then go visit some friends across the street. headed back to the venue to get in for the tipoff. going through the line, we both get marginally molested by the female security guard who i thought might have followed me home if i wasn't careful. we moved past the feel-copper and headed inside to go meet up with our old school buddies on the far 'stage-right' side of the Egyptian Room.



the first set rocks, and i'm rollin' through a few red bull & vodkas that were 'generously created' by the bartender, who recognized me from ORANJE. that set things off nicely.

we head backstage at setbreak to say hey to the boys, and they're happy to see everyone, but a little frustrated with the first set. they were ready to prove something and blow the roof off for set 2. and they did. they came out with a vengeance and rocked their loyal, midwestern fans for yet another stellar performance at Murat's Egyption Room. the second set featured some incredible moments, including a ridiculous solo by guitarist Jake Cinninger.





towards the end of the show, i realized that i lost my all-access pass, and begin to retrace my steps to try to locate it. no luck. it's gone. which means that it's either been swept away, or some lucky jackass has it. we suspect it was the latter.

fast forward to our group's entrance to the backstage after-show party, to which i had a pass, and now was missing that pass. i confidently walk through the door to the backstage area and the woman asks me if i have a pass to the after show, to which i respond, "yes," and kept walking. she yelled "sir!" a few times, but i just kept walking because i wasn't about to deal with that crap, and i was on the list, damnit. i just lost my pass! so, we get back there and the fun begins. the whole band and all the friends of the band are in a great mood because it's saturday night, the weather was great, and the band just completed a great show, with an amazing second set.

there was one strange occurrence that led us to believe that someone found my pass. there was a guy back there who clearly didn't belong. he didn't seem to know anyone, was by himself, and was definitely acting strange. he tried to work his way into several conversations and at one point asked us for a ride (even though he had no idea where we were going), but finally he left. once we figured out (on the ride home) that it was probably that stranger who found my all access pass, we laughed our asses off until my buddy dropped me off. it was one of those things that you had to be there, but this was classic. after a great show, and some incredible conversations backstage with some of the guys in the band about the years of hard work and what it takes to be successful, we got to laugh the whole way home about the security molester and the strange guy backstage who i 'accidentally miracled.'

i can't recommend enough that you go check out Umprey's McGee if you haven't seen them. while categorized as a jamband, if you are someone who is open minded to new music, and appreciates a fun atmosphere at a concert, you should give them a shot. they have worked tirelessly to perfect their sound and put on a great show, and it's obvious they're having fun doing it. we even got a 'happy st. patrick's day' from Brendan, complemented by a green-out by lighting director Wade Wilby.