Size matters: Umphrey's McGee get cozy at Harlow's

2012-03-19T19:51:26Z

Thank you, Joel Nathaniel Cummins, for hitting the nail on the head.

“Thanks for making us feel like it’s South Bend back in about 2000,” Umphrey’s McGee’s keyboard player proclaimed when the band stepped back on stage for the evening’s encore, a funky take on “A Fifth of Beethoven.”

In a room filled with predominantly devout followers of the road raging jam band, there was a palpable buzz throughout Harlow’s on Sunday evening not only about the band’s first ever visit to Sacramento, but about seeing them in such a small joint.

Like this reporter, many folks had caught their show the night before at Oakland’s sprawling Fox Theatre. Both shows were stellar examples of this band’s unique brand of jam rock firepower, but equally astounding was the contrast between the two nights – and it was that contrast that everyone couldn’t stop talking about it.

The Fox Theatre is the brand of venue to which Umphrey’s McGee has become accustomed to playing the last few years. With the sheer size of that theatre, it was like playing in a Costco. Bassist Ryan Stasik had all the room in the world, like running from the TV aisle to the free samples table to lay down some jams.

On Sunday at Harlow’s, they were like sardines on a Southwest flight – it’s amazing Stasik didn’t accidentally elbow Kris Myers’ drum kit when throwing up two-handed metal horns.

It was just like the old days, but the precision and robust explosiveness of their live shows that has evolved since the early days at Notre Dame was on full display.

They opened promptly at 8:30 with a string of predominantly instrumental jams like the cheeky “Dump City,” feeding the frenzy of their devoted fans, but the show progressively began to turn to more generally accessible tunes such as “Alex’s House” and a slamming cover of Peter Tosh’s reggae staple “Steppin’ Razor.”

“Razor’s” riffs melded seamlessly into the air guitar-able riffs of “Mail Package” to close out the first set, but it was the second set where the show really took off. Covering a song that most people in the crowd know the lyrics to usually helps with that: Toto’s “Roseanna.”

As the soul thunk of “Hangover” steeped into the eager crowd, it officially sealed Harlow’s as “Umphrey’s house” for the night, as they were clearly jazzed to get back to their roots in such a small setting.

Check out the full setlist here.

Other bands have cooed similarly about Harlow’s. As Lindol French reported from the Yonder Mountain String Band show last year, front man Jeff Austin proclaimed, “this is the most intimate show we've played in a long, long time.”

It appears Harlow’s has become adept at providing a welcome shake of for bands of Umphrey’s/YMSB size, and may be helping earn Sac a reputation as a tour stop that provides something different from the norm…and brings a rowdy crowd to boot!

More please!

Upcoming Harlow’s shows include The Lumineers on March 25, Mazzy Star on April 7, and Yonder Mountain on April 17. Tickets for all shows are available at Harlows.com or at The Beat on J Street at 17th.

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Size matters: Umphrey's McGee get cozy at Harlow's