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Jam band Umphrey's McGee to play at Smith Opera House GENEVA -- Umphrey’s McGee, a progressive rock/jam band from South Bend, Indiana makes its Geneva debut, 8 p.m., Friday, Oct. 17 at the Smith Opera House, 82 Seneca St. Tickets are $25 general admission, $10 for students. Doors open at 7:00. Umphrey's McGee has enjoyed a rabid following among jam band aficionados for years. Through their seamless compositing of diverse musical influences, from progressive-rock to metal to funk to folk to jazz-fusion to classic song-based rock-and roll, all woven together with infectious melodies, thought-provoking lyrics, pristine harmonies, blistering musicianship, and rollicking grooves, Umphrey's McGee has risen to the upper echelons of the improvisational-rock scene. The band brings to mind the heyday of Phish. Its improvisational jam-band style has easily lent itself to the obsessions of the "Umphreaks," or "McGeeks," who trade the group's live recordings over the Internet. Coming out of the Midwest in the mid-'90s, Umphrey's McGee edged toward the Frank Zappa side of the improv rock scale, as opposed to the Grateful Dead/Allman Brothers Band direction espoused by many of their contemporaries. The group has cultivated an impressive presence both live and in the studio. Keyboardist JoelCummins, guitarist Brendan Bayliss, bassist Ryan Stasik and original drummer Mike Mirro all studied at the University of Notre Dame, while percussionist Andy Farag was at the South Bend branch of Indiana University. Guitarist Jake Cinninger, from Michigan, had a South Bend-based band called Ali Baba’s Tahini -- as well as an open invitation to join Umphrey’s, which he accepted in the Fall of 2000. His addition, along with Kris Myers’ arrival in 2003, proved critical to the band’s success. Just a few months after their first gig in 1998, the band released their first album, the cleverly titled live document, "Greatest Hits Volume III." "Songs for Older Women" and "One Fat Sucka" followed -- as did their first DVD, "Live from the Lake Coast." Building a reputation with the critically favored studio recording "Local Band Does OK" (not to be confused with "Local Band Does Oklahoma" -- a live EP released soon after) and honing their groove as a stellar live act, by the time 2004’s "Anchor Drops" was released to raves, the buzz on Umphrey’s had grown loud. In late 2004, the band was declared by Rolling Stone Magazine to be the successors to the jam band throne previously held by Phish. And the Washington Post named the band “rock’s undisputed lord of sonic shape-shifting.” One look at their second DVD, 2005’s "Wrapped Around Chicago: New Year’s at the Riv," says it all: Umphrey’s had arrived. Fans reveled in Umphrey’s flair for inventive improvisation, incredible covers, and unpredictable moments. The band had also developed an uncanny visual language onstage that includes dozens of unspoken cues — a happy face, for example, symbolizes a major key, while a sad face indicates a minor one -- that make their signature “jazz odysseys” and “Jimmy Stewarts” legendary on the jam scene. The band’s moniker is a twist on the name of a second cousin of Bayliss named Humphrey McGee. Umphrey's McGee is presented by Hobart and William Smith Colleges'
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