Umphrey’s McGee Announced!

According to their website biography, Umphrey’s McGee only guarantees two things…”you never know what you’re going to get, and Umphrey’s always delivers”. This is what we’re hoping for when the band takes the main stage at Summer Set Music Festival!

These guys from Chicago have been a staple in the nation’s progressive rock jam band scene since they first got together in 1997 and they have been a constant presence in the summer music festival scene since they played the first annual Bonnaroo Music Festival in 2002. From that time on they’ve headlined seemingly countless events including a few in Minnesota such as Weekend at Harmony, 10000 Lakes Festival, and of course their annual multi-night events at First Avenue.

Umphrey’s McGee started out with original members Brendan, Joel, and Ryan. Later on in 2003 they added Jake, Kris, and Andy to complete the group that they are now. These guys have always been compared to other classic jam bands such as Phish and the Grateful Dead, but they also identify themselves with musicians from groups such as Pink Floyd, Genesis, The Police, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and even class metal band, Iron Maiden. Depending on the song you’ll definitely hear influences of all those artists in their music and all kinds of other genres such as funk, jazz, blues, electronic and on.

For their last time headlining First Avenue in February 2012, they put their excellent skill and awesome versatility as musicians on display playing two sets, one block of their own tunes and another block of cover tunes. Check out some of the videos from that show below and hear what Umphrey’s McGee is all about!