Progressive rock band Umphrey’s McGee is coming to town, and they’re bringing their progressive improvisation, or “improv,” with them.
The Chicago-based band, influenced by groups like Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin, is comprised of six guys who have been playing together since their formation at Notre Dame in 1997.
“We’re progressing the way that people improv on stage,” said Andy Farag, the band’s percussionist.
Umphrey’s Stew Art Series, S², sets them apart from other improvisational bands. A “stew session” has three elements: a question-and-answer session, mingling with the fans and fan-determined improvisational music.
“There’s 50 tickets available, a screen that attendees and band members can see, and attendees can text any three, four, five word idea and we interpret it musically. … Our sound engineer will just keep putting up ideas on the screen,” Farag said.
These ideas can be anything, from “technobluegrass” to “panty dropping pop.”
“We decided we wanted to come up with something that’s more intimate and interactive with our fans,” said Joel Cummins, keyboardist and vocalist. He said the idea started with letting a few fans come in during sound check and grew from there.
“We charge $100 a ticket, and everyone has gone away pretty happy with it and think it’s well worth the money,” Farag said. “It also helps us when we’re doing improv in the actual show as well.” Improvisation takes place in the normal show later in the evening, but it’s not determined by the audience.
Their stop in Columbus this March will not include a “stew session,” but it’s likely that future shows will have them.
“These have turned out to be really popular. … They’re selling out in five minutes,” Cummins said.
What makes their improvisation possible is a sophisticated set of gestures that they’ve been developing for the past decade. “It helps the spontaneity of it,” Farag said. They are able to communicate key changes, tempo, who to play and who to lay off. For example, thumbs up at someone means to stop playing, and different letters of the sign language alphabet for corresponding key changes.
“It’s been fun developing our own different language,” Cummins said.
“We’re all influenced by different styles of music, so we’re pretty well versed in playing different genres,” Farag said. “Our guitarist used to be in a metal band and he used to be in a country band in Nashville.”
“I actually listen to hip-hop and R&B,” Farag said. “It helps me to be simple and tasteful, I think, because my job is to accent what’s going on.”
Umphrey’s McGee will be playing from its repertoire of 100-plus original songs, including ones from their latest album, “Mantis,” released in 2009.
“We’re just trying to give our audience as fun of an experience as we can,” Cummins said.
They’ve been to Columbus several times before and plan on coming back.
“People in the Midwest are always very, very exuberant and very ready to get down,” Cummins said. “That makes it a lot easier to get there on stage and throw the energy back and forth between the band and the fans.”
Umphrey’s McGee will be playing at 8:30 p.m. March 5 at Newport Music Hall. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 the day of the show. They can be purchased at promowestlive.com.
