Umphrey's McGee at First Avenue in Minneapolis, 1/30/09

Well, after the hell that is Minneapolis parking ramps, last night was another successful Umphrey's McGee concert at the famous First Ave. night club in Minneapolis. The band was, as usual, in top form, bringing their techno/jazz/funk/metal infused jams to the masses until 12:30 in the morning. Everyone seemed to be very satisfied after the show, and the band members were even nice enough to come out to the main floor afterwards and talk with fans such as myself, and just relax and talk music.

Now what amazes me about concerts such as this is the general don't ask don't tell policy on marijuana. At First Avenue I have seen employees confiscating cigarettes from concert-goers, and being relatively lax about enforcing drug policies. But it is somewhat understandable with shows like this. Being a huge success in the jam band genre, Umphrey's McGee draws all the regular hippie stereotypes, along with musicians checking out the players themselves. Just being in the vicinity of the concert, and myself being up in the front, it is not uncommon to experience a fairly good contact high from all of the substance in the air.

 What also amazed me is how people just seem to let go of their everyday vices at a concert like this, no one is afraid to just let themselves go and dance to their hearts content. This is generally a concert where everyone can find something to like in the band, and the talent displayed by the players is always top-notch.

Umphrey's McGee is definitely a band that I will be seeing as long as I can, and I strongly recommend that anyone with an interest in music pick up a CD of theirs, and try to make it to one of their shows when the come to a town near you, I can very strongly guarantee that it will be enjoyed by just about anyone.

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OK I Lied, First Update!

I said I would create my first post tomorrow, but quickly decided to throw in a quick word while sitting in my local Caribou.

I am currently a student at McNally Smith College of Music in St. Paul, MN, and today we had a very special guest come join us, Bobby McFerrin! (yes, the "Don't Worry, Be Happy" guy) Well if you only know him as that certain someone, then I swiftly urge you to take a deeper look!

Often under-appreciated, McFerrin seems to be a very genuine, down to earth person, and also one of the greatest vocal talents of recent history. In the very relaxed Q&A I was able to attend earlier today, Bobby made everyone feel at home, and was very warm and willing to answer any question thrown at him, also throwing in a good bit of comedy as well.

To be in the presence of this amazing talent for just an hour was still an immense privilege, and hearing him perform improvisational vocal pieces no one else may ever hear was really an incredible experience, I urge everyone to check out his solo works, and also collaborations with legends such as Chick Corea.

ALSO: When there is a break between concerts for myself, I'm going to be reviewing/talking about previous concerts, and all other sorts of stuff, so look out for that too!

The Basics of Concert Culture

Well, welcome to the Concert Culture blog! My name is Daniel, a Twin Cities musician, and avid concert attendee. Being one who goes to so many concerts, I have found that each show has it's own special "flavor," i.e. a Kanye West concert will not have the same "flavor" as an Eric Clapton concert. Surprising isn't it? Well what I want to do with this blog is talk about the various experiences involved with different concerts, how an audience reacts to certain things at these shows, and how it all comes together to create larger experience for the music lover. I will hopefully be providing my first full update tomorrow, after attending a concert by popular midwest jam band Umphrey's McGee tonight in Minneapolis.

Also, I will be posting other musically relevant information here, and trying to keep everyone up to date on the latest music news.

Hopefully you can enjoy reading about these things as much as I enjoy witnessing them!

And a little about me... I am a musician/student at McNally Smith College of Music in St. Paul, I am studying for my Bachelor's in Bass Performance, and have performed at various locations throughout the Twin Cities. Concerts have always seemed to be my number source of inspiration, and I have spent entirely too much time and money enjoying them, but I still love them to death and try to get to as many as I can!

A "short" list of my live music experiences so far:

1.The Eagles

2.Leo Kottke

3.Crosby, Stills & Nash/The Jayhawks

4.The Blue Man Group/Venus Hum/Tracy Bonham

5.Bob Dylan

6.Les Paul

7.Eric Clapton/Robert Randolph and the Family Band

8.Incubus/The Music

9.MACRock Festival

10.Steve Vai/Eric Sardinas

11.Elton John

12.Todd Rundgren/Joe Jackson

13.Santana/Los Lonely Boys

14.Lucinda Williams/John Doe

15.Aimee Mann/The Honeydogs

16.Dave Matthews Band/Gavin Degraw

17.Minnesota Orchestra Plays Led Zeppelin

18.Dream Theater

19.Queen + Paul Rodgers

20.Dave Matthews Band/Umphrey's McGee

21.Dave Matthews Band/Umphrey's McGee

22.Trampled By  Turtles

23.Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

24.Steve Miller Band/The Fabulous Thunderbirds

25.Umphrey's McGee

26.Umphrey's McGee

27.Eric Clapton/Robert Cray

28.The Bad Plus

29.Zappa Plays Zappa

30.Sonny Rollins

31.Red Hot Chili Peppers/Mars Volta

32.Primus/Drums and Tuba

33.Ray Lamontagne/Tristan Prettyman

34.Guns N' Roses/Sebastian Bach/Helmet/Suicide Girls/Modern Day Zeros

35.The Who/The Pretenders

36.Bx3/Jeff Berlin/Stu Hamm/Billy Sheehan

37.John Mayer/Mat Kearney

38.Umphrey's McGee

39.Umphrey's McGee

40.Heaven and Hell

41.The Allman Brothers Band

42.Roger Waters

43.The Police/Fiction Plane

44.Basilica Block Party 2007

45.Incubus/Simon Dawes

46.Dream Theater/Redemption/Into Eternity

47.Rage Against the Machine/Queens of the Stone Age/The Coup

48.Dave Matthews Band/The Roots

49.Dave Matthews Band/The Roots

50.The Allman Brothers Band/Robert Randolph and the Family Band

51.Velvet Revolver/Alice in Chains/Kill Hannah

52.Rush

53.Steve Vai/Zack Wiesinger

54.Van Halen/Ky-Mani Marlee

55.Ozzy Osbourne/Rob Zombie/In This Moment

56.Hellyeah/Otep/Bloodsimple

57.Dane Cook

58.Aimee Mann/Paul F. Tompkins/Morgan Murphy/Adam Levy/Nellie McKay

59.Robert Randolph and the Family Band/The Satin Peaches

60.G. Love and Special Sauce/The Wood Brothers

61.Todd Rundgren

62.Matchbox Twenty/Alanis Morissette/Mutemath

63.Marilyn Manson/OURS

64.Foo Fighters/Serj Tankian/Against Me!

65.Umphrey's McGee/North Indiana Allstars

66.Dream Theater/Opeth/Between the Buried and Me/3

67.Zappa Plays Zappa

68.Kanye West/Rihanna/N.E.R.D./Lupe Fiasco

69.Return to Forever

70.Jack Johnson/Mason Jennings/Money Mark

71.Liquid Tension Experiment

72.Peter Frampton

73.Rage Against The Machine/Anti-Flag

74.Buckethead/That1Guy

75.Opeth/High on Fire

76.Ray LaMontagne/Leona Ness

77.Joe Satriani/Mountain

78.Beastie Boys/Ben Harper/Tenacious D

79.Coldplay/John Hopkins/Sleepercar

80.AC/DC/The Answer

81.Slipknot/Coheed & Cambria/Trivium