Ziggy’s Winston-Salem NC: October 9, 2002
20 years ago today in North Carolina, Miss Tinkles Overture debuted in the first set. Listen for the DBK > Slacker > 2nd Self > DBK to open the show. Blue Echo > Crooked One is awesome too.
Notable:
17-minute DBK to start the show, and that’s just the first parts of the song. They split DBK with Smell the Mitten, and Slacker > 2nd Self before getting back to finish the song.
To end the first improv section of DBK, they tease 2nd Self, which will appear after Smell the Mitten, as a part of the DBK sandwich.
The first 3 minutes of Smell the Mitten are an extension of the DBK jam, hinting and drifting slowly into the opening segment.
Before Slacker, Brendan says, “we’re going to fuck this one up because we haven’t played it in a long time, just so you know.” It had been three months since they had performed Slacker.
They sort of took a break from Slacker in 2002. The song had been played a lot since 1999, but 2002 saw the least number of performances of any year in its history (besides 2020), with only 7.
Chitlins con Carne is an instrumental jazz cover originally by Kenny Burrell, that they’ve played only 14 times, mostly in 2001-2002. The last performance was back in 2007.
Then it’s the debut of the Umphrey’s classic, Jake-composed Miss Tinkles Overture. It’s a very true to form version and goes into a short jam afterwards hinting that they will open this song up to exploration in the future. They morph the jam into the Police’s When the World is Running Down.
And then it’s a nice long Out of Order to finish the first set.
Syncopated Strangers > Comin’ in from the Cold (Bob Marley, sung by Mike) > Tribute to the Spinal Shaft, is a killer segment. Tribute ends with a 5-minute improv jam and then slides into Last Call.
It’s coming to the end for Last Call, but this version is great, with a jam-transition beginning with a key change as they start the song. Last Call, sung by Mike, will only get two more performances in 2002 after this one, as Kris takes over on Drums starting in 2003. They bring it out one more time in 2014 on NYE at the Tabernacle in Atlanta.
13 Days is really coming along with its precise written parts and vocal harmonies performed perfectly.
Still no double-tempo section in Blue Echo, but they go into a jam that’s the beginning of The Crooked One. It’s a jam to start, then a jam after, making this a 16-minute version.
Jake plays with some multi-tonal jazz picking before starting into the new tune, Visions of Parin. Jake had just played Visions solo on acoustic, three days before on the 6th at Martyr’s in Chicago, with him and Joel opening for Joshua Redman, an almost all-improv set. The soundboard is available on the Live Music Archive, thanks to Kevin Browning, then sound caresser.
Check out this show by Umphreys McGee from Sun, Oct 6, 2002 at Martyrs’ on Live Music Archive! https://livemusicarchive.app/music/artists/UmphreysMcGee/recordings/um2002-10-06.shnf
Visions finishes with Joel on solo piano for a two-minute improv transition into 2×2, quite excellent.
Another tight standalone version of 2×2, and then Joel announces they’ll be in North Carolina one more night, tomorrow at Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro.
Get in the Van ends the set, and the encore is a nice long Fussy Dutchman.
Setlist from allthings.umphreys.com
Set 1:
Der Bluten Kat[1] > Smell the Mitten, Slacker-> 2nd Self > Der Bluten Kat, Chitlins Con Carne, Miss Tinkle’s Overture[2] > When the World Is Running Down You Make the Best of What’s Still Around > Out Of Order
Set 2:
Syncopated Strangers, Coming In From the Cold > Tribute to the Spinal Shaft > Last Call > 13 Days > Blue Echo > The Crooked One, Visions > 2×2, Get In The Van
Encore:
The Fussy Dutchman[3]
Footnotes:
[1] with 2nd Self teases
[2] debut, original
[3] with Gimme Some Money (Spinal Tap) tease
Show Notes:
with Gimme Some Money (Spinal Tap) tease and quote before The Fussy Dutchman
Links to Audio and Apps
The Live Music Archive app (iOS) and the Taper’s Section app (Android) is a great way to find and listen to these shows. You can stream, download for offline listening, save favorites, and mark shows as already listened to. The app pulls all data directly from the public repository of live music recordings posted at archive.org.
