This was my birthday show for 2013. I made the trip out from Colorado for this show and St. Louis the next night.

The venue was alright, smaller then what I was expecting from the photos. I was able to link up with some fellow Umphfreaks via Facebook groups and managed to secure a few spots on the SkyDeck. The SkyDeck is this venue's VIP viewing balcony w/ private bathrooms & bar. One of my friends had also secured the Headphones & Snowcones for the night so we got to the venue right as the opener started. After getting the headphones & a few pins from the merch table we settled into a nice spot about 10 ft. in front of the sound board in middle of the stage.

Umphrey's took the stage as the sun was setting and kicked off the set with a delicious ITK > Wellwishers sandwich. The jams from ITK where a sold way to start the show. Next came Mail Package, which seems to be popping up more frequently in 2013 set lists. A much enjoyed tune, and Jake seemed to get loose with some fun vocals. Dump City also has some great moments of improve and gets pretty spacey at parts. At thus point in the show I had only been able to listen to snippets of the opening tracks with the headphones on, since my friend was the one that reserved and paid for them.

Once Example 1 dropped she let me put them on for most of the song and oh boy was that something special. If you every have a chance to do this [u]I HIGHLY recommend it[u]!! You are able to feel the bass and low ends while also being able to isolate each band members instruments with extreme ease. There was a part during this song Joel was laying down a peaceful piano section over Jake's soloing; this was a very powerful experience at a live show for me.
I loved being able to look at each member and be able to hear exactly what they were contributing to each of the jams. The band transitioned out of the example 1 jam into only my second OOO in 32 shows. Out of Order was a much welcomed older tune, which Bayliss nailed the vocals on. The nights highlights for me start with the next song, Phil's Farm, and run to the end of the show with Pay the Snucka.

Phil's Farm has one of the best jams that I have experienced at an Umphrey's show in my 32 show career. A very long an enjoyable jam with a soaring peak! Syncopated also has some very strong moments and got very dark before they finished the song with the blissful doo doo doo dooooo part. The Come Closer mash-up was something no one saw coming and really sent the crowd into a frenzy! The inexperienced girls next to us had a look of sheer confusion at what was happening in front of their eyes and ears. This took me back to the first time I heard this song at my [b]2nd EVER UM show[b] during Wakarusa of 2010. It reminded me of that night and the night before when I had my first live experiences with this band and community and made me very happy.

Pay the Snucka was the perfect way to end the set and one of the songs that I had requested from Joel on twitter. I don't know for sure if this is why they played Snucka at this show, but it sure made the night for me. I had such a blast RAGING this set in a unfamiliar town at a new venue with some of the best friends and family a guy could ask for. Thanks to Umphrey's amazing performance this night I will have some amazing pictures & memories from an outstanding 27th Birthday!!

mm/ Rage.Rest.Repeat
MomentsofDivisions