On Saturday Feb. 2, Chicago prog-rock jam band Umphrey's McGee played to a packed house at the Fillmore in Detroit. Opening for Umphrey's was Michigan's own alt-bluegrass jam band Greensky Bluegrass.
With an hour-long opening slot, Greensky managed to rock the hell out of their own fans while garnering some newfound respect from Umphrey's fans in the house new to the psychedelic sounds from the Kalamazoo stringed quintet. Umphrey's keyboard player Joel Cummins sat in for the Greensky set closer 'Don't Lie,' as the band took the audience on a 10-minute plus journey linking bluegrass with indie-folk and warped, effected-tinged jams while an impressive light show brought the band's message home even harder.
Umphrey's took the stage by 9 PM, and the fast fingered guitar picking of Jake Cinninger and Brendan Bayliss and heavy tones of Ryan Stasik's bass layered over the sounds from Joel Cummins' keys treated the audience to two sets of progressive jams reminiscent of Yngwie Malmsteen or Yes but with longer jams.
Check out photo sets Umphrey's McGee:
Greensky Bluegrass
