Throwback jam bands offer different flavors
Friday started out warm and humid (100 percent humidity at times) but by the evening things were drier and the outdoor concert put on by “Buffalo Place Rocks the Harbor” didn’t suffer the same wet fate doled out by the elements the night before, when Los Lobos was scheduled to play “Thursday at the Square” and ended up transferring to themore intimate venue/bar known as the Lafayette Tap Room.
There was actually a bit of a throwback vibe to the concert as well with two groups, Umphrey’s McGee and Medeski, Martin and Wood, displaying the free-flowing improvisatory styles lumped under the “jam band” label that was grandfathered by the Grateful Dead, the Allman Brothers Band and others. There were some obvious differences, with the trio bringing jazz and funk licks to the party while Umphrey’s McGee showcased a more rock-oriented, two-guitar attack.
The crowd was a typical audience for this sort of show. While most were wearing the typical summer attire of dresses, shirts and shorts, there was a hint of retro in some of the garb, with a herd of tie-dyed shirts emblazoned with script proclaiming allegiance to Hendrix, Marley, the Dead and Pink Floyd and long-flowing dresses with paisley prints. There were even dancers hopping to rhythms that may or may not have been in sync with what was happening onstage.
All of this was totally in keeping with the music that took the “Age of Aquarius” sonic motif and took it to a more energetic place. Medeski, Martin and Wood’s keyboard, bass and percussion-fueled riffing went funk and gospel at times but devoted the bulk of their set to wailing away like a cross between the instrumental squalls and whispers of the “Bitches Brew” album by Miles Davis (sans horns punctuating the mix) and a demented Sun Ra’s Arkestra (again, sans horns).
Umphrey’s McGee was more of a traditional — if that word can be used — jam band, hailing back to the modus operandi of the Dead and their more recent cousins, Phish.
Where M, M&W ventured into regions rarely explored, McGee relied on the precision powerhouse guitar interplay, a keyboard player that, while less inventive than John Medeski, was still pretty interesting and a powerful three-piece rhythm section that had more potential to play around with the beat but, for the most part, just pulsed straight ahead.
Concert Review
Medeski Martin & Wood and Umphrey’s McGee
Friday night as part of Buffalo Place Rocks the Harbor at Erie Canal Harbor Wharf.
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