Umphrey’s McGee on Thursday started his tour at the end of August with support from Eggs And Stolen Gin with a performance in St. Louis, MO’s The parade. During the second of UM’s two headlining sets, the band welcomed three quarters of Eggy – guitarist Jake BrownsteinKeyboarder Dani Battatand drummer Alex Bailey—to take part in an almost 18-minute performance by Talking Heads Favorite “Girlfriend is better”.
“How are you guys tonight?” Umphrey’s guitarist/singer Brendan Bayliss asked the Missouri crowd after the sprawling combination of “Attachments” > “Fenced In” that opened the second set. “We’d like to invite our good friends from Eggy to come over and help us mess up a little.”
With Battat on the organ next to Joel CumminsBailey positions next to Andy Farag on his additional percussion, and Brownstein stands between Bayliss on Jake Cinninger In the centre of the stage, the nine-member combo band played patiently and envelopingly on the Speaking in tongues Track that developed into a series of guitar harmony crescendos and into a three-man percussion jam (featuring Bailey, Farag and Chris Myers) before a heated showdown between Jake (UM) and Jake (Eggy).
Check out a fan-shot video of the collaboration below, and see Umphrey’s McGee and Eggy’s full setlists from Thursday’s tour kickoff.
Umphrey’s McGee with Jake Brownstein (Eggy), Dani Battat (Eggy), Alex Bailey (Eggy) – “Girlfriend Is Better” (Talking Heads) – 8/22/24
(Video: Shinepigeon)
While Eggy has performed as the opening act for Umphrey’s McGee on several occasions and was the drummer/singer Alex Bailey sat with the band during Sunshine Daydreaming This was the first time Brownstein and Battat played for UM in 2024. With six more Umphrey’s support slots lined up for Eggy in August, we wouldn’t be surprised to see this Umphrey’s McEggy story continue to develop. For more background on the still-growing Umphrey’s/Eggy connection, check out our recent feature, On tour with Eggy: Waiting Game.
Umphrey’s McGee Tour continues Friday night at The Salt Shed in Chicago, IL with Eggy and Stolen Gin. For a full list of Umphrey’s upcoming tour dates, click here. For a full list of Eggy’s upcoming tour dates, click here. For a list of Stolen Gin’s upcoming tour dates, click here.
Related: Umphrey’s McGee Announces ‘Morockshow,’ a Destination Event in Spring 2025 in Marrakech, Morocco (Video)
Fans can listen to full recordings of the tour and access exclusive live streams of upcoming Umphrey shows featuring support from Eggy by signing up to nugs.net. (Editor’s Note: Live For Live Music is a partner of Nugs. When you order your Nugs subscription or purchase a download through the links on this page, you support our coverage of the world of live music. Thanks for reading!)
Setlist (via allthings.umphreys): Umphrey’s McGee | The Pageant | St. Louis, MO | 08/22/24
Set One: Get in the Van, Walletsworth, Always October > Ringo > Stanton (1) > Ringo, Night Nurse
Second set: Attachments > Fenced in, Girlfriend is better (2), Higgins, Lazybones
Encore: The floor
Notes: (1) played for the first time since October 22, 2016 (593 shows); (2) cover of Talking Heads, with Alex Bailey of Eggy on drums, Jake Brownstein on guitar, and Dani Battat on keys.
Setlist (via thecarton.net): Eggy | The Pageant | St. Louis, MO | 08/22/24
Sentence: Here and Now, Lost and Found > A Short Message, Coming Soon (1), Watercolor Days, Fly Frederick Fly
Notes: (1) Cover by Paul McCartney; This was an opening set for Umphrey’s McGee.
