Photos and review by: Jason Robey

CHARLOTTE, NC — Two staples of the jam band scene since the 1990s, with years of friendship and different types of collaboration, brought their relationship to the next level with the “moe.ment.UM Tour.” Umphrey’s McGee and moe. made their mark on the Queen City on Friday, when the tour made a stop at The Amp for an evening of fun, friends, and some incredible music. Over the years, the bands have shared stages at festivals, done shorter runs of shows together, and had plenty of sit-ins with various members. This summer tour has featured one complete set from each band per night, and an encore of two or three songs with the bands playing together on each other’s songs and a variety of covers.

Umphrey’s McGee kicked the night off with an hour and a half of their brand of prog rock-meets jam. The band wasted no time jumping straight into jam mode, opening with a 13-minute “Piranhas,” full of peaks and valleys and a smooth transition to an equal length “Day Nurse.” Coming only a couple days after the official resignation of their guitarist of 26 years, who has been off the road since earlier this year, the band has adjusted impressively to a one guitar lineup, with Brendan Bayliss covering all guitar duties and keyboardist Joel Cummins filling more sonic space with his synth mastery. Their 90 minutes on stage covered a great deal of ground, from their early days at the beginning of the millennium with “Out Of Order” and “Hurt Bird Bath” to more recent tracks like “Pure Saturation” and “Hiccup.”  The biggest surprise for fans in the set came with a rare cover of Al Green’s “Take Me to the River,” coaxing the last few holdouts out of their seats to dance with the crowd. Even with only one set to do it, Umphrey’s McGee showed why they’ve been going hard since forming in 1997.

As the sun disappeared from the sky, moe. took the stage, surrounded by vertical light bars, blasting into long-time fan favorite “Billy Goat.” The improv and exploration of their set took off equally as quickly as it did with Umphrey’s McGee. After several minutes of jamming and giving each member some spotlight time, they took the song into a groove-heavy jam, with the staccato punch of the bass line of “Bullet” eventually emerging. What followed was another hour of sonic exploration, showcasing the band’s unique makeup, with multi-instrumentalist Jim Loughlin jamming on a xylophone (among other things) and the relatively recent 2023 addition of Nate Wilson, switching between keyboards and flute. The evening breeze hit perfectly, as vocalist/guitarist Al Schnier took center stage for a dimly lit and haunting run through of “Silver Sun,” a swirling psychedelic track that brings a 70s Pink Floyd-meets-Yes vibe to mind. The group ended their set with a the upbeat reggae-tinted bounce of one of their oldest songs, “Buster,” which debuted back in 1995.

The biggest treat of the night was the encore, with members of both bands taking the stage together. The mini set opened with the celebratory tone of moe’s “Happy Hour Hero,” with bassist/vocalist Rob Derhak kicking the song off, before opening it up for guitarist Chuck Garvey to take a nice solo with his talk box. The focus shifted to a double keyboard attack from Nate Wilson and Joel Cummins, before bringing it back to the structured song. Derhak passed the bass duties off to Umphrey’s bassist Ryan Stasik and lead vocals to Jim Loughlin, while his daughter, Emma, joined them on background vocals as they took a lively run at Led Zeppelin’s classic “Immigrant Song.” The moe.ment.UM Tour continues through mid-August, this is q unique chance to see two heavy-hitters together. Check either band’s social media for tour dates.