Hate away, but they had an enjoyable 2024. The 4 night run before Punta Cana was dope, as was UMBowl too.
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I will take your word for it. I had fun at the two shows i saw. Nothing i wanted to listen back to, but still a decent night out on the town
The 3 shows I’ve seen this year were all really enjoyable and better than probably the last 10-12 shows I saw of them
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To your point tho…i waltzed in to a full catalog of bangers and was able to have the choice of not listening to the duds. I haven’t built up the callous lol. But, I’d agree that their prime was a minute ago, and with their current lifestyles/tour choice, I’ve accepted that it must likely won’t happen again. That said, it’s more enjoyable to me than whatever is considered popular these days.
I mean i will still make it a point to go see them when they come to a city i live in. That definitely is not the case with plenty of other acts i like
Everybody always romanticizes the era they became a fan / started seeing shows, right? True of most hambands I feel
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It was a good 3 or 4 years before I fully appreciated their improv. Not to say I didn’t get it earlier but the first few years I was also enjoying their standard catalog (which is far different today).
When I started seeing them in 2007 I liked pretty much all of their studio recordings and unrecorded original songs. Today, not so much. So much new music from them over the last decade that just doesn’t connect with me.
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Yea - If they would have had 2-3 more bangers in the set or the improvs, I would have dug the show more. As everyone has basically said - I still love em and will see/support them, vs a lot of the other options out there (or lack of options). I think they were tired from Morocco honestly. And we all have different tastes and what amps us up - and its one of the plusses about UM is the variety. But I live for a few “rocking highpoints” at their show :).
I honestly don’t know if they were greatly heavy sounding early on, but i don’t feel like they were ever entirely crunchy sounding either.
Not debating as much as I’m thinking outloud.
The full blown cock rock phase didnt start until around 2014. Still plenty of heavy stuff at times before but it never felt forced or like it was a main focus. At least i never felt so prior to then
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Which is a shame because fall 13 / winter 2014 was a fantastic run for them.
I really enjoyed the last two shows I saw (MKE and Salt shed last year) but there’s no denying they are leaning into the heavy jamming style. I definitely miss the more melodic improv they don’t do as much anymore.
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Fall 2013 was some peak UM then they went full on cock rock
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One of the truly heavy jams I absolutely love (from 2013)
But it’s the build and textures that make it so good, not just random chugs and double-time drum.
EDIT: Of course I got to see a stinker of a show here in MI the next night where STS9 was the highlight.
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Dude, YES! That was killer. Thanks for sharing - had not heard it before. I know it’s a lot to ask from the band, to continually pull something like this off, night after night, show after show, year after year. But this is the kind of stuff that I absolutely love. When they are firing on all cylinders, I have not found any other band that can match it.
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Love me some 12/31/11 Ocean Billy for tasteful and heavy full band jamming
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This made its appearance in my playlist yesterday, and I thought about this debate as it played. Killer Billy all around.
Summer 2010 is one of the most slept-on UM periods IMHOSIYD. So many girthy lounge jams.
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Both Centennial Terrace and Meijer Garden were top notch
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That NYE run is still one of the GOAT runs. So much fun.
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Same. Pretty sure it was the last 3-night run from them that i saw while still thinking they were best band on the planet
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