I have been so bad about getting into the mountains. Our last trip was Buena Vista. I miss it a lot.
edit: Also, I used to climb in ohio of all places, but gave it up when I moved here. (the complete irony is not lost on me there.
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He’s good at that
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@Gregaforce7 I can appreciate the microjam approach if the ideas are good. Generally speaking, I feel like the “massive jams” and 4 song sets really started in the 2006-2008 era. 2/7/2004 and 12/3/2004 were two of the shows that hooked me on the UMs and the best hams there are like 4-6 minutes. I’ve also got some cringe/fringe opinions (bring back Through The Cracks!)
I haven’t listened to any 2024 UM yet. I also haven’t really felt the need because I know most of the people on here would at least appreciate a well-played show, even if it wasn’t 100% their cup of tea. I don’t get to listen to that much music these days, so I don’t want to waste my precious time on standardtown UMs.
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+1
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I’ve still kept up with listening to most of their jams the last few years since I have a nugs sub, but this year I’ve fallen off already due to boredom. I wish Sq Ft were playing more shows so I’d have something I want to listen to.
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As someone who has been making Stew mixes since 2005 and has seen them more than anyone on here I must say 2024 improv-wise has been extremely underwhelming thus far.
This is coming from someone who loves this band and is one of the largest fluffers on the bort.
Things will get better, hopefully sooner than later.
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I think about this at least 1-2 times every time i see them. Like they have to be bored as fuck up there a lot of the time
I say that as someone who witnessed a ton of great shows in all of their peak years and you could tell they fed off the crowd and would be just as blown away sometimes as we were. They were always having a blast on stage
You can blame it on age, but plenty of other bands who are just as old or older in this scene are still doing great things on a relatively consistent basis
Look at what the Biscuits are doing right now. Love Phish or hate them, but they are a decade older and constantly pumping out big jams and trying to push the envelope with ideas. Even if a lot of those ideas suck
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Outside of wasting time at work, or chilling on the couch borting, it really doesnt serve any purpose to compare them to other bands i like or even their former selves anymore. Did that for too long
They are who they are at this point. There will be momentum shifts and some heaters tossed in, but i feel like expecting them to ever go back to what they were is just a waste of energy. The real issue is that we are all addicted to this board for some reason and we all love member berries
Edit: i realize this post contradicts my post above it but that is what the bort is for
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Even if the current stuff is underwhelming, I will forever think that UM has some of the best live catalogs out there, and it has a very high replay value with me. However, I’ve accepted that I’ll probably never see them repeat the sound/shows of the glory years and that makes me feel a little sad.
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Buddhists say to live is to suffer. And we suffer because we are addicted to permanence. Once that thing we loved/hated/valued in some other way is gone, that is the suffering. I’ve found that once I was able to accept that and make peace with a finality, that’s when the zen happiness kicks in.
I’ve pretty much accepted their new chug chug era isn’t gonna be filled with long explorational jams, and I like the new era. They have a tonnnnn of songs especially with the new songwriter type era they seem to be in, it makes sense they’re trying to pack the sets in a little more. (Which again, I like it, it’s okay if others don’t)
Super looking forward to UMBowl to get some real weird shit tho hahaha
I’m also excited to see what era they get into in the next 5 yrs. Slower? Faster? Less enthused? More enthused? Amused? Bemused? Cemused?
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Check out the Bodhisattva! He has graced us with his presence! He attained enlightenment and instead of dissolving in to nirvana, he has chosen to selflessly join the Bort and let us know that caring about jams is why we are “suffering”
Out of curiosity, being that you are a student of Buddhism, why are you attached to making us feel a certain way about Umphrey’s? It seems like you might have some of your own hangups to work on.
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This is pretty much exactly my feelings on it too. 
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I’m not attached to making anyone do anything. You mistook my “slay the jade” as an offensive campaign when it’s really just me trying to understand why the Bort is so borted. Namaste 
lol
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The best part about the last time the bort went down is that i had absolutely no idea how UM was playing or what they were doing
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So peaceful!
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DC night 1 satisfied me, night 2 did not
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Hey yeah I actually meant to address this last night but I passed out. I mixed you up with @stringz in the jamband cringe thread. He is straight Himalayan salt lmao (hope your injuries recover so you can get back to bouldering tho @stringz)
So I do apologize, I even read your “nothing I post should be taken seriously” comment 
I’m dum
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@stringz is bae
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Thanks. I hope my elaboration on why I’m disappointed in UM lately made sense.
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