Where else asks “What do you want, jam on it?”
That dismissive English phrase pretty much sums up the mindset of the domestic music scene, where ‘jam’ is considered an unnecessary addition, an indulgent extra, a superfluous frippery… which maybe explains the weird lack of appreciation* here for the likes of jam scene titans Umphrey’s McGee and the need for Plunger to fly 4,000+ miles to hear them play.
We were in good company: even with Covid uncertainty (we presume) reducing numbers a bit from previous years, well over 1,000 people crammed into the exploreasheville.com arena on each night: young fans, old fans, and remarkably from a UK perspective a LOT of female fans; there were rock fans, dance fans, Dead fans, prog fans… all intent on the music with a minimum of yakking.
The band celebrated their return to Asheville after the enforced two year hiatus with a pair of ‘hit-heavy’ nights, displaying all the eclectic variety and outstanding musicianship that hypnotises their fans (and seemingly bamboozles everyone else!) From stadium epics like 2x2, August, a brooding The Floor, Seasons and a majestically chilly In The Kitchen; through laddish singalong quirk-funk in 40s Theme, Mail Package, Slacker and Ringo, reggae-tinged Higgins and Resolution, to the angular prog complexities of JaJunk and Hurt Bird Bath, and the evergreen crowd favourite All In Time. And being totally honest, those glib labels don’t even begin to scratch the surface of the twists and turns each song takes over the course of their length (in the case of JaJunk two other full tracks, while All In Time straddled two nights!)
As well as ‘the hits’ UM wheeled out some less-often-heard numbers: Breaker, Atmosfarag and (showing their always-deft hand at a mash up) Plunger’s first live experience of the Nine Inch Nails/Beatles hybrid Come Closer. Other live debuts (for Plunger) were the first night trio of Get In The Van, the spiky off-kilter Uncommon, and Believe The Lie, and night two’s loping Featish Women Wine And Song. More recent material came in the excellent electronic robot-two-step of The Silent Type and the brand new single I Don’t Know What I Want, while further covers featured a bleakly topical triad of Mark Knopfler’s We’re Going To War, Metallica’s … And Justice For All, and the second night finale Wings’ Live And Let Die.
Hard to pick a top track from two nights of genius but there’s always a special place in Plunger’s heart for the swirling dancefloor banger The Triple Wide: it’s been a welcome presence at five of the six runs we’ve caught and this year’s outing had us gliding round the floor like a blissed-out Fred Astaire on castors… or so we like to think.
Almost 12 hours of the most exhilarating, scintillating, switchback-taking, expectation-defying, eye-popping music (and lights, did we mention the LIGHTS?!?!) zipped past in a heartbeat - no longueurs, no drop in energy levels, no time wasting… no problem.
We got jam ALL over it, and we love it!
Live recordings of both nights available for download now from http://www.umlive.net - if you’re not a dead from the neck up Brit jam-hater...
*When we say ‘lack of appreciation’, it’s more like blowing a dog whistle for a cat - it doesn’t even seem to register on their consciousness at all!
