Located at the corner of Wilshire and Western in downtown Los Angeles, The Wiltern has become a regular stop on Umphrey's McGee's spring calendar. This is the 5th March show in a row for the band at this storied vaudeville theatre and the penultimate show on their Spring Tour '18.

Umphrey's opens with Dark Brush, only the 3rd time playing this new song off their latest album it's not us. The band establishes a heavy palette early on. Brendan Bayliss greets the LA crowd and the band wastes no time digging into Bad Friday on this Saturday night. A playful dance groove led by Jake Cinninger intertwines with a trippy synth melody played by Joel Cummins, resulting in a cathartic tension/release moment. Bad Fridays always end up great. Bridgeless gets going with some Jake staccato and burns slowly for a while, searching for some direction. Joel rises high above on a synth breeze and comes down for a perfect landing, gliding the band into Example 1. Jake takes the reigns again in the jam, leading his mates down a funky, bluesy path with some ferocious licks. The rhythm section of Ryan Stasik, Kris Myers, and Andy Farag is so tight here. Rocker 2, which debuted on NYE '07 at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, starts with a gentle intro and gets right down to it with a meaty jam. A twin guitar attack and double bass drum assault leaves the crowd floored as they conclude Rocker 2. Brendan asks for a round of applause for "hometown hero" Joel Cummins. Draconian kicks up next with its heavy-hitting, dance-inciting groove and Dylan-esque lyrics from Bayliss. This trickles back into the bookend of Bridgeless, finishing off the set as dark as it began.

Wappy Sprayberry is first out of the gate after set break and immediately elevates the energy of the room with a driving, fast-paced romp. Out of the rubble comes The Floor which opens up into a hard rock space but never strays too far from its origins. Faces melted yet again. Booth Love has a Stasik-led bass line that sets up a sexy jam during which Jake moves over to join Joel on keys and Brendan teases Baker Street. This reaches its climax and ends abruptly without the usual Booth Love closing. Jajunk starts up a ska groove led by Ryan which becomes a Canary In A Coal Mine jam. This enters a tense transitory state, with the urgent momentum propelled by the rhythm section. The jam softens to a lull before ending Jajunk in bombastic glory. Bayliss asks "Are we having fun yet?". Once In A Lifetime is the band's 2nd time playing the Talking Heads classic after its debut in 2015 at Chicago's Ravinia Gardens (with Chicago Mass Choir). This comes off really well here. Brendan introduces the next song as being a new one off their recently-released album while Jake teases Go To Hell. Maybe Someday is already two months old after its debut at Park West in Chicago for the it's not us release party. The solid gold rocker ends set 2 with its kick-ass guitar hook borrowed from the retired Waist Down.

The first encore is dedicated to Manny Sanchez, their good friend and studio engineer who was in attendance and said he wanted to hear Hajimemashite. The band does not disappoint and delivers an emotive version that feels like a big warm hug. The epitome of Umphlove. So much love that a one-song encore wasn't going to be enough, so out comes The Silent Type. The first cut on their new album and debuting NYE '17 in Denver, TST shows the band clearly having fun with the tension & release aspect of their new year's baby.

Umphrey's McGee would go on to play San Diego's Observatory Park the following evening to conclude their Spring tour and Joel-side domination.