Thursday, April 16th @ 7:30 PM
Taft Theatre
317 East Fifth Street, Cincinnati
Tickets $23.50 ADV / $25.00 DOS / All Ages Welcome
For more information please contact 513-721-8883 or visit www.livenation.com
Umphrey’s McGee new album, Mantis, was released last week to rave reviews. The album debuted at #62 on the Billboard 200 Chart, and #6 on the Indie Chart. Also during release week, Mantis reached #25 on the Itunes Album Chart and #9 on the Itunes Rock Chart.
With Mantis’ week-of-release sales numbers at more than double that of the band’s previous album (The Bottom Half 2005), Umphrey’s McGee has defied the record industry’s downward trend in sales. This is due in part to Mantis’ innovative digital strategy, where fans who pre-ordered the album gained access to exclusive bonus material, and as more pre-orders were received, fans participated in “unlocking” new levels of content. Billboard Magazine recognized Umphrey’s McGee for their creative marketing savvy, calling the Mantis pre-order campaign “…a likely template for emerging and established acts [looking to] kick-start interest in a new release.”
Musically, Mantis is being hailed as the band’s most progressive, melodic and artistically cohesive album to date.
Here’s what critics are saying:
“…the sleekly constructed tunes…sparkle with a sweetness and soul that’s more than the sum of their influences.” – Entertainment Weekly
“…meticulous… If complexity is the standard by which it should be judged, Mantis warranted the buildup [of its release].” – New York Times
“A beautiful music gumbo… The band pulls off the trans-genre trick without a hitch.”
– Associated Press
“…their slickest and most ambitious tunes yet.” – Rolling Stone
“…an amazing transition.” – BLURT
“…razor sharp compositions… surgical precision, stop-start build-ups, hair metal riffs, and anthemic crescendos…not to mention some of the most technical and inspired guitar soloing you’ll hear on an album…”
– Relix
“…fresh, fluid, and classic. Mantis is a culmination of a buzz that has surrounded this band since its inception…. From jam band princes to prog-rock kings, Umphrey’s McGee has arrived.” – Honest Tune
“…fluid and majestic.” – Washington Post Express
Look for the new material on Mantis to get a live workout in 2009. Watch Umphrey’s McGee on PBS’s critically acclaimed concert series, Soundstage, on February 5. Or catch them live on tour.
Current tour dates are as follows:
April 16 Taft Theatre Cincinnati, OH
April 17 Egyptian Theatre Dekalb, IL
April 18 Morris Performing Arts Center South Bend, IN
April 29 Bama Theatre Tuscaloosa, AL
April 30 House of Blues New Orleans, LA
May 01 House of Blues New Orleans, LA
May 02 The Lyric Oxford MS
May 22 Summer Camp Chillicothe, IL
July 22 10,000 Lakes Festival Detroit Lakes, MN
Mantis is yet another innovative music experience to be offered by Umphrey’s McGee, who have proven adaptive and inventive both in music and business over the last 10 years. Through online community building, creative web-based promotions, and open taping policies allowing live music sharing among fans, Umphrey’s McGee has harnessed the internet’s momentum to spread their music far and wide. The band’s download store UMLive.net is an archive of their ever-diverse live performances, hosting downloads of over 300 shows with 750,000 tracks sold since 2004. Umphreys.com hosts the iTunes friendly UM Podcast which releases two 75-minute episodes of live material each month to its 20,000 subscribers. Since 2001, Umphrey’s has released soundboard recordings of each night’s concert immediately after the show in both physical and digital formats – and each show typically sells upwards of 300 copies per night. The band’s unique approach to online and digital distribution, paired with word of mouth buzz, has helped Umphrey’s McGee sell out shows nationwide while keeping their fans a top priority.
