S² in Philadelphia Sold Out; Future S² to Help Benefit USTORM

PRESS RELEASES—Fri, Feb 12th, 2010
The S² even on 02.27 in Philadelphia has sold out. Thanks to everyone who purchased tickets!
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02.04.10

Umphrey’s McGee brings the Stew Art Series (S²) back to the East Coast. This installment will unfold at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Saturday February 27th. Doors will open at 3:30 pm, with the S² to start at 4:00. Tickets are $99.00 and go on sale Friday, February 12th at 12:00 pm ET via Umphrey's Ticketing. As with past S² events, you will need a separate ticket to get into the night’s show.

Umphrey’s McGee’s S² debuted on October 3rd in Milwaukee and since then each event has been a unique experience in band and fan interaction. As much as each S² has sharpened the band’s ability to improvise on the spot, it has been a learning experience for everyone in attendance. With learning in mind, Umphrey’s McGee will donate a portion of the proceeds from each upcoming S² event to USTORM, a Chicago-based charity that donates funds to help children in need as well as young adults to improve their lives by providing access to various music and arts education programs: United So Together Our Reach Multiplies. USTORM has donated over $40,000 to various music and art educational schools and programs. The connection between S² and USTORM is clear -- in the ever-evolving learning process of each S² event, Umphrey’s Mcgee looks forward to continuing to assist USTORM with their mission.

What is a Stew Art Series (S²) event? Hosted as individual events before that evening’s already scheduled concert, Umphrey’s Stew Art Series is a crowd-sourced improvisation experiment in which all the music performed by the group on stage will be entirely directed by S² audience members. Prices and ages vary from show to show. Each event last approximately one hour with Q&A, with a meet and greet to follow. Soft drinks, beer, and light snacks are provided.

S² attendees submit ideas by texting descriptive words, phrases, and pop culture references (pretty much whatever comes to mind), to the Umphrey's Mozes mobile interface. The suggestions are then projected on a screen for the band to digest and turn into the next phase of the jam. The band’s music varies stylistically with suggestions ranging from “an afternoon bus ride in Jamaica” to “drinking pina coladas . . . in a hurricane.”

As highly skilled improvisational musicians known for using a complex set of signals on stage to prompt spontaneous musical changes, S² is proving to keep the band on their toes as they navigate through the audience’s prompts. S² events also include Q&A sessions providing an opportunity for fans to ask about what they’re witnessing (or ask anything else for that matter). As part of the ticket (which is a custom laminate that is different for each S² event), every attendee will receive an autographed CD of the Stew Art Series they attend, just minutes after the event has concluded. To be clear, each S² show is a TOTALLY separate event than the scheduled concert date and is sold as a separate ticket -- getting a ticket to S² does not get you into the show later that night (and vice versa). The S² experiment is just that, an experiment. Keyboardist Joel Cummins explains, “The improvisational elements of our show have always been one of our favorite parts about playing together -- and we think the audience feels that way, too. That’s our inspiration for the S² series. It’s also a great way to stay on top of our chops.”