umprhey's publicly pokes fun at gordon.....

[dimafleck: the living legend.]

i think this is pretty stupid and rude on umphrey's part...

their theme of the night was celebrity criminals and they played a "Pedophile Medley" which covered songs by knownartists like Micheal Jackson, Jerry Lee Lewis, R Kelly, The Who etc....at the end, they teased Mike's Song....

i think child molestation is a pretty sensitive subject to be poking fun at.

[Tickler]

Especially when Mike Gordon's wasn't child molestation.

[questcequecest?]

this reminds me of a story i read on the weekend.

r kelly had been touring with jay-z, until recently when one of jay-z's thug roadies sprayed r kelly with pepper spray. hahah, the life of a gangsta.

story on pollstar

[weezy]

"at the end, they teased Mike's Song...."

aahaha - that's hilarious! It was just teased, so no need to get your knickers in a knot - it probably generated some serious laughter from the crowd. Mike probably found it funny too.

Pedophile songs - what a crazy theme - kinda sad that it's an easy one to do though...

[Thumpin]

Well, I'm in agreement with Dimafleck on this one. Weezy, not too sure what your basing the assumption that Mike probably found it funny on, but I'd bet he probably didn't. Yes, although pedophilia is an endless source of comic relief, I think Mike wasn't smiling too much when those allegations and rumours were swirling around and to perpetuate, even by teasing, those rumours, in my mind, is a great diservice to one of my favourite musicians. But that's just me, he might have found it hilarious, I don't know. We'll have to agree to disagree on this one.

[kc]

mini-me, you com-plete me.

[secondtube]

It has come to our attention that a few of our audience members were offended by a part of our Halloween show in Portland, OR. The Celebrity Criminal Celebration was intended to be a spoof. We are very sorry if that was unclear. We in no way condone celebrity’s alleged criminal behavior, nor were we alluding to the innocence or guilt of any celebrity.

We have received a few emails from disgruntled Phish fans about our including a tease of Mike’s Song in the Celebrity Medley. Again, we were just making a joke and trying to make light of a situation that, when it occurred over a year ago, was blown way out of proportion. Many of us here in the Umphrey’s camp are fans of Phish and like you, have spent much time going to their shows. We all have nothing but total respect for the entire Phish organization, an organization that we believe is one of the best in musical history. Being friends with a few of them, we’ve heard first hand the misunderstanding that happened last summer – and we felt like it would be ok to poke fun at a situation that has long since been cleared up. We have a long history of enjoying our Midwestern tongue-and-cheek humor. (Take a look at our album titles for instance, the first being Greatest Hits Volume III, Songs for Older Women, Local Band Does OK.) In retrospect, we can understand how our (sometimes twisted) humor is not always understood for what it is. We’ll try to be more aware of this as we move forward.

In the meantime, thanks for your understanding and concern. We in no way intended any disrespect toward Mike or any other musician. It was a Halloween trick, in the spirit of the holiday.

Thanks for listening.

Umphrey's McGee

[MarcO]

That's really poor taste all around.

Their statement isn't even an apology.

Another jam band I can happily ignore.

[Velvet]

Whoopsie! Umphree's was set to gain huge and maybe, just maybe be the Next Big Thing. But, we all know how fickle the phans can be, and yep, this might have blown it for them. Probably not, but maybe.

[dimafleck: the living legend.]

^^^

i don't think it has blown is for them....but i think they did burn a few bridges...

firstly, if i was gordon, i would never want to join em for a jam....and gordon is a jam whore.... a jam with gordon would get that show listened to by thousands of new listeners....it would be huge.

[bouche]

if they just did a theme of "owners of Segways", they'd probably not be in this pickle.

[SaggyBalls]

ignoring a band because they made a sour joke about someone you admire and not apologizing when they explain themselves??

i wouldn't apologize for somehting i wasn't sorry about. it was all in jest...i mena come on - they were playing the peoples' songs. an homage to them. did they play purposely bad on the medley?? i think it was a funny joke. if your'e gonna be pissy and sulk away because the guys don't share your sense of humour then do so...seems kinda silly to me.

if you're looking for an excuse you've got one...but you shouldn't need an excuse to not listen to music

[SolarGarlic]

whatever, who gives a sh!t. A joke is a joke. Don't take it so personal pholks. Nobodys really knows how Mike feels about it and i for one don't actually care ::

[MarcO]

ignoring a band because they made a sour joke about someone you admire and not apologizing when they explain themselves??........ i wouldn't apologize for somehting i wasn't sorry about. it was all in jest...i mena come on - they were playing the peoples' songs. an homage to them....... i think it was a funny joke. if your'e gonna be pissy and sulk away because the guys don't share your sense of humour then do so...seems kinda silly to me.

Right. Pedophiles are funny. They should be satirized. Gotcha. Nothing to get worked up over.

I won't get into a debate with you about what is and isn't poor taste, Rob. This is all I have to say. We clearly have different standards, and that's fine. But I stick with my opinion that this was all in really poor taste - and believe me, Mike Gordon is the farthest person from my mind when I consider this.

No class. I've never even heard UM before. This certainly doesn't warm me to them and that's my perogative. But maybe I'll look past it and check them out and really enjoy them. Who knows?

Maybe next year they'll host a "Nazi Death Camp" party theme and do a medley of Hitler's favorite numbers.

[Ms.Huxtable]

You know child molestation just isn't something we should joke about. I'm a pretty open minded person but no matter how I approach the subject, it just ain't funny.

The medly was in poor taste, but at least they acknowledged the concerns of those who took the time to express them. It sure won't make me like their music any more or less.

[Booche]

Hey Canned Beats, you got a band going right now?

Cause I gots me a good excuse not to listen.

[hamilton]

if you're looking for an excuse you've got one...but you shouldn't need an excuse to not listen to music

So... I should just not listen to music for no reason at all?

[Patchoulia]

Dear Umphrey's,

There's a world of difference between an off-beat sense of "humour" (see: Songs For Older Women) and making light of child abuse. Let's ask a few abuse survivors how funny they think it is. Hey, let's get 'em all in a room and have you play your little medley for them and see how it goes over!!!

I find it telling that your "apology" is about a quarter the length of your long-winded tome admonishing your fans about the dangers of bringing glowsticks to shows...let's bring that one back! It was much funnier than Celebrity Criminal Celebration!

The more messages I read from Umphrey's, the more I see their faces when I click on my "Tools" taskbar...

Love,

Julia

[bouche]

Hang on now,

This wasn't called a 'pedophile medley' at all.

It was called a Celebrity Criminal Celebration. Clearly their theme was about celebrities charged with some crime/allegation. There was no mention of 'pedophilia' except up in Dima's post which seemed to set people off.

There's definatley a question of taste, but there was no clear presentation of making light of child molestation at all.

SETLIST:

10.30.04 - Aladdin Theatre, Portland, Oregon

Set One: Anchor Drops^, Bridgeless, Out of Order > "Jimmy Stewart", Roulette, 40's Theme, The Fussy Dutchman, Black Sabbath* > War Pigs > No More Tears**, Wife Soup

Set Two: The Triple Wide > The Bottom Half, Halloween medley$, Der Bluten Kat, Bright Lights, Ocean Billy, Miss Tinkle's Overture

Encore: Mama I'm Comin' Home%, Anarchy In the UK%%, Plunger

Notes:

Celebrity Criminal Celebration - Brendan was dressed as Courtney Love, Jake was Ozzy Osbourne, Joel was Jerry Lee Lewis, Ryan was Sid Vicious, Kris was Pee Wee Herman, Andy was Pete Rose, and Vince was dressed as Nick Nolte

^ with Pat Bayliss, dressed as Brendan, on guitar and vocals

* first time played, Black Sabbath; with Jake on vocals

** first time played, Ozzy Osbourne

$ the medley went something like: Rock and Roll Part II (Gary Glitter) > The Way You Make Me Feel > Smooth Criminal jam > Thriller jam (Michael Jackson) > Cat Scratch Fever (Ted Nugent) > I Believe I Can Fly (R Kelly) > Whole Lotta Shaking Going On (Jerry Lee Lewis) > I Can't Explain > Baba O'Riley (The Who) > Mike's Song tease (Phish)

% first time played, Ozzy Osbourne; with Jake on vocals

%% first time played, the Sex Pistols; with Ryan on vocals and Joel on bass

[hamilton]

Yeah, but of those individuals represented in the music, the only ones not accused of some sort of sexual misconduct are Ozzy and Ted Nugent...

[Booche]

Interestingly enough, a ton of people on the Phish board were going over-board with this, calling Umph idiots, so to speak. One of the posters, who found the irony mentioned:

"Run, OJ, run"

(in reference to members of Phish singing "run OJ, run" throughout the second set of 06-17-94)

Set 2: Also Sprach Zarathustra > Sample in a Jar > Poor Heart, Mike's Song > Simple > Mike's Song > I am Hydrogen intro > Simple > I am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove, Harpua > Kung > Harpua > Simple > Harpua, Sparkle > Big Ball Jam > Julius, Frankenstein,

E: Sleeping Monkey, Rocky Top

[Patchoulia]

Thanks for posting the whole setlist, Bouche--useful info!

I reserve the right to think they're tools, though. Their message urging fans to become glowstick vigilantes sealed the deal for me...

"We've reached a point where we're either going to need the audience to help us police this behavior or we're going to need to hire more security on a nightly basis. We'd hope that we can make the former work because the latter would certainly be a disappointing choice to have to make. "

Bahahahahhahahahahha!

[Booche]

That setlist gives me boners.

[weezy]

Whatever. They 'teased' a song, call the police. They also played a few Who songs - Pete Towsend was "researching" folks!! And although it was concluded that the Mike thing was blown out of proportion, I have heard a number of rumours from reasonable sources that say Mike indeed likes em' young. No, child molestation is not funny, but calling-out and exposing the sickos for who they are can be hilarious.

This is the type of subject that is still taboo, which often gives the pervs a place to hide, since the topic itself is off the radar. Talk about it, bring it into the open and the deviant fucks will be easier to spot and destroy.

Maybe Umphrey's are trying to weed-out the whiny, ultra-sensitive Phish fans. Could you blame them?

[Thumpin]

Mike's was teased for one reason only, its connection to the rumour that Mike Gordon was a pedophile, so really the nature of the medley doesn't matter, that's why they teased Mike's

I think it's hilarious, perhaps just plain funny, how many people coming out in support of UM teasing Mike's, and what was implied by that, are referring to anyone who thought it was pretty tacky as a "whiney Phish Fan." Give me a fu©king break. Are you all Whiney UM fans for defending them?

I thought it was tacky, I'm not whining, I telling you how it is and how it will remain, unless of course you come up with a really good argument for how insinuating that Mike Gordon is a child molester is funny. Maybe I'm missing something here. I am open to such an argument. Bet none of you can make it though...come on, I bet ya can't