Umphrey's McGee bassist Ryan Stasik said the difference between playing live shows at colleges versus other venues was "the drinking."
The popular progressive rock band will play John R. Emens Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. for its first show in Muncie. The band formed in 1997 when guitarist/vocalist Brendan Bayliss, keyboardist Joel Cummins, former drummer Mike Mirro and Stasik met at Notre Dame University and became a successful jam band in the South Bend area. Since then the band added second lead guitarist Jake Cinninger, percussionist Andy Farag and new drummer Kris Meyers.
"Obviously live shows are what we do the most," he said, "but we would like to be known for everything we do, whether it be our studio albums or side projects. But our main focus is touring on the road."
Playing almost 120 times a year, Umphrey's McGee is widely known for unique live shows, in which it plays what the band and fans call "progressive improvisation." Stasik said Umphrey's McGee likes to keep the genre of their music "unclassifiable."
"It's rock 'n' roll," he said. "I know that can sometimes sound a little vague, but that's basically what it is. Sometimes we call it progressive improvisation. We like to touch on all the genres of music."
Stasik said the band is excited for its first show in Muncie.
"The college shows are a different vibe," he said. "But we like to treat all of our shows the same, no matter what place or what venue."
Emens Associate Director of Marketing Darcy Wood said she hasn't needed to promote the Umphrey's McGee concert on campus because the band's promoters are renting out the venue, and the Emens marketing team is not responsible for advertising. Ball State University has also struggled in the past to sell out alternative rock shows, Wood said.
"We've been sending e-mails to students, and there have been a lot of Daily News ads," she said. "We are the middleman [in terms of promotion]."
Wood said they decided to rent out Emens to the band because many students had requested that Umphrey's McGee visit Ball State. There have been more than 700 tickets sold so far, but she said most people will probably buy their tickets at the door. Ticket prices are $24.50 and $29.50.
"We're anticipating it to be a little bit of a walk-up," she said.
Stasik said planning a show usually depends on what music the band is currently listening to.
"[The show] could be more aggressive or more mellow, whatever we feel like on the day of," he said. "Usually [the show] is a surprise to us, too."
Although the band has reached national status in recent years, appearing at music festivals such as the annual Bonnaroo Festival and appearing on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" in 2006, Stasik said the band still considers itself a local band at heart.
"Home for us is still definitely the Midwest," he said.
Stasik said the band has no concrete plans for the future. He just hopes the band is still performing.
"We'd like to go to bigger places like Europe and Japan [and] tour globally," he said, "but we're happy with what we're doing right now. We're doing what we want to do, and that's all that matters. We just want to rock all the time."
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