As we previously reported, Umphrey’s McGee will host its inaugural UMBowl at Chicago’s Lincoln Hall on April 24. The UMBowl will be broken up into four quarters of music, each with a different interactive theme. The band has explained that the first quarter “will kick off with an acoustic set chosen entirely by attendees.”

As for the second, the group explains, “With a nod to the texting aspect of our successful Stew Art Series (S2), we now present the Second Quarter, Q2. Q2 will be entirely improvised and driven by bi-directional text communication. The band will huddle and come up with a category which will be texted to Umphrey’s own Offensive Coordinator Kevin Browning. He will put the category up on the scoreboard and the audience will be challenged to text their ideas for musical themes based specifically on that category. Kevin and his team will then sort and post chosen texts to the scoreboard for the band to use in constructing their improvs and planning their “plays.” As the improv progresses and the huddles continue, Kevin will update the scoreboard with new categories to keep the band marching down the field. Expect handoffs of musical ideas as the jams progress, deep grooves as the band find themselves in 3rd and long situations, audibles as new ideas arise at the line of scrimmage, and sacks as the band gets hit with challenging ideas. Can Umphrey’s keep Q2 turnover free?”

Meanwhile the third will be The All Request Quarter. Umphrey’s notes, “That’s right, the playlist for Q3 will be decided by you. All ticket buyers will receive a ballot to vote for what you’d like to see. And not just the songs themselves, but HOW they are played. Just a few potential thoughts: prefer your Padgett’s, The Haunt, and The Fuzz old school? Want to see Cemetery Walk performed backwards? Perhaps an instrument switch mid song? The return of Muff, or even the completion of the Muff trilogy? “Johnny Cash” Divisions? A disco version of The Bottom Half? You will be able to select from a variety of choices. And just to keep things REALLY interesting, we will have a “write-in” category where anything goes. As you know, we aim to please and love to surprise.”