Above: Ghosts of Christmas past

Umphrey’s McGee guitarists Brendan Bayliss and Jake Cinninger offered their seventh annual acoustic holiday show this past Saturday at Chicago’s Park West. As in years past, the guitarists mixed Umphrey’s McGee originals with a range of covers, including Led Zeppelin’s “Going to California,” Journey’s “Who’s Cryin Now,” Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams,” Neil Young’s “Unknown Legend,” Michael Jackson’s “Human Nature,” Emerson, Lake, and Palmer’s “From the Beginning,” the Beatles’ “In My Life,” “Elton John’s “Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters,” The Rolling Stones’ “Far Away Eyes” and Paul Simon’s “Graceland.” At various points throughout the night the musicians switched instruments as well, with Bayliss trying his band on mandolin, piano and bass and Cinninger moving over to piano. Umphrey’s McGee percussionist Andy Farag also sat in on “End of the Road,” “Made to Measure” and “Nemo,” among others, while Jen Hartswick sang on “Bullhead City,” “Unknown Legend,” “In My Life,” “Far Away Eyes” and “Graceland.” Jack Straw keyboardist Barry Brown, multi-instrumentalist Mike Rackey and other local friends also contributed throughout the evening. The musicians also offered a few holiday covers, including “Carol of the Bells.”

Below are Umphrey’s McGee’s currently confirmed 2010 dates:

January 14 Flagstaff, AZ—Orpheum Theatre
January 15 Las Vegas, FL—House of Blues
January 16 San Francisco, CA—Warfield Theatre
January 17 Reno, NV—Knitting Factory
January 19 Boise, ID—Knitting Factory
January 20 Salt Lake City, UT—The Depot
January 22 Aspen, CO—Belly Up Aspen
January 23 Denver, CO—Fillmore Auditorium
February 2 Omaha, NE—Slowdown
February 3 Lawrence, KS—Liberty Hall
February 4 St. Louis, MO—The Pageant
February 5 Nashville, TN—War Memorial Auditorium
February 6 Atlanta, GA—The Tabernacle
February 9 Birmingham, AL—WorkPlay Soundstage
February 11 Asheville, NC—The Orange Peel
February 12 Charleston, SC—The Music Farm
February 13 Charlotte, NC—Neighborhood Theatre
February 14 Baltimore, MD—Rams Head Live
March 21-23 Amsterdam, The Netherlands—Jam in the ‘Dam
May 28-30 Chillicothe, IL—Summercamp