When the lights go down in the Orpheum Theatre and the crowd chants, "Umphrey's! Umphrey's!" you know you are in for one hell of a musical experience. Unless you have no natural rhythm (or you are trying not to bump your photographer standing next to you), you are dancing the minute that first note is played.

The Chicago-based Umphrey's McGee knows how to jam. Whether you're craving blues, soul, reggae, rock or some serious improvisation, Umphrey's will play it all. However, don't be too quick to lump them in with other jam bands like Phish and the Grateful Dead. Umphrey's knows exactly how far to take their jams, which prevents them from turning into the hippie jam bands you can see on any given night in Madison. This was evidenced by the nifty reggae backbone of the second song, "Utopian Fir," on the first of Umphrey's two sets they played at the Orpheum Theatre Thursday night.

In the middle of "Utopian," the band broke into a "Jimmy Stewart," their term for the controlled jams they perform. Guitarists Brendan Bayliss and Jake Cinninger used signals such as a lean-back, held fist or rubbed nipple to let the band members know what was coming next in the jam, be it a key change, solo or entirely different piece. The Stewart in "Utopian Fir" featured a very hip, soulful keyboard solo by Joel Cummins.

After "Utopian Fir," the band moved on to "Mulche's Odyssey," a high energy song featuring an up-tempo, harder guitar riff. This was greeted by continuous head-nodding from the packed Orpheum Theatre. The closing song of the first set was the bluesy "Example 1," when Umphrey's broke into another well-orchestrated Stewart in the middle, using a killer guitar solo by Jake Cinninger to transition back into the song.

The crowd was soon met with a welcome surprise in the second set when the band broke into a cover of the Beatles' hit, "I Want You (She's So Heavy)." Umphrey's nailed the cover and successfully added their unique twist, as only a disciplined band could.

The crowd also got a treat with a tasty and skillful conga solo by percussionist Andy Farag in the middle of "No. 5" as well as a grooving drum and bass feature in the middle of "Smell the Mitten" to end the second set. Of course, no one in the Orpheum would leave without an encore, and Umphrey's did not disappoint with an extended jam of "All in Time," which featured dueling guitar solos by guitarists Brendan Bayliss and Jake Cinninger. The gem of the encore, however, was the solo by drummer Kris Myers, who displayed not only his incredible technical skills, but his control and discipline, a recurring theme throughout Umphrey's high-energy but never shallow concert.

Though Madison was only one stop on their multi-city touring, it was clear that Umphrey's McGee put their heart and soul into their performance at the Orpheum, using almost every item in their bag of tricks to please the audience.

The band also performs Friday night in Urbana, Illinois, and then moves on to Cincinnati and Chicago in subsequent dates.