UMBowl XII Is Headed to Milwaukee's Pabst Theatre

MILWAUKEE — Umphrey’s McGee will hold UMBowl XII on Friday, October 9 and Saturday, October 10 at the Pabst Theatre, the band’s twelfth run at the format and its return to the Midwest for the event.

The band will play three sets each night. What goes into those sets is decided in part by the people holding tickets, through a mix of advance voting, real-time choices made during the show, and material the band does not otherwise play often.

Presale and umVIP packages went on sale August 19 at 10 a.m. Central. General tickets followed on August 21 at 10 a.m. Central.

What UMBowl is

UMBowl hands part of the set construction to the audience. Across the two nights the band runs themed sets built from fan voting and from choices made on the spot, a format the band has described as turning over part of the playbook.

Past editions have used recurring segments including fan-voted setlists, real-time “Choose Your Own Adventure” improvisation, deep cuts and original film scoring. The band’s six-song 2025 album Blueprints was assembled entirely from improvisations that first appeared at earlier UMBowls.

The specific formats for the three sets on each night had not been announced at the time of writing. The band said they would follow in the weeks after the announcement, and the voting site was not yet open.

A theatre from 1895

The Pabst Theatre opened on November 9, 1895. Captain Frederick Pabst, the Milwaukee brewer, had bought the Nunnemacher Grand Opera House on the site in 1890 and renamed it. That building was damaged by arson in 1893 and destroyed by fire in January 1895, and Pabst had it rebuilt immediately.

Otto Strack designed the replacement, which cost $300,000 and seats roughly 1,300. It is the fourth-oldest continuously operating theater in the United States, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in December 1991.

umVIP packages

Both packages cover both nights.

Package	Price	Includes
Two-Night GA Floor	$399	Tickets to both nights, 15-minute early entry, band-signed event poster, umVIP merchandise item, commemorative laminate, mp3 downloads of both shows. Floor seating is first come, first served.
Two-Night Reserved Balcony	$469	Everything above, plus reserved seating in the first three rows of the mezzanine.

UMBowl XII details are on the band’s site.

UMBowl XII, Friday, October 9 and Saturday, October 10, 2026, at the Pabst Theatre, 144 East Wells Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Three sets each night. Presale and umVIP August 19, general on-sale August 21, both 10 a.m. Central.

Sources: Umphrey’s McGee, Umphrey’s McGee umVIP, Pabst Theater Group, Wikipedia.