It was a dance party. That's the one thing I keep thinking about last night's sold-out Umphrey's McGee show at the Town Ballroom. It's really too bad that the Ballroom's disco ball is out of commission; it could've been put to good use last night, especially considering light guy Jeff Waful's amazing light show.

The worst part? I got there a little late, and I missed opener "The National Anthem" - yes, the Radiohead song. I'm still not over it. I walked in during the middle of a groovy "Professor Wormbog," which the band morphed into a tease of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)"; Jake Cinninger played David Gilmour's solo note-for-note perfect. The set ended with a scorching "Mulche's Odyssey," one of the more rocking tracks off of 2004's Anchor Drops.

But it was during the second set that Umphrey's really started heating up. The improvised jam out of set-opener "Spires" was "by far the best jam of 2012. Very fast, tight funk," according to Waful. And the band remained on fire for the rest of the set. After bassist Ryan Stasik and Cinninger traded solos in the prog-metal suite "Search 4," the band treated the crowd to four straight songs of more dance-funk bliss, which started out with an unbelievable cover of Daft Punk's "Voyager." Umphrey's is known for spanning an enormous range of genres, but they are still a rock-and-roll band, and for them to faithfully recreate a Daft Punk electro-rave song is truly laudable.

The funk reached its peak during "Soul Food II," an original take on classics like Parliament's "Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker)," and it finally slowed down for the downtempo (yet still groove-heavy) "Atmosfarag," giving the crowd a chance to catch its collective breath before set-closer "All in Time," complete with drum and percussion solos, melted its collective face.

Umphrey's gets better every time I see them. I do not exaggerate when I opine that they are the best live band in the business right now.