Yes, I know what you’re wondering: Who in the world is Umphrey? What is his McGee? And, more importantly, can you maintain your status as a college music snob without having the slightest clue who they are? These questions, and more, will be answered in due time.

Umphrey’s McGee is an improvisational-rock-jamband out of Chicago, whose members take pride in live shows loaded with energy and character. Their second DVD release, “Wrapped Around Chicago,” documents their Dec. 31, 2004 New Year’s Eve concert and tries to capture the live spirit of the band. For the most part, it succeeds, but greater focus and tighter editing could have elevated what is essentially a standard concert DVD to a much higher plane.

The concert stretches across two discs. Most of the problems lie on the first, and, conveniently enough, the band’s opening song “Divisions” sums up most of the flaws with the performance. The song starts off catchy enough, boding well for the rest of the show — until the band goes into the “jam” portion of their performance. The result? A repetitive song that’s about 15 minutes too long.

The rest of the hour-and-a-half long disc continues that way, with laid back grooves and catchy riffs contending for stage time with forgettable, meandering, sleep-inducing scat. It doesn’t help that much of the time the band lacks charisma; for the most part, the members seem averse to making any sort of facial expressions or gestures throughout their show.

If one makes it through the 90 minutes of the first disc without packing it in for the night, however, they’re in for a real treat when they pop in the second disc. Beginning with the second-half opener, a cover of The Band’s “Ophelia,” a newfound energy and sense of direction are present, and by the time the group comes to their cover of Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer,” they’ve really hit their stride.

Their original songs are well-written and lively, and finally we get to see why the group works so well as a live band. Of course, they do wander off into the forest of improv once in a while, but the overall tightness of the second half makes these interludes far more listenable.

In case the three McGee fans out there are upset with my critique of the “jam” style: yes, I’m well aware that really long instrumental solos and improvised lines are a huge part of what makes jamband music work. It’s just that McGee’s prewritten stuff is so much better than their improvisational bits that every 15 minute jam session becomes an endurance test in wait for the next well-written, undeniably enjoyable part. The group has all the makings of a really strong album band, but their attachment to the jamrock style in the vein of Phish keeps them from realizing their potential for universal appeal.

The concert DVD is also an extremely tricky business. Capturing the excitement of a live show on a DVD, especially when the production budget is limited, is extremely difficult. There are also few bands able to muster the amount of live energy required for a great concert DVD. Umphrey’s McGee’s “Wrapped” is a good DVD, to be sure, and fans most certainly won’t be disappointed. But if the performance could have been packed into one single-disc, two-hour show, and if the members on stage had put a little more effort into looking like they were having fun, a standard show could have turned out to be a rockin’ one.