As the story goes, when Pete Shapiro was gearing up to re-open Capitol Theatre, he reached out to the members of Strangefolk to see if they would reunite to play the legendary venue. The conversation eventually led to the ’90s-jam-favorites getting back together for the first time in 12 years for a series of reunion shows that began with a sold out mini-tour last spring, continued with an appearance at this summer’s Gathering Of The Vibes, and this past weekend with the four-piece act returning to the Port Chester, New York rock hall for the first time since 1998 for a two-night stand.

Over the course of the their four sets, Strangefolk offered up a mix of their “hits” with some deep cuts, sounding every bit as good as they did back their their heyday. Adding to the old-school jamband vibe of the run, was moe. guitarist Al Schnier, who served as the opening act, and sat-in with the band and the end of the first set each night. Al-Folk dipped into moe.’s songbook for collaborative takes on Moth and Mexico, while also tackling Strangefolk’s Gone Fishin’. On Saturday night, in a nod to the venue’s rich musical history, Schnier invited out the members of Strangefolk at the end of his set for a fantastic spot on cover of the Grateful Dead’s Jack Straw, which saw Al and Reid trade off on the verses.

As we mentioned last week, Strangefolk have announced that they will appear at moe’s Snoe.down festival on Saturday, March 24, while the indie-jam act will kick off a short West Coast swing on November 30, with a two-night stand at the Ogden Theatre in Denver.

The Capitol Theatre – Port Chester, NY

Friday, November 23

Set I

Fountain-> Poland, What Goes On, Blue Grey, So Well->Funky Town->So Well, Pawn, Moth (moe. w/ Al Schnier) Lines and Circles

Set II

Furnace, Valhalla, Faces, So Far Gone -> Strange Ranger -> So Far Gone, Woman Child-> Reubens Place-> Sanford and Sons theme-> Reubens Place

E: Roads

Saturday, November 24

Set I

Stout Hearted–> All The Same, Sometimes, Angry At The Sun, Dance, Mexico (moe. w/ Al Schnier), Rather Go Fishin’ (w/ Al Schnier)

Set II

Burned Down, Sinner, Walnut, Alaska, Whatever, Great Long While, Westerly (with Lone Tree lyrics)

E: Cabin John

Here’s LazyLightning55′s incredible vid of Al-folk’s Moth…

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While this year’s Strangefolk Reunion gigs aren’t over yet – the band is scheduled to play The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York tonight and tomorrow – the recently reunited group don’t want the good times to end. The organizers of Snoe.down have announced that Strangefolk Reunion will perform at the festival on Saturday, March 24th at Rutland’s Spartan Arena.

[Photo by Wesley Rizzo]

Snoe.down 2013 will take place from March 21st – 24th at Vermont’s Killington Resort and in Rutland. Joining headliners moe. and the just announced Strangefolk Reunion set will be Eastbound Jesus and more acts to be announced later. Guitarist Al Schnier of moe. will open both Strangefolk Reunion gigs at The Cap. Tickets for Snoe.down 2013 are available now through Flynntix.com.

On Friday and Saturday night Strangefolk Reunion featuring the original lineup of the jam stalwarts will make their long-awaited return to The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester for what are the reunited band’s last currently scheduled gigs. Strangefolk, who have a history of performing with moe. dating back to the ’90s, will welcome moe. guitarist Al Schnier as the opening act on both nights.

Tickets are still available for both shows via TicketFly. Current Umphrey’s McGee LD Jefferson Waful will run lights both nights as he did for their performances back in March.

moe. @ Capitol Theatre, November 9th

Words & Photos: Nick Irving

The Capitol Theatre, and moe. were a perfect match of top notch rock and world class sound this past Friday night.  First time patrons couldn’t stop buzzing about the new venue, especially the lights, the humongous balcony area, and friendly, hassle-free staff.  For their part, moe. delivered a highly enjoyable show that pleased both the hyper-critical vets, as well as newer moe.rons. In a testament to the overall experience. at the end of a monster three-song segued encore (Seat of My Pants, Zed Naught Zee > Spaz Medicine > Zed Naught Zee) the packed floor held their ground, unable to let the night draw to a close. Clearly nobody wanted to go.

I: Rainshine, Don’t Fuck With Flo > The Pit > Shoot First, Lazarus, Jazz Wank > Buster
II: Smoke > (nh) Threw It All Away, Suck A Lemon, Time Ed > Y.O.Y. > Spine Of A Dog > Time Ed > Spine Of A Dog > Plane Crash

Enc: Seat Of My Pants, Zed Naught Z > Spaz Medicine > Zed Naught Z

setlist via moe’s facebook

Here’s a full gallery of photos from moe. at the Capitol Theatre…

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The latest moe. tour kicked off tonight at Lupo’s in Providence, Rhode Island. Before the show, guitarist Chuck Garvey asked fans for suggestions of what the jam stalwarts should play via Twitter and wound up getting a ton of requests. Garvey promised to perform a few of the requests which did wind up happening by the time the show wrapped up.

[via Chuck Garvey on Instagram]

One of the big surprises of the night came at the start of the second set when moe. dusted off their cover of Cissy Strut by The Meters for the first time since 2010. It was only the eighth time moe. has played Cissy Strut since its debut in 2001. Also of note was another performance of That Coffee Tune, a song which was busted out for the band’s Halloween show in Nashville after going unplayed for more than 15 years. That Coffee Tune was the filling in the middle of a Brent Black sandwich that closed the second set. Also, Cathedral was performed for the first time since March. The fun continued into the encore when moe. took fan-favorite Johnny Lineup off the shelf for its 2012 debut. This rarity had only been performed 11 times since the first moe.down in 2000.

Here’s the setlist from moe. at Lupo’s tonight…

Set 1 (7:13pm edt): Bring You Down > Californ IA > Runaway Overlude, Cathedral, Yodelittle > McBain > Yodelittle

Set 2 (9:01pm edt): Cissy Strut, Wind It Up, Puebla > Water > Brent Black > That Coffee Tune > Brent Black

Encore: Alnouncments, Johnny Lineup*, She Sends Me

* – w/ Andy Freed on Shaker

[via PT moe.]

Next up for moe. are a pair of shows at NYC area theaters: The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York (LTP – 10/05/1996) on Friday and Montclair, New Jersey’s Wellmont Theatre on Saturday.

One of the many bands that had a special bond with NYC club Wetlands Preserve was moe. Between 1994 and 1995 the Upstate New York-based quartet (at that time) played a whopping 16 times and recorded a live album, Loaf., at the legendary venue. Wetlands founder Larry Bloch took a shine to Al, Rob, Chuck and whichever drummer was in the band at the time and moe. never forgot it. In memory of Bloch, who passed away on Sunday, moe. is sharing one their best Wetlands performances as a free download.

[moe. at the Wetlands Photo via moe.'s Facebook Page]

Drummer Mike Strazza was only in the band for a few months, but his highly technical style fit moe. like a glove. Strazza’s skills are on full display during the September 23rd, 1995 moe. show that the band has offered up for free. Fluid versions of Rebubula, Timmy Tucker and Brent Black are a few of the many highlights as well as covers of Pink Floyd’s Interstellar Overdrive and Take The Skinheads Bowling by Camper Van Beethoven. There’s also a sit-in from Digjeridoo Dave on Yodelittle. Head to LiveDownloads.com to download the full MP3 set for free.

Since Halloween takes place during the week this year, many acts celebrated the “holiday” this weekend. One of those bands was moe. who played three sets at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville last night. Unlike past Halloween shows where moe. dug deep for interesting themes, this year’s affair was “moe. covers moe.”

[Stage Design Similar To Headseed Cover by 615 Design - Photo via moe. FB]

The jam stalwarts covered three albums in their entirety over the course of three sets. For the first set, moe. tackled an acoustic version of their most recent LP – What Happened To The LA LAs? The second set found the group running through their debut album, Fatboy, while the third set consisted of 1994′s Headseed, minus Yodelittle, which was also on Fatboy and was performed during the second set.  As the encore, moe. dusted off That Coffee Tune for the first time since April 25, 1997 and Brain Tuba which was last played on November 11th, 1998. Other bustouts played as part of the albums were Long Island Girls Rule (LTP – 7/28/07) and The Battle of Benny Hill (LTP – 2/1/97).

Set 1: The Bones of Lazarus¹, Haze¹, Downward Facing Dog¹,Rainshine¹, Smoke¹, Paper Dragon¹, Chromatic Nightmare¹,Puebla¹, One Way Traffic¹, Suck A Lemon¹

Set 2: Y.O.Y.² > Havah Negilah > Long Island Girls Rule^2 3 > Dr. Graffenberg²,Don’t Fuck With Flo² > Yodelittle² > Spine Of A Dog²,Sensory Deprivation Bank² > The Battle Of Benny Hill^2 4

Set 3: Akimbo⁵, Mexico⁵, Timmy Tucker⁵, St. Augustine⁵,Recreational Chemistry⁵, Time Again⁵, Brent Black⁵, Threw It All Away⁵, Time Ed⁵

Encore: That Coffee Tune⁶, Brain Tuba⁷

¹Entire ‘What happened to the La La’s’ album (acoustic)
²Entire ‘Fatboy’ album
³Last time played 07/28/2007 (392 shows)
⁴Last time played 02/01/1997 (1519 shows)
⁵Entire ‘Headseed’ album
⁶Last time played 04/25/1997 (1464 shows)
⁷Last time played 11/11/1998 (1287 shows)

Setlist via PT moe.

You can listen to a recording of the whole performance at archive.org.

Check out the Battle of Benny Hill bust out…

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It’s hard to believe YouTube is only seven-and-a-half years old as the video portal has become a ubiquitous part of life on the internet. In that time music fans have filled YouTube servers with video from the past which brings us to today’s B List topic. We’ve compiled a list of the oldest video on YouTube for 10 of the most successful bands to develop out of the jam scene.

These classic clips bring us back to a time when Al Schnier, John Medeski and Page McConnell had full heads of hair and gives us a look at the days when the members of these bands stood nearly on top of each at small gigs before they achieved success. Now, keep in mind that the footage needed to be worth watching to make our list, so even though there might be older videos out there for a few of these groups, but if you can’t see the band it defeats the purpose.

1. Medeski Martin and Wood – September 12, 1993

In searching for the oldest MMW video(s) on YouTube we hit paydirt with this one-hour, professionally-shot episode of Live at Lucille’s which was recorded at the Knoxville jazz club on September 12, 1993. John, Chris and Billy talk about their signature sound and roll through such classics as Syeeda’s Song Flute, Chubb Sub, Hermentos Daydream and Wiggly’s Way.

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As we did yesterday, we’ve rounded up setlists from a number of HT faves who were in action last night ranging from the Allman Brothers Band and moe.’s performances at their own festivals to the final night of God Street Wine’s West Coast run and Umphrey’s McGee’s return to Connecticut.

Umphrey’s McGee @ Klein Memorial Aud – Bridgeport, Conn.

[Photo via @bizarchive]

Umphrey’s celebrated Brendan Bayliss’s birthday throughout last night’s show in Bridgeport. A cake was brought out for the guitarist at the end of the first set which was accompanied by the signing of the traditional Happy Birthday song. For the encore, UM debuted Bennie and the Jets by Elton John to fulfill the request of the birthday boy before concluding the Nothing Too Fancy they started in the second set. Next up for the Chicago based sextet is a return to moe.down, where they will be joined by guitarist Stanley Jordan during this afternoon’s set in Turin, New York.

[Audio by Teefs at bt.etree.org]

Set One: Nipple Trix > 2nd Self, Miami Virtue > Words, KaBump > Passing, 2×2, Happy Birthday

Set Two: Gurgle > 1348 > Plunger > Regulate* > Plunger, Nothing Too Fancy > Ocean Billy, Partyin’ Peeps, Wappy Sprayberry > Jimmy Stewart** > Wappy Sprayberry > 1348

Encore: Bennie and the Jets*** > Nothing Too Fancy

* – w/ Andy Farag on vocals
** – w/ lyrics
*** – First Time Played, Elton John; Bayliss’ birthday request; Echoes (Pink Floyd) teases

[via The Bort]

God Street Wine @ Sweetwater Music Hall – Mill Valley, Calif.

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Many of our favorite bands were in action last night, so we’ve compiled the setlists from each performance as Neil Young and Crazy Horse headlined Outside Lands, the Allman Brothers Band and moe. headlined their own festivals while God Street Wine’s reunion continued at Sweetwater and many of Michael Houser’s musical friends paid tribute to the late Widespread Panic guitarist.

Neil Young and Crazy Horse @ Outside Lands – San Francisco, Calif.

Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Love and Only Love

We’ll have a full report on Outside Lands in the coming days, but we wanted to share Neil Young and Crazy Horse’s setlist which sure looks a lot like every other set they’ve played on the just-ended tour.

Set: Love And Only Love, Powderfinger, Born In Ontario, Walk Like A Giant, The Needle And The Damage Done, Twisted Road, Ramada Inn, Cinnamon Girl, F*!#in’ Up, Psychedelic Pill, Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)

Encore: Mr. Soul, Roll Another Number

[via Sugar Mountain]

moe. @ moe.down – Turin, New York

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iClips’ Summer of Jam continues this weekend from moe.’s moe.down Music Festival. For those unable to attend in person, you can purchase up to three days worth of webcasts via iClips featuring six sets from festival hosts moe. as well as performances from HT faves Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, the Kyle Hollingsworth Band, Leroy Justice, JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound, Marco Benevento, Umphrey’s McGee and the North Mississippi Allstars Duo as well as the Everyone Orchestra set.

The moe.down webcast runs $4.99 per day or $12.99 for all three days and is available for purchase at iClips’ website. Here’s the full schedule…

Friday AUGUST 10TH

5:45 – Grace Potter & the Nocturnals
8:15 – moe.
9:45 – Kyle Hollingsworth Band*
10:45 – moe.
12:15 – Kyle Hollingsworth Band*

Saturday AUGUST11TH

7:00 – Leroy Justice*
8:00 – moe.
9:30 – JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound*
10:30 – moe.
12:15 – Everyone Orchestra*

Sunday AUGUST 12TH

3:00 – moe.
4:15 – North Mississippi Allstars Duo*
5:30 – Umphrey’s McGee
7:00 – Marco Benevento*
8:00 – moe.
10:00 – Marco Benevento*

* Denotes delayed broadcast.

All listed times are in Eastern Time Zone

Jam stalwarts moe. are back at full strength after drummer Vinnie Amico has returned for illness for the band’s performances this week. The group has just revealed a full slate of fall tour dates as well as their New Year’s Run. Included among the dates are a two-night stand at the Saranac Brewery in Utica, New York, a performance at the soon-to-be-opened Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York and a two-night stand at the Worcester Palladium. For New Year’s, the quintet will play a pair of shows at Portland, Maine’s State Theatre on December 30 and 31.

Here’s the full list of fall tour and NYE Run dates…

October 12 & 13 – Saranac Brewery: Utica, NY
October 19 – Smith Opera House: Geneva, NY
October 20 – St. Andrew’s Hall: Detroit, MI
October 24 – Pantages Theater: Minneapolis, MN
October 25 – Pabst Theatre: Milwaukee, WI
October 26 – Taft Theatre: Cincinnati, OH
October 27 – Ryman Auditorium: Nashville, TN
November 8 – Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel: Providence, RI
November 9 – Capitol Theatre: Port Chester, NY
November 10 – Wellmont Theatre: Montclair, NJ
November 30 and December 1 – Ogden Theatre: Denver, CO
December 2 – Belly Up: Aspen, CO
December 4 – Park City Live: Park City, UT
December 6, 7 and 8 – The Independent: San Francisco, CA
December 28 and 29 – Worcester Palladium: Worcester, MA
December 30 and 31 – State Theatre: Portland, ME

UPDATE: In addition to what was announced yesterday, moe. has added a batch of shows to their Fall Tour including performances in Providence, Montclair and a three-night stand at The Independent in San Francisco.

moe. @ Beekman Beer Garden, June 26-27

Photos: Rob Chapman

Late last month moe. and two capacity crowds filled with moe.rons descended upon the Beekman Beer Garden in Lower Manhattan for a pair of shows on the banks of NYC’s East River. Both performances found moe. focused on older material with only one song from the recently released What Happened To The LALAs record (Rainshine) getting stage time during the run. These would be moe. drummer Vinnie Amico’s last performances behind the kit for a while as just a day later the band announced that due to illness percussionist Jim Loughlin would fill Vin’s role at the week’s worth of shows that followed. The Upstate New Yorkers went on to cancel 11 shows this month while Amico recovers from illness.

[All Photos by Rob Chapman]

Our pal photographer Rob Chapman shot both moe. concerts at Beekman Beer Garden and we wanted to share his pics thanks in part to the unusual setting for a rock show.

Here’s a full gallery of Rob’s photos from moe. at Beekman Beer Garden…

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Yesterday Upstate New York jam-rockers moe. announced the cancellation/postponement of 11 shows this month as drummer Vinnie Amico continues to recover from illness. Shortly thereafter the band revealed that the Denver shows originally scheduled for July 20 and 21 have been officially rescheduled for November 30 and December 1 respectively at the Ogden Theater.

There was much speculation on the PT moe. message board about why the performances were cancelled instead of having percussionist Jim Loughlin hop behind the kit as he did for other recent shows. Loughlin had enough of the speculation / conspiracy theories and decided to weigh in on the thread. Loughlin’s responses offer a rare candid look at the economics of being a musician in a road warrior band such as moe. He was also frank about his reasons for not wanting to fill the drum role at the now-postponed shows. Here’s a few of Jim’s posts from the thread…

READ ON

Jam stalwarts moe. have canceled a number of upcoming shows as drummer Vinnie Amico isn’t recovering from an undisclosed illness as fast as hoped. Percussionist Jim Laughlin took his spot behind the kit for the past four shows, and will play drums for moe.’s set at Saturday’s Great South Bay Music Festival in Patchogue, New York, but beyond that the band decided to bag 11 upcoming gigs.

[Photo by Nick Irving]

Here’s the full announcement from the moe. org…

*MOE. SUMMER TOUR UPDATE*: As you all may know, moe. played the past 4 shows with percussionist Jim Loughlin on drums because Vinnie has been sick. Although Vinnie is starting to feel better, he still needs some time to recover. With regret, we are cancelling most of our remaining summer dates. Jim will play drums with moe. on Saturday at the Great South Bay Music Festival in Patchogue, NY. We hope and anticipate Vinnie will be able to return for the 7/31 Wilmington NC show, our opening set with the Allman Brothers in Atlanta on 8/1 and for moe.down.

We would like to thank all our fans and all the promoters for their understanding and support. And a heartfelt thank you for all the well wishes to Vin. A few of the shows will be made up on the fall tour. We will update those once they are re-scheduled. At this time, refunds will be made for the 11 canceled shows at the point of purchase.

Once again, thank you for your support,

moe. and the .org

Get well soon Vinnie!