“We’ve just been working on striking a balance that makes sense for us today. When we took the fall off [in 2009], it was the first time we’d done that in 14 years. We also didn’t record — we didn’t have to worry about having a deadline for making an album,” he continued. “You constantly have to re-evaluate what you’re doing and how to keep it fresh. It’s a fan decision and a creative decision, and it’s a constant balancing act to keep it fresh and interesting.”
There is some new material, Garvey said, but he admitted moe. hadn’t worked on a great many new songs lately. It might be a sign of things to come; Garvey said moe., as it enters its third decade, will look to improve the product by “taking the time.”
Will that mean fewer, but stronger moe. shows and albums?
“Being able to breath like that was really good. It was like a hard boot for the computer,” Garvey said of moe’s time off. “It was very necessary and it was something we talked about doing for a long time. We might do that a little more.”
moe. will kick off its 20th anniversary tour tomorrow night at Roseland Ballroom in New York — an all-star benefit that will see not only moe. but also welcome Butch Trucks, Jeff Austin, Danny Barnes, Marco Benevento, and, it’s probably safe to predict, a few additional, unannounced guests.
Hidden Track is marking the occasion the best way we know how: a little trip down memory lane. Here are a few of the HT family’s favorite moe. moments from over the years.
moe.’s long been killing it in Boston — my hometown — and I’ve had the pleasure of seeing some of their greatest Beantown shows. Thanks for these memories, boys:
First, 1/24/97 is a well-known date in moe. concert history, as it’s the show where a speaker near Al burst into flame during “Stranger Than Fiction”, a fan was blasted in the face with a fire extinguisher after a Paradise staffer had it pointed the wrong way, the theater was evacuated, and then the lads, of course, ignited their own sizzling “Fire” to mark the moment. Given the tragedy of The Station and other concert disasters in the years following, it just doesn’t seem right to laugh too hard about it anymore, but I do remember other things like the fierce “Rebubula” to open set two, and how jacked up everyone was from the insanity of the evening.
The two nights moe. played at the Orpheum on 9/14/01 and 9/15/01 had a different kind of energy: everyone felt weird and unsettled given what had just happened in New York, and no one quite knew what to make of the mood, though it was clear everyone was craving catharsis. moe. was appropriately understated — 9/14’s show began with a moment of silence — and then an eruption began that culminated in a pummeling run of “The Faker > Interstellar Overdrive > Meat” and a “New York City” encore. The second night was masterful from the get-go. Jazz Mandolin Project was the opener, and the band ripped — friggin’ RIPPED — through “Jazz Wank > Buster > Spine of a Dog” with Jamie Masefield joining in on mando.
My favorite slices of Boston moe., however, might stand as the back-to-back moe. shows at the Paradise right before Christmas in 2002. moe. had outgrown the ‘Dise by then and was already packing venues four times the size (like the Orpheum), so these shows felt like a holiday gift for local moe. lovers who’d been taken with them since the early days. Jim Loughlin wasn’t available for either show, so moe. compensated: the first night (12/12/02) brought paint-peeling versions of “Plane Crash” and “Moth,” and the second (12/13/02), such delectables as a “Dark Star” jam into “Mexico,” then “Happy Hour Hero,” one of my all time favorite versions of “Opium,” and a show-length sit-in from Gordon Stone on banjo and pedal steel. Christmas and moe.-style holiday songs were laced throughout. Tasty, tasty, tasty.
At last count I’ve seen moe. 20 times (second only to some band from Vermont) dating all the way to a New Year’s Eve show in 1996 at the now defunct NYC club Tramps that featured three sets of moe. – one acoustic and two electric, an appearance by the Dude Of Life and a set from Hellborg, Lane & Sipe sandwiched in the middle. It was a trio of shows that the band played over the course of two weeks, with two actually taking place on the very same night, in Manhattan during the summer of 2001 though that really stand out.
After making their first ever headlining appearance at Summerstage with a blistering show, the band headed across the park for an intimate late-night show at Makor that featured rarities, covers and storytelling with a mix of general goofiness – what other band could segue from Stir It Up into Police On My Back without blinking an eye? Two weeks later booked under their “secret” moniker monkeys on ecstasy the band took the stage at the tiny Lion’s Den (now Sullivan Hall) where the temperature inside the club could easily of have been pushing 90-plus degrees thanks to an overly packed house on blazing hot summer’s night and the band bringing in their large lighting rig – which all combined to make even the walls sweat. Undeterred by the hot mess inside the club, the band delivered a remarkable show that was highlighted a monster 25 minute Cryptical -> Other One -> Cryptical to open second set – make sure you go give this one a listen.
Back in 1996 it was pretty easy to interact with the band as the shows were small and the members of moe. were extremely open to meeting their fans. On October 25, 1996, moe. came to Saratoga Winners, a venue just a few miles from my college, so my friend Laurence Scudder (now of the Ryan Montbleau Band) and I got there as early as possible to catch some of the soundcheck. Larry and I were huge fans of the tune Spine of a Dog, but we always seemed to miss the shows at which they’d play that tune.
We decided to take a pro-active approach to getting our request filled. Laurence drew an amazing illustration of a “Spine of a Dog” which we presented to Chuck. Chuck flipped and a few hours later when the group came on stage he flashed Lar and I a toothy smile. With that, moe. took to their mics for the a Capella Spine of a Dog intro. Needless to say, we couldn’t have been happier and we were also glad Chuck obliged our “Let Chuck Sing” chant by singing a stellar version of Four that had a number of heady Inca Roads teases. Quite a night in Latham, NY to say the least.
STANCH:
During a bit of moe.down 2 (09-01-2001) between-song banter, Rob revealed the candidates for the next night’s mayor of moe.ville elections. No, current mayor Jimmy Boon and Kyle (of Kyle’s Song fame) would not run, but Kyle had nominated a large style GI Joe doll in his stead, and GI Joe would run. I was second row, right in front of Rob, and I heard yelling and pushing behind me. I turned around to see this guy pushing people aside as he ran right at the stage (and me) screaming. He literally ran between me and the guy next to me, throwing us both to the ground, pushed past the next row of people, over the fence, and onto the stage. He kind of grabbed Rob by the shirt and neck and wrestled GI Joe out of Rob’s hand, breaking him in two. He then pushed Rob to the side and grabbed the mic, the whole time screaming “I am the fucking mayor of moe.ville!! I am the fucking mayor of moe.ville!!” He then was eventually either dragged or ran off.
People listening to this recording may not know, but when that guy grabbed him, Rob (and many in the band and crowd) looked pretty freaking scared. This guy seemed out of his gourd, and security wasn’t close enough to stop the guy from doing something unthinkable. But instead of killing Rob, the guy just scared us all a bit. Sensing the energy being sucked out of the somewhat stunned crowd, moe. rallied. Rob continued with a few quick jokes, and Chuck quipped that moe.ville’s mayor should have a “firm hand” against crime. Rob then stumbled for a sentence or two, letting it all sink in, only to turn to the mic and announce, “And remember, take drugs in moderation, really. And if you don’t want to take them in moderation, take them in a controlled environment.” To which Chuck responded, “Unless it’s Prozac. Then take a whole shitload of it.” More jokes about GI Joe would follow (and I believe he was elected major). Never missing an opportunity, the next year saw a stage full of beefy national guardsmen as security guards for the moe.ville mayorial elections. moe.down always brought out a unique and playful side of the band.
In February 2000, moe. played two sold-out nights at the Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro, NC. The guys were at what I consider to be their absolute peak of playing and setlist creation, and it showed during those two incredible shows. As good as the music was, I’ll always remember these shows for another reason.
The band had placed a sort of “suggestion box” at their merch table and allowed fans to write things on paper and insert them into the box. Before the second set of night two, the band began reading some of the things fans had written. One of them was from my friend Marcie, a huge moe. fan from the beginning who had become friends with the band over the years. Rob read her note: “Marcie would like to Rob to slap her ass like he slaps his bass, yes.” Next thing you know, Rob is saying “get your ass up here, Marcie!” She made her way to the stage, Al “mic’d” her ass, and Rob gave it a nice slap that is audible on the recordings.
I’ve seen moe. dozens of times and I have a ton of great memories, musical and otherwise, that took place at their shows and festivals. But this ass-slapping happening and those two incredible Carrboro shows will always be my top memories of moe!
My favorite moe. memory doesn’t come from a show and in fact the band wasn’t even present. Rather, the summer after No Doy came out back in 1996, my best friends and I rented this terrific little Yellow House on Arbor St. in Ann Arbor where we did next to nothing all besides hang out, listen to music, hacky sack, play disc golf and work maybe 20 hours a week — two of us were sandwich artists, another made chicken Wings at Mr. Spots, one worked at Tubby’s, and the other mowed lawns.
That was our summer of ’69. No Doy, of course, served as the soundtrack and Rebubula the theme song. None of us will ever probably ever get to experience carefree summers like that again, but it’s great to think back to how much fun we had. Thankfully, we still have moe. around to remind us.
From NYE 2007 at RMCH –
The whole show was constructed from 30 minute (roughly speaking) segments of great music, any one of which could count as the best of the night, depending on personal taste. The encore was no different. When U2’s New Year’s Day began, a slow cheer rose, and the band was just killed it- they even stacked the guitars, Chuck tearing out those rhythm riffs while Al soloed over him.
“Oil’s the reason for the wars we wage.”
They opened the end a little, taking the tune for a ride, Rob nailing a few sweet notes just before the group muscled into George. As the middle passage began, dozens of beams of white light suddenly sparred up to a disco ball nestled at the apex of the venue–and the whole ceiling danced. Huge shadow petals blossomed just in front of the ball while the lights turned from white to an amazingly vivid rainbow, constantly spinning. The whole room uttered a collective gasp, and the band crushed the groove. People everywhere were slouching back in those plush, crimson seats to gaze up at the spectacle – it truly was a stunning moment, a gorgeous synthesis of sight and sound, the perfect way to end the night and start the year.
12 Responses
Looking forward to celebrating on Saturday with ya’ll. Hooray for moe.
see y’all @ Ithaca on 1/30. Sorry I’m gonna miss some pickin-and-a-grinnin from Danny Barnes and Jeff Austin @ Roseland.
To all those who will be @ Roseland:
in the immortal words of Napoleon Dynamite: “Luckee.”
Rob Derhak slapping my ass as fast and furious as he slapped his bass will always be one of my greatest moments in my personal rock and roll history. During my requested song, Dr. Graffenberg, he and Al slapped each other’s asses with the necks of their guitars. The ass slapping theme continued throughout the 2nd set. I LOVE moe.
Scott,
That show on October 25, 1996, when moe. came to Saratoga Winners, was my very 1st time seeing the band live. I had been listening to them for a while, but never was able to make a show. My buddy and I drove 5 hours from OUR school to catch this show, and then (stupidly) hopped in the car immediately after to head to Syracuse for the Harvest Moon fest the next night. But that 1st show was the deal dealer for me…I was hooked. GREAT night…great weekend!
And by the way, Saratoga Winners is in Cohoes, NY, not Latham.