We’re honored to welcome Reuben of Partyin’ Peeps to the Hidden Track team for the occasional post. He’s done a phenomenal job posting interesting news, reviews and opinions on Partyin’ Peeps, so be sure to add his site to your daily reading list. Reuben caught moe. and Keller Williams at the Encore Park Amphitheater in Alpharetta, Georgia on Saturday night and filed this report…

We were greeted by perfect concert weather as we arrived at the brand new Encore Park Amphitheater. This place has everything you could ask for in a live music venue: great sound, a capacity of 12,500, reasonably light security, parking and $5 beers. Did I say $5 beers? I meant $10, but who’s really counting? We bought tickets from the box office when we got there, avoided the outrageous ticketbastard charges, and somehow scored 8th row center!

Keller Williams the one-man-band opened the show, and I have to say, he impressed the hell out of me. The guy really is a perfect opener, something about his eclectic combination of bluegrass, whistling, looping, covers, and all around goofiness really got the crowd excited. The show opened with Heart’s Barracuda and then right into crowd favorites Best Feeling and Fuel for the Road. My favorite part was in the middle of Fuel for the Road when Keller changed the tone of his instruments so they would sound like a piano and a trumpet before looping them together to create a mini little jazz odyssey. Then there was some more goofiness, a new song, a whistling cover of Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough,”and of course, Freaker by the Speaker. I love Keller, but I was ready for some moe.

READ ON to find out what Reuben thought about moe.’s two set show…

Set I: Skrunk> Down Boy> Y.O.Y., Not Coming Down, Cathedral> Plane Crash

Skrunk was a great opener, and by the end of Y.O.Y. it was pretty obvious that moe. decided to bring their “A” game to Atlanta. On a side note, I was very impressed by the quality of the lights at this show. I don’t think there’s a band out there whose lights I like better than moe.’s right now.

Plane Crash was undoubtedly the highlight of the set, and no matter how many times I see this song played, it still blows me away sometimes. See for yourself:


At set break guitarist Al Schnier encouraged the crowd to register to vote, and personally guaranteed to buy anyone a drink that had to wait longer than five minutes to do so. The band also gave away two autographed posters in a raffle for those that registered to vote that night. I really like the engaging, non-confrontational way that moe. presents their politics, especially in comparison with certain artists who get all yacked up and decide that they are politicians instead of musicians.

Set II: Stranger Than Fiction, Celebrate Your Youth (w/ Keller), 32 Things, Meat> Kids> Time Ed> Faker> Meat

Encore: Tailspin

During the set break one of the techs was messing with a weird looking guitar that looked like it could only belong to Keller Williams, so we knew there would be a sit-in. It was a fun little Keller song, Celebrate Your Youth, that actually sounds better on tape than it did at the show. Here’s another clip:


From the minute Keller walked off the stage until the end of the set, moe. just killed it. Beginning with 32 Things the band just let loose, playing fast and hard, hitting all sorts of peaks, taking it down a notch, and then smashing those peaks again. This was moe. at its finest ladies and gentleman. Huge bass lines, dueling guitar solos, pounding drums, all intertwined with some sort of crazy xylophone.

We got a quick taste of Meat, and then a jaw-dropping rendition of Kids. This one starts out a little slow but was probably my favorite jam of the night, it had a very Phish-y sound to it and everyone was loving it. From Time Ed through Meat the band really held nothing back; giving it their all, turning the volume up to 11, shattering all of the glass pipes in the audience and making believers out of everyone there.

When it was all over, moe. had played nearly a two hour second set and still had an encore to go. They closed the night with Tailspin which was just like the rest of the night: fast, explosive, and spot-on. moe. has a pretty extensive Summer tour scheduled and will be taking an extended break for a couple of months: I would highly advise seeing them now.