By: David Schultz

In a perfect world, moe. would be one of the biggest bands in the world. While many of their brethren within the jamband world burned brightly and faded away, the five-piece band from upstate New York, have endured to become one of the most venerated acts on the concert scene. While mainstream renown and acclaim have not found their way onto moe.'s doorstep, they have fashioned a verdant niche within the jamband nation. Since self-releasing Fatboy in 1992, they have seven more studio albums to their credit, including one holiday album; six live albums, four as part of their popular Warts And All series and founded three annual concert festivals. Lou Reed may have been tabbed for the opening night of New York City's newest venue, The Highline Ballroom, but with a five night run spanning Wednesday to Sunday night, moe. got the privilege of truly breaking it in.



In an era where any multiple show run gets deemed a residency, moe. has avoided the term for their Highline stint, even though the appellation would be apt for their moe.rathon. But for relinquishing the stage to Fishbone for their Thursday night encore, moe. kept the focus of their shows on themselves and their music. The band can go in many different directions but at the core, the formula remains the same: Al Schnier and Chuck Garvey make a potent guitar duo, often finishing each other's riffs; Vinnie Amico and Jim Loughlin offer dual percussion with Loughlin offering up Zappa-worthy vibe passages and Rob Derhak anchors everything at center stage with his bass.

Over the course of Wednesday night's two lengthy sets, moe. explored certain musical themes, segued on to different ones only to come back and explore the original theme some more. With Loughlin's percussion highlighting the opener, "McBain," moe, returned to the song during both sets, also moving in and out of "Y.O.Y" and "Brent Black" They also showed a versatile range without becoming wildly schizophrenic. moe.'s first set featured the reggae-tinged "Seat Of My Pants" and "Akimbo" which contrasted with the heavy psychedlia of Pink Floyd's "Interstellar Overdrive." They also experimented with new styles: on "Down Boy" they worked in some subtle hip-hop beats and Garvey credibly and unironically delivered the rap-style verses without registering on the unintentional comedy charts. Amidst a considerably funky bass solo from Derhak and an upbeat percussion-fest by Amico and Loughlin, moe. worked in newer songs from their latest album, The Conch, with old favorites like "Sensory Deprivation Bank."

An inherent difficulty in reviewing any show from a band that changes up their set list each night is that the show you write about will unlikely ever occur again. moe.'s Wednesday night set list wasn't one of my favorites. However, it illustrated one of the finest qualities of the band. Regardless of the set list, moe. puts on a first-rate show. Even if the songs aren't to your individual liking, it's simply a trifle. The ingenuity with which moe. creates their songs and the skill with which they play them are the true centerpiece of any of their shows. Favorite or even familiar songs will be a bonus, but the true attraction of moe. is five fine musicians at work.

Labels: High Line Ballroom, moe.