Moe. at The Jefferson, Charlottesville, VA

Wednesday, March 10, 2010
I: Head., Hi & Lo > Another One Gone > She, Opium > Can’t Seem To Find > Bearsong

II: Stranger Than Fiction > Rise > Sticks & Stones, Blue Jeans Pizza > Bring It Back Home, Bullet > Kids

Enc: Queen Of Everything, Wicked Awesome

Moe. has always had a special place in my live music past. Butter Room contributor and one of my best friends, Todd introduced me and our ragtag crew to the band in 1996 on one of his infamous mix tapes that he put together for our trip down to Miami to see the Virginia Tech Hokies get clobbered by mighty Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. These mix tapes had become something of legend within our group. Todd would slave over them working his boombox and XL II’s to the bone mixing up our favorite movie lines and TV highlights intertwined with some of the great tunes. I remember lots of Nutty Professor and Blazing Saddles clips on this particular mix and it had us rocking and laughing our way on the never-ending road trip down I95 and A1A to our destination. Todd and I actually continued that trek from Miami to  Jacksonville through Richmond and up to New Hampshire (via Atlantic City for some completely random 3 AM gambling) where we finished up relaxing and skiing the slopes with some friends. The one Moe. song he included was Moth and we wore that mix tape out throughout the entire trip.

Moe. continued to be the soundtrack of my next few years…from living in their hometown of Utica, NY to catching shows in the midwest and east coast to eventually proposing to my now ex-wife at a show in VA. The band always seemed to be the backdrop of where I was in life for the quite a few years. But for some reason, I just stopped seeing the band altogether until last night. So I wasn’t sure what to expect but in some ways I knew it would be comfortable as always.

After knocking back the famous C-ville gutbomb meatloaf at Bizou and a few beers at Blue Light we were lubed and ready for the show. The line had been a little long to get into The Jeff so we arrived a little late but only missed the beginning of what seemed to be a pretty rockin’ Head. The first thing I noticed and was quickly reminded of was how this band has a way of encompassing an entire room, especially in the smaller clubs. Their lights and full 5 man sound is always kind of warm in some places and intense in others but you definitely know you’re at a rock show. I have seen them at fairgrounds, business parks, opening for other bands and at major festivals but the small theater is where you get their best vibe. They settled down into an easy Hi & Lo and a couple songs off of 2007 album, The Conch(Another One Gone>She), which I had never heard live. The mood was pretty mellow to start the show but really picked up at the end of the 1st set. Rob kicked off the bass line for Opium which really picked the pace of the show up. We maneuvered to get closer to the stage to snap some good photos as the band worked a nice jam with what sounded like teases of Moth or Recreational Chemistry. Opium found its way to Can’t Seem to Find and unleashed into a rocking set closer of Bearsong.

I had told myself since we were coming back the next night for Mike Gordon (who was in the audience) I might have to leave early to make it through this little 2-day, school night jamathon. But I had no intentions of leaving after that 1st set. We positioned ourselves really close to the stage as set 2 opened with Stranger than Fiction as we got a great look at the band from Chuck’s side all wonderfully attired in distinguished black suits that really fit the ballroom feel of The Jefferson. Fiction rolled into Rise and Sticks and Stones from 2008 album similarly titled album.  This signaled time for a beer for us. While I like certain songs off of the last album, I just haven’t found anything that really fires me up. We returned to catch a nice Blue Jeans Pizza>a bouncy Bring it Back Home and had a great view of Chuck belting out the lyrics of Bullet that meandered into Kids.
The band left the stage and returned to play 2 safe encores in Queen of Everything and Al belting out his rocker, Wicked Awesome. I would have much preferred one of their well-done classic rock covers but all in all I was not unhappy.

In the end, if I got this set 5 to 10 years ago, I would have been pretty disappointed but I have to say it was a pretty good time simply because of how long it has been since seeing them and how easy it was to get close and soak in the visuals of the band on stage. Moe. is like a warm blanket sometimes and you always know what to expect to some degree. They produce such a complex sound with the deep bass Rob Derhak, the uniquely distinct dueling guitars of Al Schnier and Chuck Garvey and active 2 man rhythm section of Vinny Amico and John Loughlin that explores auxiliaries with vibes, backup bass, flute, washboards and other unique instrumentation.

Thanks again for adding another chapter to the soundtrack of my life.  

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