Credit: Moe. Official Website
As I am writing this Moe. [Vinnie Amico, Rob Derhak, Chuck Garvey, Jim Loughlin, Al Schnier] will be taking over Flagstaff, Arizona at the Orpheum Theatre, and their show at Club Nokia Friday night will only be but a dream. And for a dream, I remember amoebas of sensory stimulus. Not just because I can remember lots of colors, sounds, and smells, but because I managed to take notes throughout their two-part set list and magically translated it here.
For being on the 2nd leg of their Winter Tour, Moe’s sound was an all out sensory experience. The band and the fans had so much energy pouring out of them that I immediately knew they were magical. From the moment I walked in the door (by myself) I noticed a young woman about my age walking toward me. She quickly caught my attention and fixed her eyes straight into mine. Her name was Vanessa and she said “Your first Moe show right?” I nodded and awkwardly felt her getting closer to me. She gave me a hug and got real close to my face and said, “I feel you’re a nice person. You’re going to have a great time!” and quickly parted ways into the crowd with her intensely accepting eyes.
Grabbing a Stella to take a bit of the edge off, I overheard two older men about forty years old talking about how many times each of them had seen Moe. One scraggly fellow said, “Twenty five times.” The other, “My second.” I couldn’t help but butt in their conversation out of shock that the scraggly one had seen them that many times. They looked at me and said, “Yes”, and left it at that. I walked off to the smoking balcony. Out there alone, two men met my far off stare with a wave of hello. Pat and Michael, two friends who traveled to see the show with a starting point somewhere in the mountains, both of them together seeing Moe more than thirty to forty times (the details are hazy). The loyalty to this band was starting to become heavily clear at this point and also a great sign that I was in for a guaranteed night of auditory and visual musical improvisation.
The band took stage and had suited up for the occasion. Was it a tongue and cheek message or just a night for suits? I remember beams of light, with hues of the rainbow making the crowd shout out that their trip was ascending with the opening song, “Skrunk”. In my notes I make references to a percussive tribal rhythm and guitar solos that take on legendary languages. I speak of yellow sun bulbs radiating red bristles of light leading into “Lazarus” and “Brent Black”. These two songs were funkier, like walking down the street on a summer’s day. There was an instrument change, perfect for their drummer to take on his own life! What a solo! The stage, a black cosmic swirl with luminescent streaks and beams, transported us into a drum roll. Magically the men returned from wherever they disappeared to. Next they played “Water” and flowed into “Hector’s Pillow”. This is where I felt like I was being strutted into deep space by the bass line and sharp guitar stabs. There were harmonics and xylophone trills and my nose began to pick up the mixture of very kushy and homegrown aromas being shared. This was an interesting show of some of the people in the crowd – The New Hippies and the OG Hippies. “Timmy Tucker” was the last song for Set I. At the close of this set they brought their all. Everyone descended and then teetered together in the warm afterglow of a much needed rest and refill.
Set II began with “Don’t Fuck With Flo” and my new mountain friend Michael appeared out of nowhere. He danced off into the pit crowd where he greeted the rest of the swaying sea of morphing bodies with his smile. This set began really mellow and I just had to close my eyes and sway. I can’t remember the last time I felt safe enough to close my eyes at a concert. The next song was “Tailspin” which was a body fire starter. Everyone bugged out along with the fluttering bass. With a maniacal and beautiful beginning “Zed Nought Z” spaced into “Wind It Up” which powered on through to “Sticks and Stones”. In between “Sticks and Stones” and the last song of Set II “32 Things” I heard them get stronger. They didn’t weaken at all. Their vibrations were still encasing me and the bodies dancing, sparking together and creating nebulas all over the dance floor. When the music ceased one of the men joked, “You guys sound worn out. We’re doin’ all the work up here!” The crowd laughed and cheered them to party on! Some people left, while those who knew better stayed.
Alas, the ENCORE! The after party, if you will. Or, the after dinner mint. Moe helped carry the cosmic party into hyper overdrive with “Understand” and “Godzilla”. At this point in time every note, every strike, and every breath blurred into claps and screams leaving me with this all over feeling of “Til’ we meet again, friend” in a collective release of bodies sent back on the ground from the sky they were dancing on.
Special thanks go out to Phantasy Tour for helping me out with the set list!
Check out more Moe. on their Official Website!
