moe. Premieres Black Sabbath & Pink Floyd Covers, Breaks Out Long-Lost Originals At Acoustic Show In Maine

moe. went unplugged on Thursday for a rare all-acoustic show at the Portland House of Music in Portland, Maine. Bassist and longtime Maine resident Rob Derhak wrote the setlist for the intimate underplay, which was filled with surprises.

Derhak and bandmates guitarists Al Schnier and Chuck Garvey, keyboardist Nate Wilson, percussionist Jim Loughlin and drummer Vinnie Amico are celebrating moe.’s 35th anniversary in 2025. The sold-out acoustic show was followed by a Friday night performance at Portland’s State Theatre and a Saturday night concert at The Flynn in Burlington, Vermont.

moe. linked “Not Coming Down” and “Okayalright” with the instrumental “Wormwood” to get the acoustic concert underway. The same sequence opens the band’s 2003 LP Wormwood. Al Schnier then greeted fans and introduced the first big surprise of the night:

This next song is a very old moe. song that we’ve played here and there throughout the years. Rob and I started playing it as a duo recently and I’ve been playing it at my house parties, but we’re [performing it with the full band] tonight.

With that, moe. lit into their first “Me And Pat And Bill And You” since June 23, 2001 — a span of 1,698 shows as per Phantasy Tour. The huge bustout was followed by moe.’s debut cover of the Black Sabbath classic “Planet Caravan.” Nate Wilson handled lead vocals on the song from the legendary English heavy metal band’s 1970 album Paranoid.

moe. followed the Sabbath cover with “Day Dreaming,” a Derhak-penned song that had been shelved for over 14 years. “Day Dreaming” had been mothballed since April 8, 2011 — a span of 835 shows. The sextet then offered “Band In The Sky” from their recently released studio album Circle Of Giants and punctuated the set with fan-favorite “Lazarus.”

Rob Derhak fronted the pairing of “Deep This Time” and “Tambourine” that opened the second set. It was then back to Circle Of Giants for “Tomorrow Is Another Day.” Schnier went on to swap his guitar for mandolin to add to moe.’s fourth-ever cover of the Led Zeppelin gem “Going To California,” which was sung by Wilson. The Loughlin-penned “Chromatic Nightmare” came next along with the return of “Smoke.” moe. hadn’t played the Schnier-written “Smoke” since their Halloween 2021 show in Philadelphia.

The subsequent “Calyphornya” bled into a “Moth” jam. However, instead of starting the song proper, moe. launched into “Turn On Your Love Light.” Schnier helmed the band’s first cover of the Bobby “Blue” Bland barnburner in nearly 20 years. “Turn On Your Love Light” had only been played by moe. on March 8, 2004 and October 21, 2005 before Thursday’s show.

Nate Wilson took a piano solo ahead of a slick transition into the “Moth” hinted at earlier. After vacating the stage, moe. returned for a two-song encore. Up first was the band’s first-ever cover of the Pink Floyd classic “Mother.” Then, Chuck Garvey had his lone turn of the night in the vocal spotlight for a show-closing “Shoot First.”

Check out moe.’s acoustic show via an audience recording and video captured by Ted Gakidis below:

Setlist (via PT moe.)

Set One: Not Coming Down > Wormwood > Okayalright, Me and Pat and Bill and You, Planet Caravan, Day Dreaming, Band In The Sky, Lazarus

Set Two: Deep This Time > Tambourine, Tomorrow is Another Day, Going To California, Chromatic Nightmare, Smoke, Calyphornya, Moth [1] > Turn On Your Lovelight > Moth

Encore: Mother, Shoot First

Notes: Acoustic show. Rob setlist.

[1] – This was more of a Moth jam, but no lyrics here.