moe. And Mike Gordon Team For ‘In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed’ At Red Rocks

On Saturday night, moe. headlined the legendary outdoor venue Red Rocks Amphitheatre, with support from Mike Gordon and White Denim. During their two-set show, the New York jam act took advantage of the special guests on hand, welcoming the Phish bassist for a blistering Allman Brothers Band cover.

The fan-favorite five-piece kicked off their performance with an extended take on “Timmy Tucker.” The propulsive, 17-minute tune was used to briefly detour through a laidback “Tubing The River Styx,” which highlighted Jim Loughlin on the xylophone. From there, Rob Derhak held down the low-end during a hard-edged take on “The Pit,” with the bassist continuing to shine during the blistering 12-and-a-half minute rendition of “Dangerous Goods.”

After the four-song, non-stop opening segment, moe. turned to their new catalog, offering up “Jazz Cigarette,” which was debuted in February during a show at Portland, Maine’s State Theatre. The group then threw it back with “Water,” offering up a 10-minute take on the long-standing favorite. To close out the set, the band welcomed Mike Gordon to join them for a sprawling 20-minute rendition of “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed,” the Allman Brothers Band’s celebrated classic off their 1970 sophomore effort Idlewild South.

For the second frame, moe. focused on extending their improvisations, offering up six songs — the majority of which rang in at over ten minutes. To kick off the first three-song combination, the group used a high-energy take on “The Road” to segue into “New Hope For A New Year,” with the latter debuted during their triumphant return shows at The Capitol Theatre last year. After the 13-and-a-half “New Hope,” which marked the second longest song of set two, the group moved into a patient and precise “Bullet.”

moe. finished off the second set with another three-song segment, starting with “Crushing,” a newly penned Al Schnier tune that was debuted during last week’s Summer Camp Music Festival. From there, the group used “George” to transition into a triumphant set-closing take on favorite “Rebubula.” For the encore, the band offered up a cover of The Vapors’ 1980 new-wave smash hit “Turning Japanese.”

Listen to full-show audio of Saturday’s Red Rocks performance below, courtesy of marcus:

Setlist

Set One: Timmy Tucker > Tubing the River Styx > The Pit > Dangerous Goods, Jazz Cigarette > Water, In Memory of Elizabeth Reed

Set Two: The Road > New Hope for a New Year > Bullet, Crushing > George > Rebubula

Encore: Turning Japanese