moe. Embraces Collaboration At 1st moe.down Since 2019

moe.'s moe.down Festival returned over the weekend after a seven-year hiatus. The multi-day event took place at the new location of West End Fairgrounds in Gilbert, Pennsylvania from Thursday, July 16 through Saturday, July 18.

The host band and their guests got in on the collaborative spirit throughout the event. Not only did moe. welcome several friends to sit-in during their three headlining performances, the members of the band also shared the stage with several other moe.down performances.

While storms threatened each day, nearly all performances went off as planned or in new schedule slots. moe.down 2026 started on Thursday with sets from Organ Fairchild, Ominous Seapods, Cabinet, Emma Derhak & The Chops and moe. Guitarist Al Schnier joined Ominous Seapods on “Blackberry Brandy” early in their set.

moe. delivered a 13-song performance highlighted by adventurous versions of “The Pit,” “Band In The Sky” and Led Zeppelin’s “No Quarter.” Cabinet’s Pappy Biondo came out to play acoustic guitar and sing on a cover of JJ Cale’s “Cajun Moon.” A late night set saw moe. and Organ Fairchild pair up as “moe.organ Fairchild.”

The festival continued on Friday starting with performances by Conehead Buddha, Kanika Moore & The Brown Eyed Bois, bob., YoLK, Blueberry Bettyand Cabinet. moe. percussionist Jim Loughlin reunited with his former Yolk bandmates for “Cataract” before Schnier guided Cabinet through “Silver Sun.”

moe. played two sets on the second day of moe.down 2026. The opening frame included oldies “Captain America” and “Buster” along with more recent fare. “Buster” gave way to a take on “Carpet Crawlers” by Genesis. Kanika Moore then teamed with the sextet on Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song” to close the first set.

Set two was pure moe. with “Downward Facing Dog” followed by “In Stride” and “Blue Jeans Pizza.” The bulk of the frame was devoted to a run of “McBain,” “Mar-DeMa” and “Water.” moe. ended their night with a “Rebubula” encore. Then, moe. side project Ha Ha The Moose played a rare set in the late night tent.

The Saturday action began with Moon Boot Lover, Neighbor, Ghosts of Jupiter and Dr. Jah and the Love Prophets. Daniel Donato's Cosmic Country followed and brought out guitarist Shawn Eckels mid-set for their first-ever cover of JJ Cale’s “Call Me The Breeze” and a take on “That’s What Love Will Make You Do.”

Mike Dillon Band was up next for a set featuring contributions from Jim Loughlin and the members of lespecial. Umphrey’s McGee also got in on the special guest action during their subsequent set. Neighbor guitarist Rob Compa teamed with the band for his favorite UM song, “Bridgeless,” before Al Schnier and Kanika Moore contributed to a version of the AC/DC hit “It’s A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll).”

moe. closed out the main stage action one lengthy set. “Billy Goat” bled into a “meat.” featuring Mike Dillon on vibraphone with Jim Loughin. A “Happy Hour Hero” then gave way to “All Roads Lead To Home.” Daniel Donato continued the parade of guests by shredding through “Mexico” with moe.

Attendees voted Miko The Dog as mayor after Brendan Bayliss joined Nate Wilson for a verse of “Home Sweet Home” by Mötley Crüe. Bayliss stuck around as UM keyboardist Joel Cummins dropped in for a cover of “The Weight” sung with Kanika Moore and Hayley Jane.

The set ended with an extended “Plane Crash” before moe. said goodbye with a “Wind It Up” encore. lespecial held down the late night tent, where they welcomed Kanika Moore for a run of “Machine Elf,” “The Vessel” and System Of A Down’s “Chop Suey.”

Here’s hoping fans don’t have to wait seven years until the next moe.down.

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moe. Setlists

Stream an audience recording of Thursday’s moe. show taped by Keith Litzenberger:

Hear and audience recording of Saturday’s moe. show taped by Rob Clarke: