Review | moe. | New Years Eve | Albany

Words by: Frank Imburgia

moe. :: 12.31.14 :: Palace Theater :: Albany, NY

After a well-earned six-week rest from their nearly incessant touring, a revitalized moe. took Albany’s Palace Theater by musical force with a New Year’s Eve show for the ages. New Year’s Eve is a symbolic threshold: the close of one year, the birth of the next, and both 2014 and 2015 were/are significant for moe. 2014 saw the release of the No Guts, No Glory album -a mix of new material and studio versions of songs that have been staples at moe. concerts for years. 2015 is remarkable for moe. as well: it is the twenty-fifth anniversary year for the band, a point that was made all night long.

Post by Moe.

[Photo by Paul Citone]

After a decade ranging from New York City to Portland, Maine for their New Year’s celebrations, moe. has settled down in Albany for the past couple of years -a return to their roots. The guys -bassist Rob Derhak, Al Schnier and Chuck Garvey who alternate lead and rhythm guitar duties, drummer Vinnie Amico and percussionist Jim Loughlin -are from upstate, met at University of Buffalo and built their reputation playing the bars of Albany. They are upstate New York’s own, and the Palace just feels right.

As if to punctuate that point, moe. opened their acoustic first set with the classic upstate New York song, “Low Bridge,” and the lyrics, “we know every inch of the way, from Albany to Buffalo,” ring true for moe. The band was set up in the orchestra pit, out of sight to most of the audience, and began playing while the platform rose slowly to stage level. The six-song set included old standards such as “Queen of Everything” and new songs including “White Lightning Turpentine” and ended with the moe. classic “Waiting For The Punchline” which saw both Al and Chuck plucking and strumming frantically as the song’s tempo increased to breakneck speed.

The second set was one of the best in recent memory. After opening with a solid “Downward Facing Dog,” moe. gave the Palace one of those face-melting “moe.ments” that are the reason they’ve established such a dedicated following. The segue out of “Billy Goat” was a wild ride that built the momentum of a runaway train, Al playing a trademark lead with the stage spots flashing blue and yellow through a smoky purple haze. The jam seemed to be moving into “Head,” but changed tempo and direction several times, until the familiar bass line of “Bullet” made the destination clear. Without a pause, the band dropped into a simply spectacular “Silver Sun.” Many of the band’s fans, aka moe.rons, agree that this is one of the very best additions to moe.’s repertoire in the past few years. As Garvey’s lead wailed toward the song’s climax, confetti guns blasted 50 pounds of foil stars into the brilliant titanium strobes, bringing the crowd to a screaming frenzy. The Conehead Buddha Horns joined the band for two special songs: “Ugly American” which has been played only once since the 1990s and the Steely Dan classic “My Old School.” The set closed with moe. bringing an assortment of family members on stage to sit in on “Happy Hour Hero,” including Marley and Madison Amico (sax and percussion), Ben and Ayla Schnier (drums and keys), Eddie Derhak (trumpet) and Chuck’s nephew, John, who played an accomplished and stylish lead of his own.

Ninety seconds before 2015, the band returned to the stage wearing silver lamé jackets for the countdown. At midnight, Peter Prince of Moon Boot Lover came capering out on stage wearing nothing but a diaper and trademark moon boots to belt out a soulful vocal to “Stone Free.” He also led the entire crowd in singing “Happy Birthday” to moe. “Time Ed” gave Jim the opportunity to grab some attention with a crazy and lightning-fast four-mallet xylophone solo. Rob’s chance to pluck and slap the bass, which always brings the crowd to its feet, came on a wildly unpredictable “Meat.” The set closed with “Dr. Graffenberg” featuring Shannon Lynch blowing a mean and bluesy saxophone and trading licks with Al.

After a string of “Al.nouncements” noting a dozen 75th, 100th and 150th shows -no one can say the moe.rons don’t represent -moe. closed out the night with Pink Floyd’s monster “Time” and finally “The Pit.” The guys all put down their instruments and walked to the front of the stage, singing the final refrain over and over, “all the way down to the bottom” as the platform sank out of sight. A fitting ending to a simply fabulous night. Happy twenty-fifth, moe. and Happy New Year, everyone.

Audio (Taped by Marcus via Live Music Archive)

Setlist

Set One: Low Bridge#, Queen Of Everything, Smoke >(nh) Chromatic Nightmare, Shoot First, White Lightning Turpentine, Waiting For The Punchline

Set Two: Downward Facing Dog, Billy Goat > Bullet > Silver Sun, Ugly American*##, My Old School*%, Same Old Story*, Happy Hour Hero*^$

Set Three: Stone Free$%%, Time Ed > meat., Little Miss Cup Half Empty*, Annihilation Blues*, Dr. Graffenberg*

Encore: Time > Tubing The River Styx > The Pit

{First set acoustic
* w/ Conehead Buddha horn section: Shannon Lynch on saxophone, Terry Lynch on trumpet, Shaun Bazylewicz on trombone
^ w/ Marley Amico on sax, Madison Amico on percussion, Eddie Derhak on trumpet, Ayla Schnier on keys, Ben Schnier on drums
$ w/ Peter Prince on guitar & vox
# FTP -(cover -traditional / Thomas S. Allen)
## LTP -7/15/10
% FTP -(cover -Steely Dan)
%% FTP -(cover -Jimi Hendrix)}

[Setlist via moe. Facebook]

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