"Saranac will do just fine"
moe. Siena College New York 11/30/01
Confession time people. I am a hippie. A "dirty hippie" as my friend Drew would say. Sure I may not look the part, I keep my hair clean and short, I wash my clothes, I believe in owning property, but make no mistake; beneath my cold dead chest beats the tye-dyed heart of a hippie.This means I've been to a fair number of concerts in my day. There was a brief period in my life where I followed a band called moe. up and down the east coast. Since leaving college, I've had less and less times for shows, but I still try to go out and see a few concerts each year. I've decided to list off the best shows I've ever attended. In making this I'm considering not just the band's performance but the over all feel and ambiance of the entire concert. In other words, the vibes.
So lets talk about moe. As I mentioned earlier I've seen this band play a lot, probably close to twenty times. And believe me, that number is small compared to some other people I know. moe. (and that's not a typo, the correct spelling of the bands name includes a lower case m and a period at the end) has been described, somewhat unfairly, as a poorman's Phish. This is due largely to the fact that they experienced a surge in popularity in the early 2000s while Phish was on their great hiatus. But other than sharing a love of noodling guitar solos, moe. is distinctly their own band, with each show a strong mix of covers as well as their own standards.
In November of 2001, my friends and I saw that the band would be playing a show at a college in central New York. Over Thanksgiving break a few of them had gone to New York City, where moe. had put on a monster two night show at the Hammerstein Ballroom, and they were all itching to see them again. This was to be my first time seeing the band and the trip, if I remember correctly, was a spur of the moment decision. One of my friends had brought his car back to school after Thanksgiving break, and we decided the only logical thing to do was take a roadtrip. So with Josh and Rob in the front seat, and myself Jess and Gypsy piled into the back, we made the three hour trip to Loudonville New York and Siena College. Siena is a tiny little liberal arts school, the type of place I sometimes regret not attending myself. We didn't have tickets, but moe. has never been the type of band to sell out an arena, so we were able to get tickets at the box office with no problem. The concert took place in what felt like a high school auditorium, and we ended up standing practically in the front row.
It had turned out that George Harrison, my favorite Beatle, had died earlier that day, and when the band came out for the second set they performed a spectacular version of "While my Guitar Gently Weeps." That pretty much sealed the show for me as being a worthwhile trip. The rest of the show was equally solid. My freshman year roommate Tyler, who for reasons I can't remember did not make this trip, used to play their music in our room constantly, so despite never seeing them before, I was familiar with all their songs. In the years that followed, I would end up seeing other shows that had stronger set lists and tighter performances, but this one has always been my favorite. Good music with good friends, it was just an incredibly happy experience.
Here is the set list of that night's performance:
Here is the set list of that night's performance:
1: Bring It Back Home > Water > Jazz Wank > Spaz Medicine > Buster > Spine Of A Dog
2: While My Guitar Gently Weeps > Mexico > Bullet (That Chuck Tune) > Meat
E: The Boys Are Back In Town
And here is an mp3 of "Mexico" from that night's performance, which contains a tease in the middle for "Here Comes the Sun."
