It's been the summer of the jam band in Western New York - even more than usual. Buffalo-born moe. came to Artpark last night to play a free show, completing the trifecta of which Phish (Darien Lake, June 8) and Umphrey's McGee (Artpark, June 29) are also a part. Unfortunately, though, the five-piece did not deliver the high-caliber show that we've come to expect over the years, and moe. failed to match the stellar performances of their jam-band counterparts. That's not to say that it wasn't still a very good show. It was. And it was free, so there's really no reason to complain. Still, though, I couldn't help leaving the venue with the feeling that I didn't see the band's best offering.
Maybe it was the heat. On one of the hottest days of the summer, moe.'s trademark improvised jams reflected the lazy, hazy, humid atmosphere. The first two songs, "Head" and "Zed Naught Z," featured jam sections that built gradually, featuring mainly slow and atmospheric sections in the middle of songs that are more upbeat in nature (specifically "Head").
Another problem, which lasted the entire show, was the sound engineer's mix. Rob Derhak's bass guitar was too loud, even for a bass player like me, and Chuck Garvey's guitar (my personal favorite aspect of the band) was barely audible at certain points, and I struggled to hear him even while he soloed (and I was standing on his side for most of the show). So when, in the middle of the first set, moe. busted out a personal favorite of mine, "Kyle's Song," and it came to the part where Chuck assaults his guitar for an epic solo, I could barely hear it. I guess we got what we paid for in terms of sound engineers last night.
In spite of the problems, there were still some amazing highlights from the night. First-set closer "Waiting for the Punchline" featured an uppity bluegrass ending that really got the crowd moving and looking forward to the rest of the show. Additionally, after the second set's first two songs, moe. played an old classic, "Yodelittle," and they did not stop playing for the rest of the show. And this is where I need to clarify something:
Unlike Umprhey's McGee (who use hand signals and earpieces to communicate and arrange on the fly during jams) and Phish (who usually jams out until Trey Anastasio abruptly signals a move into the next song), moe. actually does true segues from song to song to song. No hand signals, no abrupt changing - a smooth and natural transition. Because of this, the band (and the crowd) is forced to be more patient and let jams develop and evolve for longer, and that sometimes makes for a slightly less exciting show, but it's a risk that the group takes. Because when it really works, there is nothing like it.
But it didn't really work last night. The transitions were very smooth - especially from "Yodelittle" to "Down Boy" and from "Bring You Down" to "Kids" - but jams never really peaked, and I got the sense that the band had another gear that it didn't shift to. The band has aged; perhaps the guys don't have the energy to attack every show like it's their last anymore.
Second-set finale "Kids" was well-played, though I don't know if the song functions best as a closer. Either way, the crowd was still screaming for an encore, showing that even when moe. plays a sub-par show, it's still a great show. Pressed for time, they came out and played a quick version of an old standard, "St. Augustine," and left for Rochester, where they will hopefully rebound with the kind of show I've come to expect. Maybe the $2 price of admission will go toward a better sound guy.
~lh
wow, this review SMOKES what was in the buffalo news today.