moe. @ Ogden Theater, Denver CO – February 5th
Words: Jonathan Kosakow
Images: Jason Woodside
I’ve always wondered why moe., of all the bands in the jam scene, has never caught hold of a larger mainstream audience. Their songs are easy on the ears, and the group’s sing-along choruses are nearly always high energy. But Saturday’s show at Denver’s Ogden Theater finally gave me my answer. At times we were spoonfed slow, low-energy ambience, at others we were caught in the middle of an old-fashioned cafeteria food fight. By the end of the night, it was hard to tell which way was up.
[All photos by Jason Woodside]
It was about 9:30 by the time the band took the stage. Following a spicy set of pre-show music that included everything from Van Halen’s Hot for Teacher to Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean, the first notes of live music we heard were those first lingering tones of Mexico. It was absolutely the way to start it off, an old favorite to remind us why we came. Al Schnier’s noodling guitar was helped along by Chuck Garvey’s, and the two worked off each other’s riffs until they settled into a steady groove for Day Dreaming.
Set One: Mexico > Day Dreaming, Blue Jeans Pizza, Good Trip, Opium > 32 Things*Set Two : Haze > Dr. Graffenberg, One Life, Billy Goat > Understand, Kyle’s Song > MothEncore: Mar-DeMa, Spine Of A Dog* – w/ Allie Kral of Cornmeal on Fiddle
[Setlist via PT moe.]
Soon though, somewhere between the high notes of Rob Derhak’s vocal on Blue Jeans Pizza and the joke-along “Don’t Die’s” of Good Trip, something started to fade. Perhaps the band, at the end of a tour and about to take a quick stint in Japan, was a bit road-weary, but it definitely showed in the general lack of collective energy throughout the room.
Their jams, though note-tight, dragged a little too long, and the foot-shuffling slowed throughout the audience. Soon, though, the familiar drone of Opium sunk into our brains and swallowed us whole. The slow, powerful train that is this song gained speed steadily until it found its (in)sanity in the bright lights of Derhak’s bellowing chorus. The outro of Opium saw the introduction of Cornmeal’s Allie Kral who joined the band for 32 Things, ending the set with a three-way guitar-guitar-fiddle duel that was powerful enough to leave Schnier with both jaw and hands dropped nearly to the floor in stupefaction. “Leave it to Allie” was the word throughout the room during setbreak. READ ON for more on moe. in Denver…
Widespread Panic returns to the town in which the band was formed – Athens, GA – tomorrow and Friday to kick off a celebration of the group’s 25th Anniversary at
Please welcome HT reader Max Eddy to break down the career of The White Stripes, a band who recently announced their break up…
On February 2nd, Groundhog’s Day, The White Stripes announced that they would no longer be recording. The surprisingly straightforward message posted on the band’s website explicitly ruled out “artistic differences” and “illness,” saying rather that the band wanted to keep the music as it was. In their final message, the blues-rock duo comprised of faux-brother and sister Jack and Meg White implored their fans not to be sad, saying that the music “belonged to you now and you can do with it whatever you want.”
Though no one has died and Jack will surely continue recording with any of his side projects like The Dead Weather, the White Stripes are dead.
The band hardly burst upon the scene with their debut self-titled release in 1999. Jack was already a veteran of the burgeoning Detroit garage-rock scene, though he’d seen mixed success up to that point. It’s easy to assume that he formed the two-piece duo simply to play the music he wanted without having to worry about anyone else. He took the lead with vocals and a hammering guitar line, with Meg backing him up on drums.
Over the next two albums, De Stijl (2000) and White Blood Cells (2001), the White Stripes perfected their sound and the image that helped to define their image as much as any album did. Always with an eye for artistry, Jack gave the band a red and white color scheme which was splashed over their albums and stage presence. Growing in their popularity as well as their musicianship, the band produced some of the best music of the then-young millennium and gathered a cult following.
READ ON for more of Max’s White Stripes Retrospective…
In this week’s column, featured columnist Brian Bavosa takes a look at the The Dead’s legendary Europe ’72 tour, along with the impending 60+ CD release…assuming you were lucky enough to snag one.
The old saying goes: There is nothing like a Grateful Dead concert. If that’s the case, what can one say about an entire tour? Especially one as special, and as much of a landmark as the famed 22-show, Spring run of 1972? Often lauded as one of The Dead’s high-water marks, Europe ’72, as it is commonly referred to, is quite simply an extremely important time in the band’s history.
[Europe ’72 artwork by Kelley/Mouse]
So, when the announcement came that The Grateful Dead would officially be releasing the entire tour in a 7,200-copy pressing, $450, limited edition boxed-set, even the most die-hard of Deadheads were at least slightly taken aback. However, within four days of the pre-sale, the allotment was sold-out, leaving many who wanted to purchase this historic piece of history out of luck.
The band quickly decided they would still release more units – at the same price tag of $450 – but without the commemorative packaging, something that simply doesn’t sit right with me and a number of others. Today’s column will focus not only on the magical time of the Spring of ’72 in Western Europe, but also allow me to chime in -and ask your opinion through PFPS’s 2nd ever poll – about what The Dead should have done after the initial sets sold out.
READ ON for more of this week’s Postcards From Page Side…
Brooklyn’s Food Will Win the War got into the holiday spirit this winter and filmed their latest music video at SantaCon 2010 amidst the legions of blotto Santas and Elves.
Photos: Chad Smith
From January 20th – 24th, Umphrey’s McGee, STS9, the Disco Biscuits, their fans and a few other acts took over the Now Sapphire Resort in Puerto Morelos, Mexico for Mayan Holidaze.
[All photos by Chad Smith]
In a previous edition of Last Week’s Sauce, DaveO went over some of the the musical highlights from the first-ever Mexican edition of Holidaze and today you’ll get the visual side of things from one of our favorite photographers in the scene, Chad Smith. Chad, who makes his Hidden Track debut this morning, has shared not only pictures of the bands in action, but also a number of shots featuring festival attendees getting down.
READ ON for over 90 photos from Mayan Holidaze…
Pretty Lights fulfilled the promise he made to his fans at the beginning of 2010 by delivering three new EP’s, and followed that by touring the world over, and launching
Iconic punk champions Bad Religion will be hitting the road along with melodic hardcore upstarts Rise Against for what is sure to be one of the most electrifying and rousing
The Decemberists have announced a second leg of U.S. tour dates for the Spring, which will kick off April 16 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and cover the Midwest and South
If the measure of a good autobiography is the extent to which the writing reflects the progression of the life under inspection, then Keith Richard’s Life is an exceptional piece of work. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a stunning read all the way through, but only that it reveals the true nature of its subject, blemishes and all.
