Watch Al Schnier jam with Strangefolk on a cover of Jack Straw.
Furthur ended the best tour in the band’s short history tonight at the Mizner Amphitheater in Boca Raton, FL; where the group still had a few more tricks up their
We’ve asked moe.ron extraordinaire Kahlil Katool to cover the moe. beat for Hidden Track and he has kindly accepted. Kahlil will be covering snoe.down for us, but starts by sharing his opinion of where the band is at after the group’s first two tours of 2011…
something new, something cool , something borrowed, something blue…
This line from moe.’s new song Haze rings true as an accurate description of what the band has offered the music world in 2011. Coming off the heels of their 20th anniversary tour in 2010, the members of moe. may have shed the suits they wore all year long to celebrate the benchmark, but have remained all business while barreling head first into 2011.
[Photo by Jeremy Gordon]
moe. has played 22 shows thus far this year, starting out with the Tropical Throe.down in the Dominican Republic, touring through the Pacific Northwest and hitting the left coast along with the Rockies, and most recently returning to Japan. Dual-lead guitarist Al Schnier, had this to say when asked how the band felt about the past two months: “New Year’s Eve in Boston was a great way to end the 20th Anniversary tour and the Dominican Republic was a great way to kick off this year. I can’t say enough good things about that trip, and we are already discussing plans for a follow up (island excursion). This run has been great one, and (we) are heading even further into 2011 with a lot of momentum.”
The New York-based “ragers of improvisational rock” continue to push the envelope nightly breaking outside of the familiar with over a dozen new songs debuted since last year’s Summer Camp Festival. The band is integrating these new songs in their set arrangements with great fervor. moe. has been taking big chances outside its comfort zone as the band mixes up its setlist writing formula of traditional staple “big guns” (ie. Moth, Recreational Chemistry, Timmy Tucker, meat., Yodelittle, Brent Black, McBain) as being the centerpieces of the energy and flow of moe. sets.
READ ON for more from Kahlil on moe.’s 2011…
Drummer Matt Butler has made his Everyone Orchestra a staple of festivals and live shows for the past 10 years. For the first time in the ensemble’s history, The Everyone
While moe. have retained their ability to spaz-out over reggae-tinged rock and roll riffs, they have also finally learned to chill out. Their live show used to drive steadily over a long, flat highway of Ritalin-child guitar solos and bland exploration over unchanging bass lines, but the boys from Buffalo seem to have finally learned the subtle distinction between jamming and improvising.
With midnight extravaganzas, extended curfews and no-holds-barred performances, New Years Eve has become the quintessential rock ‘n roll holiday. So to celebrate the energy only NYE can achieve, we decided to offer a visual sampling of some of the most highly regarded shows from new years ’03. From the car drop in Miami to The Cartmans playing NYC, it was a night to remember, or completely forget, depending on how much champagne you had.
Dispersed throughout the eclectic sets at the 2nd Annual Bonnaroo Music Festival held in Manchester, Tennessee, many artists attended intimate press conferences in order to answer media questions, express their various thoughts on the event, and offer general comments about the industry and specifically the ever-changing improvisational scene. There were many poignant moments, and equally as many humorous ones. Here is a collection of some of our favorites.
