Having had a couple weeks to reflect on the annual moe.down festival in Turin, NY. I would just like to thank Christ, for moe.
I am an extremely analytical music lover. I hate music/bands very quickly if they don't meet my rigid critera of being: orginal, fun, real (or at least that i perceive them to be), gifted, playful yet serious, innovative (in some way), unpretentious and of course, cool. Not many (any?) bands can fill all these demands, or even 50% really, so I try to be forgiving in my tastes to allow a greater stable of favourites. It works. However, moe. is a band that seems to be able to rock on all these counts..
When the jamrock explosion seemingly died, some-time in 2004, (I guess the final nail was Phish calling it quits)- it seemed like nobody was interested in jambands anymore, not even the bands themselves. Eclectic and improvised became no-no words.
Bands that that were 'supposed' Rock'n'Roll improvisers, stopped jamming to 'concentrate on songwriting'. Now, don't get me wrong, I think its a good thing to concentrate on songs- but when you start out as a jammy band, because its trendy, and quit because its no longer trendy- it's impossible for your songs to matter anyway. Some bands cut the jamming to a minimum, which is understandable, cause it cant always be a 30 minute orgasm. Others just decided it was time to stay home and get old. But mostly, the movement kind of came to a halt. It was like there was a giant continuous wave of Jambands building up between 1998-2003, with hopes and dreams of being the next Phish or Dead, or even being able to live that dream for a moment, and when it became evident that Phish itself was an impossible dream for Phish, the massive wave hit the jagged shores of Southern Jersey like a tsunami of tie-dye, dissipating quickly and leaving only some Languedoc clones, ragged birkenstocks sandals, broken patch chords and empty baggies in its wake.
This really hurt for those of us who do enjoy watching a band move together, in the interest of moving a crowd. It just stopped happening altoghther, with a couple exceptions.
Then came the indie explosion of 2003. I've loved bands like Pavement, the Pixies, sebadoh, Sonic Youth and whatever since high school- I always thought it was an ongoing thing 'the indie scene'..It has been for me. but even when it was supposedly 'the thing' a couple years ago, it was still just getting bigger and bigger. It became and has become like chic-grunge. The amount of overwieght dudes I see with emo-faux combovers, a too-tight mod shirt, adjusting those black rimmed glasses, slouching as they walk the street, casually pulling the stretchy fabric away from their not-starved stomachs because even they are not believing this fabricated 'fuck the world character', makes me cry for humanity. Its such a fucking silly fashion show that ruins things. Because I think for the most part its such great music. It becomes a horrible caracature of itself, like any 'scene' will.
Anyway.
Regardless of what all these bands were doing, moe. just kept being moe. They havent waivered. much. They write songs they can stand by, so much so they are still able to play them 10 years after writing them. They play in comfortable rooms, and give the fans three hours of music for their low-low ticket price. They don't do everything right.. there is definitley a bit of a slacker ethic, which I think is how they maintain continuity- by not freaking out about deadlines, and not getting worked up with Internet froth. It is also just something else most moe. fans feel they have in common with them. There is serious deadication to music, musicianship, ebb and flow and the experience as a whole, which is what they really have going for them- and what their fans have really come to appreciate. It's what makes the experience something different.
I expect this will be a huge year for moe. with a new album, big shows on NYE, touring with the Who and a new DVD-> They'll be on the O.C before you know it.. I urge that you get out and see this band while they are still relatively under the radar. Which must be an incredibly frustrating place to be after 15 years.
Anyway, I dont even know who you are, but if you're reading this- you should really already know this. I really like to see a band take it different places everytime and bring it back to a good song. moe. does this.
They are on the road right now, so if you get a chance, go see them, and tell me about it!
