The energy coming off of the crowd in front of Revolution Live on Sunday night reverberated all throughout Himmarshee. It's hard not to be excited when you go to a moe. show. You know exactly what you're going to get -- blazing guitar solos, intricate bass lines, over-the-top unbelievable jams that take you on a mental journey, and a whole lot of vibraphone -- and it's always good.
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It was almost 9 p.m. before the band took the stage, starting off strong with a near 20-minute version of "Timmy Tucker." A real groovy gem of a song which they took to incredible heights. After a few minutes of bouncy funk, guitarists Chuck Garvey and Al Schnier both launched into high-soaring simultaneous solos. And when right at the peak, they dragged us back down to earth with a cool reggae style jam. We grooved while our brains stayed in our skulls.
Next, the band brought out a handful of less intense tunes, slower songs that let the crowd sing and dance. Then the opening riffs of fan-favorite "Happy Hour Hero" hit, and calm time was over. Joyful shouts filled the club. Garvey uses a talk box on his guitar for a very enrapturing solo that just makes ya feel good inside. To close out the first set, they launched into "Wind-Up," a mallet heavy jam with really cool synth lines. The melody is almost haunting, until it kicks into a hopeful sounding chorus. To end it, the band moved into an almost King Crimson-type, prog jam that kept the crowd wanting.
And pretty humongous and eclectic crowd it was. Concert-goers were young and old, included hippies, frat boys, and professionals; every "type" was well-represented and tightly packed in. Luckily, Revolution has an amazing a/c system, and it was shockingly cold. The cool air knocked all the smoke quickly away from the audience, and we avoided the hot, sticky, tobacco-drenched environment usually encountered at a July concert in South Florida.
The stellar second set started off with a personal favorite, "Down Boy" that flowed directly into another goodie, "Blue Jeans Pizza" -- a more complex song with a soaring lead guitar melody and really just plain neat vocals. They jammed the hell out of it before it bled again into two other monstrous jams: "Skrunk" and "McBain." Before "Skrunk," Rob Derhak had some bass issues he had to take care of, but it was no blemish on the show.
Everyone took their chance to shine during the sprawling "McBain." At one point, Jim Loughlin presented a purely inspirational mallet solo that had us hanging on its every note, lifting us out of our bodies for a few minutes. And then to bookend the whole set, they wrapped up the last four songs with "Down Boy," creating a masterpiece.
It didn't stop there. Moe. played "Silver Suns" off their new album, No Guts, No Glory, a song that would sound at home on most classic rock stations, and followed up with an old favorite, "Plane Crash." After nearly 15 minutes of the frantic Latin groove, the band thanked the audience and left the stage, but not for good, of course.
Moe. returned to the beckoning fans, and after some stage banter played a pretty traditional version Pink Floyd's "Time." No epic jam, it was just a very faithful rendition of an old classic. And to completely finish out the night, the band performed another song off of their new album, "Little Miss Cup half Empty," a mellow little rocker, but one that's easy to fall for.
The band left the stage and the lights went up, and there was almost a sadness hanging in the air. Nobody really wanted to go anywhere, but alas the show was over. Honestly, after the showcase they put on, it'd be inhuman to ask for any more.
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