A Fresher and Tighter Groove All Under 3 Hours
moe. 4/13/00 The Opera House - Toronto, Canada

Set I: She Sends Me, Akimbo, Threw It All Away, Rise, Nebraska, Four, Plane Crash

Set II: Spine Of A Dog-> Buster Happy Hour Hero, Mexico, Seat Of My Pants, Meat

E: Fire

Back in the mid nineties of last century, I used to go see moe quite a bit, about twice a year. The band was impressive but after a while, each show seemed to get progressively more drawn out and the bands jams seemed to lose touch with the audience.

After a very long and relatively boring show in 1996, I decided that I had had it with moe. After all, there were plenty of other jam bands making their way into Toronto that I didn't have to rely on moe to quell my improvisation desires. I have a friend named Woody who used to see the moe. shows in Toronto with me, he now lives out in Palm Beach Florida. Over the past couple of years, Woody has become a devoted fan of moe often traveling hundreds of miles to see a show while often being confused for moe guitarist Al Schnier. I would get the usual post show email from Woody gushing over the show along with his constant urges that I travel to go see a show. Well, after about thirty of these emails where his urging became more of a command, moe announced a Toronto show and I decided to let bygones be bygones and give them a second chance.

The band has grown leaps and bounds since that last performance in 1996. The show was spectacular, the older songs like "Akimbo" and "Mexico" were so fresh and vibrant and most of all, tight. The cohesiveness of the band was the highlight, they weren't going off into their own little worlds and losing the audience. "Meat" managed to stay under an hour and actually kept the audiences attention the whole time. The "Plane crash" first set closer won over the seemingly skeptical crowd who seemed to have shared in my prior cynicism. The second set was just butter after "Plane Crash" with a nice encore of Hendrixes' "Fire" to end the show which clocked in at two hours and forty minutes. The band has obviously matured and have carved their own distinct sound since that 1996 show and made believers out of a room of skeptics. The band seems to put more emphasis on performance, the addition of a percussion player and a greater attention to lighting, has made moe a complete live act. When I got home after the show, I placed an email to Woody stating what he knew as obvious, I was back in the fold.

Documentary on Spencer Tunick Highlights Great Went

By: Adam Shiffman

So I just got back from a screening of Naked States, a documentary about Spencer Tunick at Toronto's documentary film festival, "Hot Docs". Spencer went on a trip to all 50 states, taking nude photos in each one. As most of you might know, one of them took place at The Great Went.

The movie is excellent, it is a 'road trip' film documenting the whole trip. All of the segments are entertaining, but I must admit I was waiting to see him hit Maine the whole time :)

They show Spencer arriving in Maine, highlighting all the 'Welcome Phish Phans' billboards outside local businesses. He meets with people from Phish, and there is a brief mention of a small controversy (local news reported the nude photo shoot, but the promoters/etc weren't aware it was happening).

Anyway, he does meet up with Trey backstage. He introduces himself and gives Trey a print of one of his photos. Trey is very receptive, smiling, and then when he finds out he's actually talking to the artist he shakes his hand and wishes him good luck (all the while noodling on his guitar :) Trey says he has to go play in 10 minutes and wishes him well.

There's quite a bit of crowd footage, and a fun part where Spencer sees the 'POSE NUDE' advertisement on the big screen at setbreak. The Phish segment is one of the longer ones in the film.

All in all a great movie, and the Phish content made it really entertaining. Go see it if it's playing in your area!