moe.’s New Year Eve performance which took place at Albany’s Palace Theatre featured a variety of new elements. The band surprised audience members at the outset of the three set affair by stepping out on a small platform in front of the main stage, which still had its curtains drawn. They then delivered a five song acoustic set that featured “Shoot First,” “Blue Eyed Son” (with Al Schnier moving from guitar to mandolin), “Willin’,” “Backwoods” and “Wildflowers” (the final tune featuring only Schnier, Rob Derhak and Chuck Garvey). The first set then concluded with a full-on electric run from “Water” into “Time” and then a 23 minute version of “Recreational Chemistry.” The second set opened with “Mar-DeMa” which led into a version of “Meat” which approached the 25 minute mark, and closed out in fine fashion with a run from “Four” into “Jazz Wank,” “Spine Of A Dog” and “Buster.” The third set opened with “Sensory Deprivation Bank” which brought the band to midnight after which the Conehead Buddha Horns stepped out. The Horns which feature Shannon Lynch on saxophone, Shaun Bazylewicz on trombone and Terry Lynch on trumpet contributed to moe.’s debut covers of Paul Simon’s “Late In The Evening,” Black Sabbath’s “The Wizard” with Terry Lunch on vocals and Little Feat’s “Spanish Moon” (moe. had jammed on the song early in their career and joined Gov’t Mule for a version on 6/24/12). Before the encore, Schnier thanked lighting director Jason Huffer, and announced his departure after five years with the group before moe. ended the night with “Bearsong” and “Wind It Up.”

The complete setlist appears below, drawn from our Box Scores section.

***

moe.
Palace Theatre Albany, NY

Set I: Shoot First^, Blue Eyed Son^@, Willin’^{, Backwoods}, Wildflowers^^, Water > Time > Recreational Chemistry

Set II: Mar-DeMa > Meat, White Lightning Turpentine, Four > Jazz Wank > Spine Of A Dog > Buster

Set III: Sensory Deprivation Bank , Auld Lang Syne > Late In The Evening$+, Spaz Medicine$ > Not Coming Down$, The Wizard$+, Nebraska$, Spanish Moon$+ > Threw It All Away$, Plane Crash$

Enc: Bearsong, Wind It Up

Notes
^Acoustic, band on small stage
@Al on mandolin
^^Only Rob, Al and Chuck (on acoustics)
$with Conehead Buddha Horns: Shannon Lynch (sax), Shaun Bazylewicz (trombone), Terry Lynch (trumpet, trumpet & vocals on Wizard)
+debut

Source: facebook.com/moe.org