NEWS FROM NOWHERE

FREE SHOW?

Does the idea of possibly writing a review or flyering for free admission interest you? Help the scene, the bands and help yourself in the process.read on.

Info courtesy of Aaron (of Grizzly Magic Entertainment):

Wednesday is Jam Band Insanity at the Living Room in Providence RI. The nation's best jam, jazz, groove, funk bands you're gonna find anywhere. if you haven't been yet you missed fat mama and ulu get on stage together and give new meaning to the word jazz. you missed smokin grass come down off the stage for a post set unplugged jam. you also missed amazing sets from the big wu, the recipe, dexter grove, native, jive talkin robots, rane, alula, uncle sammy, another planet, miracle orchestra, arthur dent foundation, jack straw....and the music never stops...

Nov. 10th Grenga Ma w/ Lamont Smooth
Nov. 17 The Recipe w/ Mecca Bodega
Nov. 24 Max Creek Thanksgiving Party (not part of the offer!) and the amazing shows will continue on into the winter.

Grizzly Magic entertainment is looking for people to flier around rhode island and also to write reviews of the shows for jambands.com both for free admission(to the shows on the 10th or 17th) email grizzajj@aol.com or go to http://grizzlymagic.virtualave.net

INFO: DRUMMING ABOUT YOU w/Bob Bloom - participatory concerts:

General info: DRUMMING ABOUT YOU / YOUR DRUM CIRCLE

When: will be held on the First Friday of each month, October ' 99 through April 2000.

Where: the First Church Congregational, Mansfield Center CT 549 Storrs Road (junction of Routes 195 and 89)

Hours: runs 7:45pm to 9:30pm

....... sets you back $5.00

....... will be facilitated by Bob Bloom and Guests

....... requires no experience

....... provides 30 drums if you don't have one.

BBsan 860-429-9280
www.drumming-about-you.com

NOVEMBER

12 & 14 Baba Olatunji will be teaching his African drumming and dance class "Language of the Drums" at the Kripalu Center in Lenox, MA on November 12 to 14. There will be a concert with his group Drums of Passion on the Saturday evening in a beautiful hall at the Center that is open to the public.

For more information, to register, and for concert tickets, call Kripalu at 800-741-7353.

16 "Introduction to African Drumming" class at The Community

School for the Arts, University of Connecticut, Storrs. 7:00 to 9:30pm. 860-486-1073

17 "Drumming for Wellness" class at The Providence Learning Connection", Providence RI, 6:30 to 9:00pm. 800-432-5520

Looking ahead:

New Year's Eve, First Night
Drumming About You
in Mystic CT, 860-536-3575

New Year's Day, First Day
Drumming About You
in Boston at the Hynes Convention Center.
617-542-1399

ISO/LOOKING FOR: (Attention aspiring musicians)

Brad Slate

Electric / MIDI violinist of ALLSET, would like to announce that he is available for work. Preferably with an established band but all offers will be considered. He requests PROFESSIONALS ONLY PLEASE. Any and all styles welcome from the swirling liquid-trance of outer space, the earthy tones of fast and fiery bluegrass to the microtonal scales and odd meters of the Middle East or anything in between. He is additionally available to produce or engineer your studio projects or create arrangements/orchestrations for any instruments or styles. He is currently working on his third solo album under the "Merkaba Field" pseudonym. He can be reached at merkaba@mer-ka-ba.com or by voice at 781.324.2534.

Peter Dennesen

I play bass guitar and am looking for musicians to form an original, psychedelic, improv, groove band. I have much experience gigging out (I have played with some well know players) and studio experience, everything from originals to covers. I play 6 string bass, fretless bass and upright bass, I have pro gear (for small and large gigs).Bands/musicians I'm into include: Phish, Dead, ARU, Widespread Panic, 311, Weather Report, Yes, G-Love, MMW, JGB, Miles, Metheny, Scofield, Reggae, funk groove......! I have some original compositions that I've been working on in my home studio and I'm looking for players to fill out a band with. I also have connections with good drummers and horn players, but do not have the "core" players yet to start a project. Metro Boston North. E-mail pdenn@aol.com, if you're interested.

SHOW REVIEWS

General Submission Guidelines:

I pretty much accept anything as far as reviews go, as long as they pertain to jambands. Really, this is a very broad category, and I give a lot of leeway on this too. Of course, I reserve the right to not use anything or to edit them as I see fit. You will get full credit for reviews and I generally take a hands-off approach to editing, meaning I don't want to change the feel of your review. After all, YOU were there, not me. Some important things to keep in mind. Deadline! Our deadline is the 5th of the month. This may change in the future, but for now, that is it. You can still send me your review if you miss the deadline; I "may" still be able to get it in, if not it will be used in the next issue. Please run "Spell-Check" before submitting your reviews. Also, if you are referring to song titles, please put them in quotations. When sending them in, it's best to just put them in the body of the e-mail or mail them as .txt. If you send something else there may be a chance that I won't be able to open it because of software incompatibilities. The best way to get a feel for what the reviews are like is by reading past ones. Remember you don't have to be a journalist or professional writer, you just had to be at the show. If you have any specific questions, you can always scroll on up to the top of this page and just send me an e-mail. I promise to be gentle. I guess that's it for now. Looking forward to getting some new reviews and reviewers in the coming months.

-Tony

REVIEW: moe.
10/28/99 Higher Ground Winooski, VT

By Jon McLennand

Set 1: Plane Crash, It, Spaz Medicine > Mexico, Captain America > Recreational Chemistry

Set 2: Threw It All Away, Understand, Nebraska, Guitar, Brent Black > Timmy Tucker > Head

Encore: One Way Out, Lovelight

Well, after a 12 hour drive that day, I was glad to see a hotel room, but not for long as we shortly thereafter left to search for Higher Ground. Upon arriving at the venue, I was shocked. The premier venue in VT...it was in a strip mall?!?!?! Being from the Midwest, I knew little of the venue, only that moe. was going to play a solid 2 night run. I knew good things were in store for all of those in attendance.

moe. hit the stage around 10:30, and opened their four night Halloween jaunt through the Northeast with "Plane Crash." It's always a good opener to a show, as it will always get the crowd going. Sure enough, the crowd seemed very psyched after a scorching solo from guitarist Al (Schnier). This was followed by "It" and "Spaz Medicine," two songs that remain fairly true to their studio versions, giving the show a fairly standard feel through the first three songs. Giving you a set opener that will get you moving, and then show you their songwriting ability, proving that their not just a jamband that noodles around, but that their in it for the long haul. "Spaz" faded out into a spacey psychedelic feedback section, a theme that would follow all weekend. The spaciness found it's way into "Mexico," a standard for years that tells the tale of Al's weekend in Mexico for his 21st birthday. The song culminates in crescendo of guitar frenzy, which, like Plane Crash, gets you moving, and then comes the release, as it fades back into the verse, and subtly takes you back down. In all honesty, I was not too impressed with the first 45 minutes of this set, I've seen each of these songs enough times, and though I appreciate their songwriting, I was ready for some JAM!

Next came "Captain America," a new song debuted this past summer. I'd seen it once before, but wasn't really able to fully capture the energy of the song the first time. Like many of their new songs, it showcases their excellent songwriting ability. Instead of fading the song out, they continued it as Rob (Derhak) kept singing the end of the chorus "stuck in the middle..." This was a very smooth outro to the song, which highlighted interplay between the two guitarists, Chuck (Garvey) and Al. As "Captain" slowly faded out, I picked out the familiar bass and guitar lines to "Recreational Chemistry" being teased. As Vinnie Amico (drummer extraordinaire) and Jim Loughlin (good ol' #2) slowly melded the two songs until they became "Recreational Chemistry," I was getting very excited about the possibilities. This was an excellent segue, which highlighted moe.'s ability to blend two songs and slowly melt one into the other. As "Rec. Chem." moved along, you could feel the energy of the crowd increase. As the jam started, Al in his style of creating waves of sound, slowly started to pick up the jam. As Al's waves get larger and larger, the intensity of the song keeps increasing, the rhythm of Chuck, Rob, Vinnie, and Jim, begin to hit you harder and harder. Then from nowhere comes a familiar guitar line, it sounded too familiar. Al had found a groove. It was the echoing guitar line of Zeppelin's "Kashmir." Wow. After playing a few measures of this, with the rest of the band following Al's lead, they went back into the jam, though it was quite sometime before it wound back up into a "Rec. Chem." feel. As they slowly moved their way through the end of the song, Al wailed as Chuck played the rhythm guitar all over the fretboard, and even at one point began to play the familiar guitar riff to "Chalkdust Torture," a possible clue for what was to come? They ended the jam in it's typical intense style, simply wearing you out with a wave before Rob's closing bassline.

The second set began with the semi-rare, quick little ska-like ditty of "Threw It All Away." Next up was a new song "Understand," which I think has the feel of a CCR song at some points. Another nice little ditty from their catalog of new songs. Then came the crowd favorite of Nebraska, and despite my disliking of those "crowd pleasers" that bands play, I still enjoy this song and it has one of my favorite moe. lyrics "I don't know jack, but I stay sincere," which is a great way to go about life. This was followed up by "Guitar," an old favorite that was seemingly lost until it was brought back to life this fall. The first 4 songs were all short and sweet, not jamming songs, but head nodders that get you in the mood. But my highlight of these was the stage banter. Yes, the infamous moe. stage banter, a band known at times for their inability to shut-up :) To most though, they are moments of levity showing you that they are down to earth guys that you can associate and joke around with. The banter included Rob making fun of Canadians (Boxing Day, Hockey, Ketchup Chips....), then later complaining about the expensive Sony phone he bought that broke after 8 months (Chuck alluding it to their record contract with Sony 550). And then later on Al told a story about grains of sand from the Sahara Desert reaching the Great Plains. The highlight of this story being Rob's inappropriate (and hilarious) claim that there were more people in the room with crabs, than there were grains of sand from the Sahara!

Then in the great words of the late great Frank Zappa, moe. did what they do best, "Shut Up and Play Yer Guitar." This was evident in their combo of "Brent Black" > "Timmy Tucker" > "Head," which lasted around 1:05. Vinnie had been teasing the opening to Brent Black before every song in the set, so it was only a matter of time before they busted it out, and in grand fashion. Despite being a "trim" version at 19 minutes before it segued into "Timmy," it raged. For the first time that night, it was Chuck's turn to wail away while Al set himself on cruise. And Chuck showed no signs of rustiness from their two week hiatus. Flying all over the fretboard in true Satanic fashion (for those uninformed, "Chuck is Satan"), with the steady pounding rhythm of Vinnie and Jim, and a steady guide of Rob's bassline, everyone in the room was whisked away to the depths of Hades. As his solo ended it was the percussion section's turn to shine. Jim, with lightning speed, made the percussion kit his bitch. He began his solo by hitting everything he could that was not the face of a drum or cymbal, hitting the sides and poles of everything he could find, and he made it sound _good_. Then he began beating away on his kit in true Jim Loughlin rapid-fire fashion. This led into a deep rumbling solo by Vinnie, showing off his chops in a more finesse style. Then comes Rob. The slaphappy bass player garnishes respect from everyone in the room with his solos. This one was very different though. It was very trippy with Rob concentrating on his pedals and trying to find the exact tone in each note that he played. He was hitting notes so low at one point, that the entire room was shaking and you could feel it vibrating your body. Very intense. All the while, everyone had left the stage but Al. He was adding even more to the mood of Rob's solo, by scratching the strings and throwing in an echoing effect. Then as the rest of the band made their way back on-stage, Rob kicked in with a typical slap and pop solo which had a tease of Sinister Minister (Flecktones), and then wound up in "Meat." The place erupted as this epic moe. tune was about to begin. But then he stopped it and started "Timmy Tucker."

"Timmy" much like "Brent" highlights the fretwork of Satan. With a very long intro to the song as they slowly moved their way from Rob's intro bassline and slowly brought it up to speed and went through the verse flawlessly, until it was once again time for Chuck to step up. He began in a quiet fashion slowly weaved his way until he brought it up to peak about 12 minutes later, the crowd following him each step of the way. It was then brought back down into a reggae beat, the "middle" section, an interlude between the exchanging of the lead guitar from Chuck to Al. As Al slowly built it up in his echoey fashion the crowd was once again preparing for another intense solo, but as it slowly built up, he slowly let it back down, bringing the song into unfamiliar territory. It was extremely psychedelic at this point, a very mellow weaving of guitar behind the rest of the band that had slowed to a crawl. As he began to paint a new scenario for the band to follow, one that is very spacey and ambient with none of the members taking a lead, it was starting to form into something; the beauty that is the intro to "Head".

As Al slowly weaved a spacey texture, the rest of the band locked into their own psychedelic drone. Percussion playing a very important part to this segment. whether it be by crashing cymbals, or the slow rumbling beat. Then they all tail off until only feedback remains. Out of the remnants comes the trademark almost punk-like riff of Head. The crowd returned from the outer realms of space, and was sent crashing back into reality. It rocked out in true psychedelic fashion with Al's guitar once again casting a web of notes through the air that captivated the audience. As Head came to a close, the band left the audience satisfied, as they made their way off the stage.

Despite playing some of the darkest and most intense music around, moe. once again showed they don't take it too seriously, and that they are just out to have fun. When they came out for their encore, Vinnie did not sit behind his kit but came to the front of the stage. Jim took over on drums as Vinnie got ready to sing. Moments are few and far between when you hear either of the drummers speak, so this was a special occasion. The band then started playing the Allman Brothers' "One Way Out." In a joking fashion Vinnie took the "Henry Rollins stance," but then laughed it off and took a big gulp of his Newcastle. Not the best cover I've heard, but they still pulled it off really well. It was nice to see Vinnie bust out and have some fun. In true "rock star" fashion he closed it out with "Thank-you Vermont! Good night!" The show, seemingly over, was a lot of fun, as everyone was getting ready to pack their stuff and go home. But wait! Even though Al had taken off his guitar, Rob starts playing the bassline to "(Turn On Your) Lovelight." Al put his guitar back on and Vinnie proceeded to take over Jim's kit. They hadn't played it since the moe.therfolkers show when they played with Strangefolk back in summer of '98. They played an energized version of the song, visibly having a lot of fun in the process. Once again showing their sense of humor, Al started screaming like a minister presiding over his congregation. "Can I get a witness from the Congregation?" "Can I get a Amen?" "Can I get a Hallelujah?" In true James Brown fashion (see Blues Brothers) Al was presiding over the audience. As the song finished, smiles were visible on everyone's faces.

This was easily one of the better moe. shows I've seen (out of 16)- a two sided attack of raw emotion in their jams and quality songwriting. I left the show with a smile on my face and a feeling that the road trip (from Illinois!!) was already worth it. As we walked to the minivan to head back to the hotel for a much needed good night's rest, I thought to myself, "there's no way they can top that tomorrow night..."

REVIEW: moe.
10/28/99 at Higher Ground, Winooski, VT

by Elad Schreiber

1: Plane Crash, It, Spaz Medicine > Mexico, Captain America > Recreational Chemistry*

2: Threw It All Away**, Understand, Nebraska, Guitar, Brent Black > drumz > Brent Black# > Timmy Tucker > Head

E: One Way Out## > Turn On Your Love Light^

* With "Kashmir" (Led Zeppelin) and "Chalkdust Torture" (Phish) teases.
** Jim on drums, Vinnie on percussion.
# With "Meat" tease.
## Jim on drums, Vinnie as frontman.
^ With James Brown/"Blues Brothers" routine. Last "Turn On Your Love Light" 6/13/98.

By the end of the Project Logic, the place was already packed, and this was Thursday night - only the Friday night show was sold out. I have to admit these were the best two moe. shows I have ever witnessed; their playing was phenomenal, and the sound rocked. Higher Ground is always a great place to see live music. The "Plane Crash" opener got people moving and really told everybody that you were going to be in for two of the greatest nights of music. By the time "Mexico" rolled around, the entire crowd was chanting the sing-a-long, as it winded into a long jam that kept you moving from side to side. They proceeded this with "Captain America", a new tune, which won my respect with its sick jam into "Recreational Chemistry", which featured a huge "Kashmir" (Led Zeppelin) tease and apparently them singing some of the lyrics for "Chalkdust Torture" because John Fishman was in the crowd. The jam in "Recreational Chemistry" took you to new places, and it just left you with wonder of how the second set would be. I have to admit the second set was no letdown. The minute the opening notes of "Brent Black" were heard, the entire crowd went into a frenzy. As it proceeded into a huge bass solo, I realized why I think Rob Derhak is the best bassist around. Granted, I was standing in the front row, directly in front of Rob. In my entire life, I don't think I have ever "felt" sound like that, but the sounds coming out of Rob's bass were creating such a powerful wind that your whole body shook and trembled. This went into a long drum solo where both Rob and Chuck left the stage, and we got to hear Vinnie and Jim do their stuff. I have to admit this was the first time I've seen moe., since they added Jim, and I was unsure at first, but Jim complemented Vinnie's moves quite well. The two of them were so tight that I don't think it could be any other way now. The great thing about the drums was that Al never left the stage. He sat on the stage playing with his guitar and its effects while Jim and Vinnie were banging away. I remember shouting for "meat" after drums, and Rob looked at me and started the bass line, and Vinnie started the drum beat for "meat", but they teased in and out of it. I guess it was not to be, or at least not yet. Drums went into "Timmy Tucker", which I don't think could ever be a wrong choice. What was so stellar about this show was that moe. wasn't just jamming, because they always do that. They were really experimenting - in ways I've never seen before. It was like a new band before me; one that new the tunes of this old band moe., but played them with a new twist. And just when everyone thought it was over and the show was done, "Timmy" went into a beautiful and long "Head". moe. came back out for the encore, and wanted to do something different. A half-drunk, or maybe just very "happy" (yeah that's it) Vinnie left the drum kit, to take center stage to sing a crowd-pleasing "One Way Out". The Allmans would have been proud. I feel as if Al got a bit jealous, and he busted out into "Turn On Your Lovelight" at which point the entire Higher Ground erupted for the rare dead-classic. This "Lovelight" did not let down, it was funny as hell, especially with Al singing in a wannabbe Pigpen style and James Brown style topped off with some Blues Brothers influence. When "Lovelight" finished, I guess they didn't want to stop because Rob started playing a bass jam, while Al was jamming on 'Day Tripper', but I guess Chuck was tired after 3 hours and 15 minutes so they stopped there. I left in awe, and in suspense of how the next night could possibly top it off.

REVIEW: moe.
10/29/99 (round 2) Higher Ground - Winooski, VT

by Elad Schreiber

1: Stranger Than Fiction, Rise, Hi and Lo > Meat

2: The Ghost Of Ralph's Mom, Blue Eyed Son, Bring It Back Home*, Yodelittle*# > The Wondrous Boatride*# > Yodelttile*#, Opium > Seat Of My Pants** > Rebubula

E: San Ber'dino, Fire*#^ > I Know You Rider*#^^ > Fire*#

* With Jamie Masefield of the Jazz Mandolin Project on mandolin. # With Jon Fishman of Phish on drums and percussion.
** Jim on drums, Vinnie on percussion, with "Sesame Street" theme tease. ^^ With "Baby Elephant Walk" (Harry Mancini) tease.

This show I decided not to stand so close, because moe. has the reputation of having a sick, sick light show (kudos to Chris Ragan). I was truly amazed by their lights; way better than any phish light show that I have seen. The place was jam packed and sold out, almost felt like the 'sweatglands'. The first set started off pretty slowly. 3 standard songs, but they decided not to make "Hi & Lo", a short poppy tune. Instead they took this song to places it has never, ever been, and suddenly the bass line and drum beats of 'Meat' were trailing in. The segue between "Hi & Lo" and "Meat" was flawless, liquid like, and I don't think I could possibly be let down. After almost hearing it last night I knew the time was now, everything would be ready to go. "Meat" let no one down. It clocked in at around 40 minutes, and rocked in every essence. The lights rocked, the music rocked, the crowd rocked, and the band rocked. They decided to end the set after "Meat", and I was not about to complain, a 4 song 1st set, with one song lasting 40 minutes was definitely a treat, however I had no idea what was going to transpire next. The second set started to pick up when guest mandolin player, Jamie Masefield from Jazz Mandolin Project, came out on "Bring It Back Home". He added a great touch to the song, but the real surprise came when John Fishman came out to play on the next tune. But before they started, they played "The Wondrous Boatride", the song Gene Wilder sings on the boat ride in Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, getting people excited and pumped for moe.'s Willie Wonka themed Halloween show - 2 days later. This went into a great "Yodelittle" with both Fishman and Masefield jamming it out and taking this tune to new levels, but the real treat came at the encore. Where once again Jamie and Fishman joined the moe. team for "Fire" (Jimi Hendrix), which went on and jammed into a completely different tune. They just kept jamming, and jamming -each member trading licks, the three drummers blasting away (Vinnie, Jim, and Fishman), and somehow the familiar riff of "I Know You Rider" came along. This was Fishman's first appearance with moe. and also phish's first collaboration with moe. It seemed as if Fishman has been playing with moe for years, he was so tight, and he didn't miss a single beat. "I Know You Rider" somehow turned funky, and got a whole funk edge to it around the jam, and they new their time was running out, so they segued it back into "Fire" to close the show. I too would be tired after a crazy 3 hour and 40 minute show. All in all, moe. left you in amazement, and made you wonder how any band could possibly top these two night off, and they still had their Halloween show to go two night later (Congrats to Rob & Sharon). Well, moe. didn't let me down, and if they come by your town it is an opportunity not to be missed. Hell, even if they aren't coming close, a drive never hurt anyone. I had to hop the border for these two shows, and I will never regret anything, because nothing but excellence came from these two nights.