Review & Photos by Jordan West
Buffalo, New York-based band moe. brought their brand of “jam rock” as well as a legion of their faithful fans to Los Angeles and showed what is possible when you leave the boundaries of standard pop music behind. A full house greeted the band at the beautiful Bellwether venue in downtown Los Angeles, where the sound and lighting, as well as the combination of a happy crowd and comfortable space, made for a spectacular time.
Celebrating the release of their 14th studio album Circle Of Giants as well as their 35th year as a band, moe. have overcome health obstacles to bring their audience an incredible blend of styles and musical prowess on tour. Every night is a different setlist, and that always adds to the excitement. Many of their fans follow them from town to town, ala Grateful “Deadheads” of the past, and to hear their stories while waiting to get into the show was a nice way to connect.
After the sounds of “Imperial March” from Star Wars, as well as a “WWF-Style” intro from bassist Rob Derhak’s daughter Emma, the band members assembled onstage and proceeded to tear into “Buster” a song from their 1996 No Doy release, that immediately showed what this band is capable of onstage. The tempo changes and musical skills made me think of the brilliance of Frank Zappa, especially guitarist and co-founder Chuck Garvey, whose mastery of his custom Fender Telecaster was spotlighted throughout the show.
The band seamlessly switched gears with the new song “Tomorrow is Another Day” a straight-ahead Americana thumper, which featured some outstanding organ work by Nate Wilson, who officially joined the band in 2023. “Ups and Downs” also from Circle Of Giants followed, and its mellow, reflective vibe featured a syncopated beat from drummer Vinnie Amico and percussionist Jim Loughlin that just explodes mid-song into heavy rock, before bringing it back down to the introspective light rock that is driven by Derhak, Wilson, and guitarist Al Schnier’s three-part harmony.
The band continued to spotlight Circle of Giants with its opening track “Yellow Tigers” and again, taking the music in another direction, with a fuzz-toned and retro Black Sabbath drone, that was led by Wilsons lead vocals and Hammond organ, and punctuated by outstanding guitar work from both Garvey and Schnier who complimented each other’s style as smoothly as peanut butter and jelly. The extended riffing on this number by the members of the band made it clear why moe. is among the leaders of the Jam Band movement.
“Surround yourself with good talent,” quipped a smiling Derhak, standing center stage, as he looked first at the adoring audience and then at his band mates. He has indeed. After a great take on fan favorite song “Opium,” moe. closed out their first set with 2014’s “Calyphornya” of which the lyric “I’d like to know you when your chips are down” was apropos to the recent troubles California has endured through the recent wild fires and was addressed again, at shows end by good thoughts from the band. At song’s end, Derhak announced that the band would “take a short break and be back.” I decided to explore the venue.
According to the bartender, the Bellwether had recently re-opened after being closed for a number of years. It was once owned by the “Artist” Prince, and was the scene of many parties and shows, and now promises plenty more in the future. The lobby has a bar, and the merchandise booth next to it was busy. As you climb a set of steps, you enter the music hall, and there is a 270 degree wraparound balcony that surrounds it for great sight lines of the stage.
There is also another glass-walled “Looking Glass Lounge” that serves food, courtesy of its “Virginian” restaurant, and, as the name implies, has glass walls for a magnificent view of downtown Los Angeles. The Bellwether is listed as having a capacity of 1600 guests.
The second set started with “Moth,” a song from No Doy, which has been referred to as a “cornerstone” to their live performances, and leads into other numbers, in true, jamming style. Tonight it melded into the grinding “Head,” a song that had the band playing at full speed. It brought to mind the Grateful Dead classic “Bertha” with its tempo and vocals, and just like that morphed into “Bat Country,” a new one from Circle of Giants that has an almost bossa nova feel and features outstanding flute and piano and organ work from multi-instrumentalist Nate Wilson, and of course, some great guitar work, that resembled vintage Santana. By now, the audience was totally in synch with the band and swayed along with every riff and tempo change, of which there were many.
moe. continued with the epic “Four” again, from No Doy which somehow led into a yes, you guessed it, a bit of the Grateful Dead classic “The Other One” as the astonished and enthusiastic crowd cheered and sang along, all the while entranced, as the band somehow lead the song back into “Head” before melding it back into “Moth” which had started it all. All the while, all band members had plenty of time in the spotlight, especially, it seemed to me, Chuck Garvey, who with his blazing and extended lead and slide playing, kept his bandmates climbing on level after level. After the long jam came to a close, the band left the stage to an enormous roar from the crowd.
Returning to the stage, moe. closed out the evening with another fan favorite, 2007’s “Blue Jeans Pizza” another song that brought to mind another instrumentally classic band, in this case, vintage Steely Dan. The vocals were right in time with the music in every sense, with the band’s harmonies blending well with the driving beat supplied by Amico and Loughlin and actuated by the lovely piano work by Nate Wilson. As the band waved to their cheering fans at songs end, they, as I mentioned, expressed their concern and good thoughts to those affected by the recent fires that ravaged Los Angeles.
This was my first moe. show, as well as my first visit to the Bellwether, and I must say, it was a fabulous evening in every way. In an age when the concert experience can be dulled by a variety of issues, this was presented the way that I fell in love with at live shows so many years ago. Thanks to the band and venue for an epic show. I look forward to doing it again.
