REVIEW: moe. @ Terminal 5, NYC 11/26/11

It couldn’t have been a more beautiful day on Manhattan. The sites of the holiday, the bustle of the shoppers, the smell of the Halal Food trucks on every corner and The Holiday Shops at Bryant Park all while wearing short sleeves–“forget about it!” Temperature had to be somewhere between 60 and 70 degrees and the sun was out at the end of “Movember“, aka November or for me–aka “moe.vember”.

I came into the city with a few things on my “to-do” list:

Waste $40 on impostor perfume the salesman will completely convince me is real (until I get home and can smell the real deal)
Eat something amazingly delicious (mac and cheese @ S’MAC followed by a cupcake or five at Sweet Revenge)
Get into the holiday spirit
Catch a moe. show at Terminal 5

After a brief frisking through security (fail) we were off to the show. Last time I was at Terminal 5, LCD Soundsystem was on stage, and I left my camera at home. I almost forgot about how great it was inside with the different level balconies. I have always wondered if the giant disco ball was a permanent fixture or if each band just happened to have one in their truck.

moe. took stage at just a little before 8:30p and kicked off with a new song “Paper Dragon” off of their 10th studio album What Happened to the La La’s which is due on out in stores and online January 24, 2012, through Sugar Hill Records. As if I wasn’t ecstatic enough just being there, I noticed Rob Derhak rocking a pretty amazing mustache in support of the widely popular Movember movement; in support of prostate (and other male) cancer. I made eye contact with him from the pit and gave him an air-high five! I think he knew why. Their first set, which ran just shy of an hour, included only 7 songs–which left for much time to jam and dance!

They followed up the opener with some fan favorites, “Wind It Up” and “Captain America”. Guitarist, Al Schnier, picked up a mandolin to play “Big Eyed Son”, a bluegrass jam which he wrote for his son Ben just before he was born. Got my feet moving a bit! “Big World” (a personal favorite of mine) into “Ricky Martin” into “Bones of Lazarus” to close out the set, which left me and the rest of the room a few moments to catch our breath and to get ready for more!

After about a half hour set-break, they came back on for another round! Started it off slow with “Blue Jeans Pizza” into “Puebla” into “Brent Black”. Started to kick it up a notch with “Not Coming Down” into “Wormwood” into “Rebubula”. Now, I don’t have an official time on how long this tune went on for, but I think I am safe to assume, excluding the “Where Does Time Go?” portion of the song, that the boys held it pretty strong for at least a half an hour–if not more. It is one of my favorite songs, and it was a pleasure hearing them shred it into the evening!

They encored with a little holiday ditty “Together At Christmas”–and thank goodness for that; between this song and the sites/sounds of the city post-Thanksgiving, there shouldn’t have been a single person in that room not feeling at least a small portion of the Holiday Spirit. The set-list claimed they would be closing with “32 Things” but they shocked us all with “She Sends Me” instead. My feet were happy!

So thank you Rob for a 7 minute bass solo! Thank you Al for always being so damn photogenic! Thank you Vinnie for a heart-thumping drum solo! Thank you Chuck for rocking your Vans! Thank you Jim for poking your head into the light so I could snap your picture! Thank you Terminal 5 for hosting a great show! Thank you moe. for SENDING ME!