After a grueling hiatus since August, moe. made their return to the stage at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York, to the joyous cheers of a sold-out crowd of super fans. After a pair of stellar return shows, moe. is looking to ease their way back out onto the road for a highly anticipated string of spring tour dates, the first of which were announced on Monday. We caught up with drummer Vinnie Amico as he was tuning up for a chat about the past, present, and future of moe.!

Live For Live Music: At this point, you have done what…ten thousand interviews?

Vinnie Amico: Probably more. I’ve gotten pretty good at it. I did an interview yesterday that was brutal. It was for a newspaper. At this point, I am fairly good at pulling the person through it, whereas Rob [Derhak] just goes with it and screws with them until their interview makes no sense.

L4LM: Well, you gotta take your fun where you find it. So, first off, welcome back!

VA: Thank you!

L4LM: After taking the hiatus, Rob going through cancer treatment and winning his fight, and rehearsing together and scraping off the rust, how was it hearing that cheer when you guys came out to start the show?

VA: It was freaking awesome. I was amazed. This is the job, and when you are in it, you can kinda lose sight of it all—how much it means to people. But that was a moment when you realize, “Oh man, people really give a crap about this stuff.” Of course, I give a crap too. I care for everybody. It’s just that when it is your life, it feels different. Does that make sense to you?

L4LM: Of course! No matter how awesome it looks from the outside, to you, it’s just another Monday morning.

VA: Yeah, we have all been together the last couple of weeks, rehearsing and writing music. It was like, “Oh yeah, here we are again writing music and doing what we do.” But at The Capitol, that was the first time in a while where we were all together: us and the fans. People were cheering and crying, and it was pretty humbling just knowing people care that much.

moe. Ends Hiatus, Welcomes Back Rob Derhak At Capitol Theatre Return To Glory [Audio/Photos]

L4LM: Was there any consideration about song selection? I mean, it was Rob’s first day back, and you opened with “Rebubula”. 

VA: Nah, no taking it easy. He said he was ready to go. We felt that was the best tune to start with. We figured it was something that everyone would get psyched about. We kinda talked about it. Al [Schnier] put the setlist together, but we all have the ability to say yes or no.

L4LM: Are you guys going back to the alphabetical setlist rotation?

VA: Once we get through the first few shows, yeah. The first one was kinda Al but also committee. Chuck [Garvey] and I kinda wrote that. Once we make sure we remember how each tune goes, we’ll get back to the rotation.

Watch moe. explain how their setlist rotation works:

[Video: RexAVision]

L4LM: I hate to ask, but did you ever worry that all this was done?

Vinnie Amico: I’m, like, a workaholic, so I just basically buried my head in the sand and played a lot of gigs in the time off. I’m sure, somewhere in the back of my mind, I was thinking that way. Maybe keeping working, keeping beats going in case we didn’t come back, was just because I don’t know how to do anything else. I have to play.

I never really thought that was the case though—that it was done. I have known a couple other people that have had that kind of cancer, so I knew what the treatment was, how long it took, and what goes on at the end. I never was worried that he wasn’t going to recover. But still, I just plugged along and worked. I wasn’t idle just sitting there wondering, “What happens if…”

L4LM: Your side gigs are pretty interesting. You pop up with Everyone Orchestra and you’re in Floodwood, a bluegrass band you play jazz drums for. Did you find your way to bluegrass through your love of the Grateful Dead?

VA: I was in a collective of musicians playing Grateful Dead music back in Buffalo. We were playing on the weekends, like you do, and we started a sideband within that group that played acoustic bluegrass during the week. That’s when I really started getting into it. The musicianship was at such a high level that it got me wanting to be better—to be a better drummer. And yeah, it started out because of the Grateful Dead. We were playing a bunch of Old And In The Way songs and some Beatles. Then we started diving more and more into some Beatles stuff.

L4LM: From the Grateful Dead, you are heading in the opposite direction, as you just got announced as part of a Led Zeppelin tribute. Was John Bonham an inspiration to you as well?

VA: He was my biggest influence! I spent my early high-school years listening to Led Zeppelin and Rush. Prog-rock stuff like Genesis too. It wasn’t til my sophomore year that I started listening to the Dead. All those earlier years, especially in upstate New York with classic rock radio, Led Zep was king. Bonham was such a great drummer. I spent a whole lot of time in my bedroom learning that music.

L4LM: So, this tribute will be like coming home for you?

VA: Yeah, I was just in an email chain about all of this. I said, “I’ll defer to the singers on song selection because I like them all and know them all.”

L4LM: Do you think moe. will get to do more than one song?

VA: I don’t know. Hopefully, we get to do a couple. We are gonna have a couple in the can, ready to go. That’s for sure.

L4LM: The general consensus for this first couple of return shows was clearly feeling overjoyed that you guys were back. Now, people are wondering how fast and hard you’re planning on hitting the road. In the recent past, moe. has done city residencies and fly-in gigs. Is that formula staying or are you planning on changing things up?

VA: Well, we got a little Northeast run that just got announced. We’re playing D.C., Roanoke, and Asheville. We’re still feeling our way back, but we definitely want to get back out there!

L4LM: While I was researching, I noticed that moe. has an anniversary coming up I haven’t heard much about. January 23rd, 1999, is credited as being the date that moe.’s current line-up finally solidified. So the 20th anniversary of the full band is coming up! Any plans to honor the occasion?

VA: If I had to guess, none of us have probably even noticed that. I tell you what, if you get to chat with all of us this year for your podcast, I bet it will spark at least a conversation on the idea!

L4LM: Sweet! Well, there is a nation of moe. fans that will be ready to welcome you guys back with open arms! Thanks for taking a few to catch up with us and again, welcome home!

VA: Thanks man. We are glad to be back!

For the rest of this interview with Vinnie Amico and a look at the music scene from onstage, backstage, and beyond, keep a look out for the upcoming Rex-A-Vision podcast, created by our own Rex Thomson. The first episodes will be debuting in March so keep an eye—or an ear—out for some fun talk from the people who make live music a reality!