On Friday night, moe. and Aqueous took to Albany, New York, for a performance at the Palace Theatre. Fans have been eager to see moe. since their return shows at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York, earlier in the month ending the group’s hiatus following bassist Rob Derhak’s successful cancer treatment in the late summer and fall. Given that both bands hail from Buffalo, the show functioned as an upstate New York homecoming of sorts, though more so for moe., who moved to Albany early on during their career. No strangers to collaboration with past projects like moe.queous, as a highlight from moe.’s highly anticipated show, the band invited out Aqueous guitarist Mike Gantzer for a take on “Waiting For The Punchline”.

During Aqueous’ opening hour-long set, the up-and-coming four-piece rolled out five tunes, including a set opening combination of “Aldehyde” into “Skyway”, the latter which contained teases of Dopapod’s “Faba”. After a well-transitioned one-two punch of “Strange Times” into “Marty”, the band closed out their truncated set with a rendition of “Triangle” without its full ending. Adding to the excitement around moe.’s set, guitarist Mike Gantzer left his gear onstage, more or less confirming that a collaboration with moe. could be expected later on in the evening.

Setlist: Aqueous | Palace Theatre | Albany, NY | 2/23/2018

Set: Aldehyde > Skyway, Strange Times > Marty, Triangle

When moe. hit the stage for their two-set performance, the group offered up a strong show, drawing on original material and clearly feeling good to be back. The band’s first set saw the group heavily working transitions, with the first four songs of the night—”Jazz Wank”, “Skrunk”, “Down Boy”, and “Tailspin”—all focused on the inter-song jamming. After this fiery start to the show, the band brought out a new tune, “I Can Never Remember”, which the band debuted at The Capitol Theatre on February 3rd. By way of “Blue Jeans Pizza”, moe. capped off their first set with “Waiting For The Punchline”, during which Mike Gantzer came out to riff with guitarist Chuck Garvey.

During the second set of the night, moe. returned with an opening “Deep This Time” ahead of a take on “New York City”, which prompted Derhak to ask why the band doesn’t have a song about Albany in their catalog and the group improvised off this idea. Following another new tune from the Capitol Theatre, “What Can I Say”, the band hit “Hi and Lo”, which functioned as a jump-off point for “Montego”. Picking back up where the first set’s jam-heavy first set left off, the group closed things out with an extended and explosive sequence of “Captain America” into “She” into “Happy Hour Hero” to close out frame two. Closing out the night, the band returned with an encore of “Downward Facing Dog”.

Setlist: moe. | Palace Theatre | Albany, NY | 2/23/2018

Set One: Jazz Wank > Skrunk > Down Boy > Tailspin, I Can Never Remember > Blue Jeans Pizza > Waiting For The Punchline

Set Two: Deep This Time > New York City,  Albany Song, What Can I Say, Hi and Lo > Montego, Captain America > She > Happy Hour Hero

Encore: Downward Facing Dog

You can check out photos of last night’s show, courtesy of Paul Citone, as well as listen to full audio from moe.’s performance, courtesy of marcus.

[Audio: marcus]