moe., cheekily billed as “Monkeys On Eggnog”, polished off its 2024 touring year by wrapping up a three-night weekend run at Stowe Cider in upstate Vermont. After moe. got dark and space-funky for the opening night on Thursday, it was fitting the band started night two on a brighter note with a buoyant and bouncy “Buster” and some trademark moe. comical bickering.

Any moe. show that opens with the feel-good, sing-song “Buster” will instantly gain the approval of longtime and more recent fans alike, as the cheering audience attested. Bassist Rob Derhak hit the vocal highs and lows of the tune with aplomb, as always. Choosing to follow that solid introduction with a fun, holiday-appropriate, Elvis Presley-esque rendition of Doye O’Dell’s “Blue Christmas” was a wise….uhm…wise men …move from the band. Thanks to, as Chuck Garvey‘s guitarist comrade Al Schnier referred to them, “The vocal stylings of Mr.Charles Garvey”, the show was already off to a fine, seasonally flavored start.

moe. — Stowe Cider — Stowe, VT — 12/20/24 — First Set Preview

Schnier stepped up to the mic for the following “Big World” which saw some wide-open keyboard chords from multi-instrumentalist Nate Wilson. After the ensuing, Garvey-led “Hi and Lo” Chuck comically sniped “Vocal stylings?” back toward Schnier. This prompted Derhak, standing between the pair, to quip “Welcome to my world”. This kind of back-and-forth camaraderie showed the decades of love and goofiness that have long defined the band and endeared them to generations of fans.

Derhak paired his vocals with some fine front-line melodic support from the guitarist tandem on “Bat Country” from their upcoming 2025 release, Circle Of Giants, due January 31st, 2025. That soon-to-be-available disc features the first studio album appearance from Nate Wilson, who whipped out his flute to add another, welcome, dimension to the tune on Friday. Wison continued his surprisingly neat and non-disruptive addition to the band on the raucous, spiraling “Not Coming Down” that followed. The instrumental “Wormwood” flowed, syrup thick, over the crowd before a crackling “Okayalright” closed out the first set with increasing intensity that dissipated in a jarring fashion at the end of the intense and chaotic version.

The second set started with some general holiday well-wishes and an eggnog toast that surely had a little something extra in it beyond either egg or nog. A shout-out to the Star-Spangled Avenger “Captain America” kicked off the set proper as Wilson crushed his additions to the tune before Garvey delivered the song’s iconic guitar leads. Speaking of the things Nate Wilson brings to the band, the cover of Led Zeppelin’s “No Quarter “ the band dropped into the mix next was far more dark and foreboding thanks to Wilson’s addition.

In the past with keyboard heavy covers moe. would rely on Schnier to pull double duty, but now Wilson’s addition allows the band to give these classic covers their due justice while also freeing up the rest of the front line to do its thing. Garvey, Derhak, and Schnier got an organic groove going strong over the rich backdrop that was being created while the percussive tandem of Jim Loughlin and Vinnie Amico proved able to replicate the singular John Bonham and then some. From there the entire evening was pushed higher by mysterious and murky “Zed Noght Z” that subsequently took shape and unwound over the now spellbound crowd.

In keeping with both the spacey vibe of the weekend and the inclusion of everyone in the band to the party, drummer Vinnie Amico took a turn on the mic for the Grateful Dead cover “The Other One” in the center of the Schnier-penned “Silver Sun” sandwich which closed Friday’s second set. Following some tongue-tied “al.nouncements”, the full band stumbled in the intro to the Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer holiday classic “We’re A Couple of Misfits”, borrowed from aspiring elf dentist Hermey. Rallying to get it right, or as close to correct as possible after two long nights of jamming, moe. threw in one last track with a rock-solid “Waiting For The Punchline” to finish in fine style.

Setlist: moe. (aka “Monkeys On Eggnog”) | Stowe Cider | Stowe, VT | 12/20/24

Set One: Buster, Blue Christmas (Billy Hayes, Jay W. Johnson), Big World > Hi & Lo, Bat Country, Not Coming Down > Wormwood > Okayalright
Set Two: Captain America, No Quarter (Led Zeppelin) > Zed Noght Z, Silver Sun > The Other One (Grateful Dead) > Silver Sun
Encore: We’re A Couple Of Misfits (Jackie Vernon), Waiting For The Punchline

moe.’s Saturday night finale got off to a delicious start with a filling serving of “Meat”. Derhak, now sporting a seasonal sweater with flashing LED lights, struck a solid pace with his rhythmic partners Loughlin and Amico, leaving the rest of the band to explore instrumental innovations galore during the improvisational vehicle. An extended tour of Loughlin’s xylophone wizardry led into a sparse drum breakdown from Amico that revealed itself to be a surprise insertion of Steely Dan‘s “Do It Again”.

Season’s Greetings from moe.‘s provided the next tune for the opening set, “Together At Christmas”. The mere chance to hear this seasonal rarity likely sold several tickets to song-chasing fans.

moe. — Stowe Cider — Stowe, VT — 12/21/24 — First Set Preview

Up next, “Four” gave Garvey a well-received chance to stretch his vocal cords and Loughlin and Amico another opportunity to take the spotlight, to the percussive pair’s clear delight. As holiday gifts to the fans go, “Four” is easily one of the top requested songs and with the second half of “Meat” closing out the first set it was clear that the entire evening’s setlist would be a wishlist for diehard fans in the audience.

Returning from setbreak, the merry men of moe. quickly picked up their instruments and readied themselves for the weekend’s final stanza. Before the electrified proceedings got rolling, Schnier took the opportunity to shout out long-tenured sound engineer Steve Young for his birthday. After an enthusiastic band-led “Happy Birthday” to the famoe.ly fixture, percussionist Jim Loughlin got a semi-rare turn at the microphone for his oft-requested vocal turn on “Farmer Ben”.

The rest of the set was a free-flowing, jam-filled trip through the moe. catalog that saw old-school tunes like “Brent Black”, more recent highlight “Puebla”, a cover of Traffic’s “Dear Mr.Fantasy”, and the closing out of Thursday’s unfinished “Moth” to wrap up the weekend’s main sets with a neat and shiny bow.

After some brief “al.nouncements” moe. honored the Jewish fans with their cover of the traditional holiday song “Hanukkah Oh Hanukkah”. After a few moments to bask in the cheers, moe. brought out the biggest of all stocking stuffers, Blue Öyster Cult‘s ten-story ode to kaiju superstar “Godzilla”.

Before letting everyone out, Rob Derhak briefly thanked everyone involved in making the run possible—including the venue, crew, and his bandmates—closing with a particularly heartfelt “I love you guys!” And just like that the tumultuous 2024 touring year was done. moe. and its fans were already turning their thoughts to the various routes home and events yet to come with their relatives across the nation.

As always, the famoe.ly stood strong together to finish the year and, with much-anticipated highlights like the upcoming new album, acoustic shows, full band tours, and festival appearances, the future looks mighty bright. I’ll slip outside my “impartial” third-person journalistic voice for the briefest of moe.ments to wish my beloved moe. nation, the band, and the world the happiest of happy holidays from my proud position as former, and always in my heart, “Mayor of moe.ville”!

Setlist: moe. (aka “Monkeys On Eggnog”) | Stowe Cider | Stowe, VT | 12/21/24

Set One: Meat > Do It Again (Steely Dan), Together At Christmas, Four > Meat
Set Two: Happy Birthday [1], Farmer Ben > Brent Black > Puebla > Dear Mr.Fantasy (Traffic) > Moth > Brent Black
Encore: Hanukkah Oh Hanukkah (Traditional), Godzilla (Blue Öyster Cult)

[1] For Steve Young