On July 7, 2018, the seminal five-piece jamband from upstate New York moe. brought their whirlwind Calyphornya tour of nine shows in ten days to a close at the legendary Pappy & Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace.  The tour has taken moe. through 4 nights with Phil Lesh at his resident venue Terrapin Crossroads, as well as stops in Santa Cruz, two nights in San Diego, and one at The Fonda Theater in LA before arriving in Pioneertown.  This is also one of the first tours moe. has been on since Rob Derhak successfully beat oropharyngeal cancer, so the band is followed by a ton of extra energy and excitement.  The venue, beset on all sides by open desert and a Wild West Hollywood set from the 1940’s, has had legendary musical acts including Paul McCartney, Robert Plant, Leon Russell, Sean Lennon, Eric Burdon, Chris Robinson, and Les Claypool grace the stages at the former Cantina.  Pappy & Harriet’s is also the home to the annual Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven Campout.  It was the site where Cracker recorded their most popular album, Platinum-Certified Kerosene Hat, best known for tracks such as the chart-topper “Low” and their cover of the Garcia/Hunter original “Loser”.  On Friday moe. added to that history with their first venture to the historic landmark and pleased the intimate crowd with a few bust-outs to go with a handful of classics. 

moe. kicked off the show with a silky “White Lightning Turpentine”, their first since 4/6/17 before jumping into a succinct version of the 1994 Headseed classic “Threw It All Away”.  “Rainshine”, another song not played since April 2017, gave way to pair of moe. classic segues.  Tin Can and Car Tires originals “It” > “head.”, complete with an 8-minute intro jam into head.  This 1998 paring set up a monster set-closing segue “Jazz Wank” > “Buster” where Chuck Garvey took the reins of the jam in typical fashion and left the grooving crowd on a high note going into the set break.  The second set opened with a 40-minute trio “Water” > “Puebla” > “Silver Sun” before slowing things down a bit for the poignant Rob original “Brittle End”, the first performance of the song since his return.   The fittingly “Good Guys and Bad Guys”-esque “What Can I Say” segued into a rocking “The Pit”, complete with a tease of 2Pac’s “California Love”, for the set closer.  Moe. bid the crowd farewell with a tight, energetic “Tailspin” and put a cap on their historic Californ IA tour. 

moe. has a full plate for the remainder of the year including dates in Aspen, Red Rocks, and a return to the Peach Music Festival in July, a pair of shows at the Saranac Brewery in September where plenty of Hoppy Hour Hero Moe.saic IPA should be on tap, a tour of the Great Northwest in October, and a return to their Tropical Throe.down in Jamaica this coming January.  They’ll also be coming through Nebraska, Missouri, Virginia, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, and Illinois, so plenty of opportunities to catch them in 2018.      

White Lightning Turpentine (First since 4/6/17), Threw It All Away, Rainshine (4/27/18), It > head., Jazz Wank > Buster

Water > Puebla > Silver Sun, Brittle End (4/28/17), What Can I Say > The Pit

Tailspin