moe.down 8

There was a period between about 1996 and 1998 that I was a pretty big fan of the band moe. In fact, there was a period there where they were probably one of my favorite 5 or 6 bands. (That list in 1996 would probably have looked something like this: Phish, The Grateful Dead, Sunny Day Real Estate, The Afghan Whigs, Uncle Tupelo and .moe.)

Needless to say, I don't think I've listened to moe. since 1998. I'll still pull out some of the old jam-band CDs now again, but it's usually old Dead or Phish bootlegs, and occasionally some ekoostik Hookah. Not so much moe.

So I was surprised when I saw the lineup for this year's "moe.down." Festival and found myself considering actually going. Granted, I didn't think about it very long, but I did give it a half moment's thought. The lineup includes moe. (duh), Ryan Adams, Medeski Scofield Martin & Wood, Amos Lee and The Meat Puppets. Not bad at all. Not enough to get me to camp out with 40,000 patchouli-soaked teenagers, but still a pretty decent lineup.

The festival is the weekend of August 31 to September 2 up in Turin, New York. Early-bird tickets are available now for $89 (incl. fees). So if you don't mind patchouli, and you like really hot 20-year old hippie girls (and, really, who doesn't?), check it out. If you're lucky, Ryan will play his 40-minute version of "Wharf Rat".