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March 31, 2006

listen to ratdog

hey everyone,
just wanted to say how much I enjoyed ratdog last night (long before I sat in). they opened up w. a killer combo of 'here comes sunshine' & 'music never stopped' - the jams were awesome. these guys were reaching the outer limits in the 1st 20 minutes of the show. very impressed.
I have to say, I really had a great time playing as well. the band is having a good time & bobby was in good spirits. they seem revitalized & have evolved considerably since adding robin on bass. my 2 cents.

see gonzo's take below -

If the Grateful Dead came to town, I'd beat my way in with a f**king tire iron, if necessary. I think Workingman's Dead is the heaviest thing since Highway 61 and 'Mr. Tambourine Man'
-Hunter S. Thompson

Posted by al at 08:56 PM | Comments (0)

March 26, 2006

mark crawshaw

sadly, another friend & moe.ron has gone too soon. I did not know mark personally, but certainly recognized that big smile of his, while rocking out w. his friends. we're lucky to have the friends & family we do. our condolences to his friends & family.

Posted by al at 10:34 AM | Comments (0)

March 22, 2006

out like a lamb?

hey all y'all...
just wanted to extend my deepest gratitude to all for making snoe.down a great weekend. a special thank you to our crew who busted their butts (& then froze them off), keeping us in line, on time, & well... just on.

I especially enjoyed skiing w. everyone on friday (daveraz, elwood, randy, drew, laura, elizabeth, chris, dan, ??? - I know we were about 12 strong at one point. I know we were probably skiing too fast for the safety of those around us. I know we were also having a lot of fun) good times good times....

hope everyone enjoyed the weekend as much as we did. the adirondacks are a special place & it was great to share it all w. you. very much looking forward to next year.

hope to see some of you at the jammys. you can go to www.jammys.com for more info regarding the show & awards. immediately following the jammys, we'll be back in the studio continuing work on our studio album (I swear we're not procrastinating. I swear we're still enjoying this. I swear I'm not being sarcastic. really. )

also - we will be announcing more tourdates for the run from summercamp to red rocks, as well as a few add'l dates for the southern run prior to bonnaroo. as soon as all of the info is confirmed, we will make it available to you.

stay in touch. enjoy the last few weeks of winter. everything will be green soon enough.

Posted by al at 08:35 PM | Comments (0)

Post - Placid updates from the couch.

Well, we all did it, didn't we? Braved St. Patty's Day ( an annual rite of passage ) and some of us trekked all the way to the frozen North of Lake Placid, New York to fall down snowy hills and boogie Olympic - style.......
St. Patrick's Day also happens to be the Anniversary of Skip ( Tour Manager to the Stars ( and us )) joining moe. on the road & keeping us on the straight n' narrow. Thanks, Mr. Richman!

The slopes of Whiteface were challenging, but a great ride. My runs were a little shy of the former indestructible glory of being 16 and nuts, but the views, thrills & frozen face were brilliant. Equally brilliant was the drive up through the Adirondack Park. I grew up spending my Summers running up and down the mountains, swimming & canoeing the lakes and rivers - getting lost there. Always fun and highly recommended. That spirit was evident in everybody I ran into: Skiers, Canadians, Flatlanders of all sorts!

The music was a mix of downhome & Rock, groove, R & B......
Our set outdoors ( that's right, outdoors on a ski slope in 10 - 15 degree weather....whew..) was brisk and inspired by hot coffee & a touch of whiskey. The gloves that I cut up to "protect" my hands from the cold ended up looking like something from Pat Benetar's 80's video wardrobe when I was done making field alterations onstage to accommodate playing with my slide........hmmmmm. A bad sign, usually, but a crowd of 2,000+ made it their business not to budge the whole time. Kudos all around! Completely worth it - especially if you get to ski right up to yer workplace!!

At night, Everything Orchestra captivated with spontaneous turns and audience participation that reminded me of the surreal rock orchestration of "Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band" at times & the modal cool of Miles Davis at others. Nice. Our friends from AOD played a great set, then Nate sat in on keys with Gordon Stone on Steel guitar,- Reid Genauer also joining to sing "Deal" with us. Some stranger took over Vin's drumkit & made it hurt. Times was good.

Not only that, but the Bobsled run was killin'. At first I thought..."bush league tourist ride", until the third turn when we got mad high on the banked walls of the Olympic course. Wicked pissa.

Now I am sitting at home on my couch enjoying the snowstorm that just hit Cincinnati. Happy Spring!!!
Thanks to everyone who came, skied, danced, skated and otherwise soaked up what should be the first of many snoe.downs. We are going to take a short breather before the real Spring/Summer madness cranks up again.
Cheers, y'all!

Sláinte!

chuck.

Amy & I go for a hike on the way into town, The sleds, Cass & B suit up.

Amy, Frank, Cass & B on deck!

Me on the planks, Whiteface far and near......

Posted by chuck at 03:23 PM | Comments (0)

March 15, 2006

snoe.down!!!!!

I posted the following on the moe. myspace page yesterday, as I had lost access to the blog. btw, check out the myspace page @ some point.

hey ho! let's go! hey ho! let's go! hey ho! let's go! (can you tell I just got the ramones boxset?)

psyched for snoe.down. i would have posted this on the regular moe.diary page, but I've lost all contact (just upgraded to new OS, need drivers, blah blah blah).

anyway... just wanted to let you all know that I spent last weekend in the high peaks in the adirondacks (w. a birdseye view of whiteface, I might add) & it was spectacular. enjoyed a great hike of the macintyre range w. some good friends. we even witnessed a backcountry helicopter rescue (broken ankle). the weather was superb. sunny, about 45 (according to my clip on cheapo e.m.s. thermometer) AND (most importantly) there was about 3-4 ft of snow on top of algonquin. also, in addition to snow all week long, it will also be cold enough to make snow. so we should be in for some pretty decent late winter/spring conditions in lake placid this weekend. very much looking forward to it.

this is my 1st time posting directly to the myspace page. will try & post a pic of my trip (w. whiteface in background) if poss. everyone get there safely. looking forward to seeing you there.

xoxo
al.

ps - anyone want to ski the slides on fri or sat????

(that's whiteface in background, I'm on summit of iroquois. you can also see ski jumps between my head & whiteface. lake placid is @ about 10:00 from the corner of my head)

here are a few more pics:

(heading up to summit of algonquin)

(w. friends on algonquin, w. colden & marcy behind us. if you are coming up 87 & take 73 W thru keene valley into LP, you will pass by the turnoff for adk loj. on your left, you can see the macintyre range.)

*** one last thing - we are going to be guests this weekend in a very special place. the high peaks area of the adirondack state park is one of the most beautiful places in the world (IMHO). PLEASE - 'leave no trace' - of any kind. be considerate, enjoy, take in the beauty, have fun, be safe, don't believe anything you read in blogs & hopefully the folks of lake placid will have us back again next year. also, visit the adk mt. club table @ the shows. they are a great organization that keeps the park alive & well.

Posted by al at 08:11 AM | Comments (0)

March 06, 2006

so long, farewell...

hey everybody,
home again. not nearly as much as snow as I'd hoped, but then global warming will have its way (think of all of the new beaches we'll have). on the upside, I just checked the trail conditions @ Whiteface & see that they have a 41"-56" base, w. packed powder & frozen granular (big surprise there). I also noticed that there will be a big air competition this weekend, which in addition to the music on the mountain AND the bobsledding & luge, should give folks enough to do during the day time.

we should be announcing more summer tour dates very shortly, so stay in touch. if you are not on the moe. email list, please sign up & you will receive automatic updates to our schedule & upcoming events.

also pleased to announce that we just finished up the credits for the DVD. our trusty engineer, Bil Emmons will be doing the 5.1 mix sometime this month & we hope to have it ready for you this summer.

thanks again for a great winter tour. looking forward to seeing you all @ snoe.down.

take care,
al.

Posted by al at 11:43 AM