The only plucky punctuation-defying jamband from upstate New York, moe., celebrated their 20th anniversary in 2010. The banner year was marked by the release of the ironically named “Smash Hits Vol. 1,” which gathers some rare early recordings, not, of course, chart-topping tunes. Other than that, moe. just did what it does: play; a lot.
“It’s really gone by in a flash,” says co-founder Al Schnier. “You take a moment to look at it and think, ‘Geez, we’ve really done quite a bit. We’re really lucky that we are still able to do this.’”
Astoundingly, moe. hasn’t undergone many “artistic differences” and, apart from a drummer change a decade or so ago, the line-up held steady.
“Even most of our crew have been with us for the long haul as well,” says Schnier.
So is there a lot of contemplation going on about that long haul?
“We haven’t reflected much on the year,” he says, downplaying their tenure as a proto jamband. “Getting to travel has been great. There’s been some moments where we’ve got to play with some other musicians that’s been fantastic.”
As far as the future goes, moe. will keep on keeping on.
“There are no projections,” says Schnier. “That’s always been the moe. way, not having a plan and doing what we like.”
If you go
moe.
with Raq (Dec. 30) or
with The Dirty Dozen Brass Band (Dec. 31)
Both nights begin at 8
House of Blues
15 Lansdowne St., Boston
MBTA: Green Line to Kenmore
$35, all ages, 888-693-2583
www.hob.com/boston
Other hot tickets
Ted Leo
with Bill Janovitz and Drew O’Doherty
Jan. 21
Brighton Music Hall
158 Brighton Ave., Boston
www.ticketmaster.com
The venue that used to be Harpers Ferry seems to be getting off to a pretty good start, but this show almost seems like a coup. Ted Leo never fails to put on a bouncy and energetic performance, even if he doesn’t have all of his Pharmacists with him. If you don’t know his music, The Pharmacists is the name of his backing band — we’re not saying that he needs a group of actual pharmacists with him to write him prescriptions to give him that bounce. Or does he? We also suggest you get there early for rare performances from Janovitz and O’Doherty.
Holiday Pops
Through Sunday
Symphony Hall
301 Mass. Ave., Boston
www.bso.org
Perhaps no venue in Bos-ton gets more holiday-ier during the holidays than Symphony Hall, which hosts the Pops’ annual holiday shows. Earlier this week they even had a visit from a certain jolly big man, who served as guest conductor on “Sleigh Ride,” among other tunes. No, we’re not talking about Santa, we’re talking about Shaq!
