A couple of years ago, my good friends and fellow moe. running-crew members 4dice & Heidi sought an escape from the suffocating Tri-State region and headed north to Ithaca, NY. Ahh, the desolate and barren Finger-Lakes region. Never really a need to pass through Ithaca. However, a few months ago, a couple of us got an email demanding our presence when moe. stopped by the State Theater on 1/30/10. Twist my arm, assholes. I'm there.
After moe.'s Roseland run and surprise Brooklyn Bowl show, I ended up skipping Stroudsburg, PA with work-related-burdens of "responsibility". Thusly, I also missed a KILLER Lazarus... in person. Fortunately, there was a live stream of the show and I at least got to hear it!!! Sounded huge! Totes jealous.
William Shatner hooked me up with a sweet hotel room a few weeks in advance and 1/30 couldn't come soon enough. At noonish on Saturday, I swung through mid-town to pick up Mark, Jen & Scott Bernstein, and we headed into the tundra (with obligatory stop at Roscoe Diner for lunch & a sprinkle-cookie).
By the time we got to 4dice & Heidi's, it was starting to get dark and right-cold. I got a quick tour of the house, we warmed our asses next to the wood heater, and we were back in the car to Downtown Ithaca. So full of excitement and 5 Hour Energy Drink was Mark, that after a minor disagreement with the box of tissues in my car, he savagely stomped it to death. WTF, dude? You could have just moved them. Mark was walking home.
marquee or marky?
The inside of the State Theater was kind of a clusterfuck. There were kegs and a slow-moving line of loud drunks against the back wall inside the theater. The lobby outside was full of hundreds of people shuffling towards no destination in particular. The architecture and design is gorgeous though and I was hoping the sound would follow suit (especially after "Brooklyn Bowl's 7-10 split of sound".). An anonymous source informed me that the heat was not turned on in the building til after 3pm. Additionally, the venue kept the back doors of the theater open for people to go outside and smoke, which was just sucking whatever heat there was- out of the building. All of these things + Ithaca = cold as fuck in the State Theater for the duration of the show.
I met up with too many Jen/ns to count where they had staked a claim on al.side. Then a row of about 6 dudes, none under 6 feet tall, stood right in front of us. That's one way to never get laid, boys. moe. got onstage almost on time (in suits) and busted into Crab Eyes to get the crowd warmed up. Stranger Than Fiction was great, as was Time Again!!!! Love that this is back in rotation!
At this point, I really couldn't see shit, so I headed over to chuck.side where 4dice, Heidi, el Herno, etc. had made camp. They were under the overhang and goddamn, it was loud under there. People were drunk as hell and competing with the band to be heard. Some asshole was even blowing a whistle. Awesome. I enjoyed what I could hear of Hector's pillow, but when it -> Don't Fuck With Flo, I was getting angry-- no one messes with Don't Fuck With Flo. I couldn't stand any more of this rudeness, so I found a nice spot towards the front on chuck.side, which was suspiciously vacant. Meanwhile, rob. was smacking the shit out of his new toy- a vintage, 4 string Fender he had purchased earlier that day. Right on!
I was rockin' out for a little while when I noticed a kid a couple rows in back of me who was doubled over and sweating like a Priest in a Fun Zone ball-pit. The girl next to him looked worried but she wouldn't get him out of there. Obviously he had cleared the section out. Hadn't he impeded on the audience's good time enough? Chick wouldn't budge and I didn't feel much like getting puked on, so I asked the nice old lady next to the stage to get security on it. They showed up with their flashlights and took one look at the guy, carefully put their black latex gloves on, and proceeded with caution. As they lifted the tweaker up, it looked like he puked a lifetime's worth of chewed up strawberry bubba-licious onto himself. Hern suggested it could have been a full package of Starburst. He knows these things. Oh, coincidentally-- this all happened during Kids.
Speaking of Amateur Hour-- some douche with a sparkly pig on a mop handle felt the need to block everyone's view of the front-center for much of SET I under the sad misconception that other people actually enjoy watching a bouncing stick of sparkle pig rather than the band they came to see. Then 2 other assholes climbed on people's shoulders and blocked more people's view. I'm getting a taser.
Set break was fast, due to the impending 11:30pm curfew. I hung out back with the crew for Z0Z -> Buster. Both awesome.
When -> So Long, I wandered off to find Mark. Good timing, as I got to enjoy the eeeeeeriest So Long ever from the soundboard. Sounded so freakin' good. Wow. Really though- goosebumps. A historical "what the fuck is going on here right now?" moe.ment. What a haunting space. The crowd was hypnotized. I fucking love moe.!
Then Mark took me up to watch on the side of the stage, which was pretty fucking sweet, and where we stayed for the rest of the show. Mark wouldn't need to walk home after all. Captain America -> SOMP. Yay SOMP! Yodelittle was totes funky w/ the groove down-- love it. Also, I absolutely *loved* watching jim. and vin. go at it from so close on the side. A fresh set of eyes. Ridiculously awesome. Plane Crash. BAH!
Spine was quick, but a sweet encore. Dreamy at times.
It was -9 degrees F when we left the show. -14 with wind chill ("at least it's windy."), but who's counting? We debated post-show with Jimkata, but chose instead: heat, cartoons, and cookies. Unfortunately [adult swim]'s Saturday lineup consists of nothing but anime. Not cool!
Sunday we awoke for coffee and breakfast on the Commons at a shop owned either by an Amish cult or the Disney Corporation. Tasted good, regardless. On the way back to NYC, we stopped in Roscoe again, but this time hit up Buffalo Zach's for lunch and such. Thumbs up! Delicious! HUZZAH!
Back to moe.-- the boys are ON FIRE!!! 4th moe. show in 8 days. What a week of smiles! How the hell am I supposed to wait til snoe.down for my next fix?* The State Theater may have been freezing, but moe. brought the heat! moe., the State Theater, Ithaca, NY: 9 HUZZAHS!
What a fun road trip! I had a blast! I love moe.! Thanks to moe. for playing, 4dice & Heidi for the invite, Mark for the view and sprinkle cookie dispensing, Jen Bernstein for the I heart chuck. button, and especially Jenn Richie for keeping an eye on my jacket, which I was too unmotivated to retrieve from al.side during the show- you are a rockstar!
SET I
Crab Eyes
Stranger Than Fiction
Time Again
Understand ->
Hector's Pillow ->
Don't Fuck With Flo ->
Kids
SET II
Zed Naught Z ->
Buster ->
So Long
Captain America ->
Seat Of My Pants
Yodelittle ->
Plane Crash
ENCORE
Spine Of A Dog
DOWNLOAD THE SHOW! Scott Bernstein taped-- thanks, Scott!
http://www.archive.org/details/moe2010-01-30.tlm170.flac16
* or do I?