3/18/15 moe. @ Barrymore Theatre - Madison, WI

On Wednesday I worked until 3:30 and then hit the road for Wisconsin.  The drive up was uneventful.  Lately on road trips I tend to surf the dial looking for songs on the radio rather than listen to jambands or albums.  For whatever reason I like how this tends to bring out songs that I might not ordinarily listen to.  I always am impressed when you are driving on John Nolen just past the Coliseum and you see the capital building and the lake.  It brings back a lot of memories of UW soccer camps.  Madison has always been a special place for me and the Barrymore is my favorite venue in town.  moe.'s return to this venue after several outings at the Orpheum perhaps built up expectations for me.  I saw some familiar faces.  Angelo and Sconnie were in the house.


I parked in the neighbhorhood surrounding  the venue and stopped into see some old friends, Sam and Jesse who live behind the Barrymore.  We had just walked in when they started up Caliphornya.  BIBH is a song I always enjoy seeing.  White Lightning Turpentine was next.  Silver Sun is a tune that I like but it tends to start to drag on a bit.  Yod > CIA > Laz was solid work.  For a first set I felt this wasn't a bad effort.  They played Caliphornya and CalifornIA.  Clever. 


Time Again is a little too much hoedown for me.  That along with STF are better suited for the first set. However, I did appreciate the Las Vegas, NV reference.  That's where I had most recently seen moe. over Halloween last year.  This wasn't a bad segue into The Pit but Chuck jumped the gun a little bit.  None of these songs are ones I went in hoping to hear in the second set.  I guess that's on me.  As corny as Wicked Awesome is I really do enjoy it.  As I mentioned earlier listening to the radio and the songs the DJ plays is a part of my road trips.  I'd heard the song FM on the way.  No static at all.  Thank you for Steely Dan is my favorite lyric in the song.  On this journey I heard Big Balls.  With Phish announcing Magnaball earlier in the day that was fitting.  Thank you for AC/DC.  I wasn't wild about the placement of Four in this show.  They hadn't really made "it" happen yet and they were slowing things down.  Cpt USA > Rec Chem was a decent segue in comparison though not in the same league as that same pairing at the Riv a few years ago.  I was ready to hit the road so a brief All Roads and Blister in the Sun encore was fine with me.  Later I learned The Violent Femmes are from Madison.  This was my 77th time seeing moe. and I had not heard that cover since my very first show.  On the way home I made a run for the border at Taco Bell in Beloit.  Overall, I had fun.  I always dig Madison and the Barrymore but this show was rather forgettable. 

3/4/15 Lotus @ The Canopy Club - Urbana, IL

Last Wednesday I worked 7 until 4:30 at IFSI then made the solo trek to Urbana.  I always think of the first time I visited that venue 1/31/00 moe. with Barry and Andy.  We went to a show on school night on a college campus.  15 years later not much has changed.  I'm still going to shows on worknights and still visiting my favorite college music venues.  The Canopy Club is one of my favorite club size venues and I've been to a few.  Jay/Ian do a great job getting the talent and keeping the vibe right.  I'm contemplating breaking my 11 years of consecutive Summer Camp appearances this Memorial Day Weekend.  It feels like it's time.  However, I want to mention how much I appreciate the Goldberg family bringing so much music to Central Illinois over the years.  Before the show I grabbed an excellent slice of Manolo's BBQ pizza.  It's understandable that Cosby Sweater changed their name to Turbo Suit with the recent allegations.  They did a decent cover of a New Deal song from Gone Gone Gone.  Overall their set was once again too loud regardless of what moniker they're using. 


I've listened to most of the Lotus Winter Tour so I knew we were in store for a treat.  These guys are really elevating their game right now.  I liked the roller coaster artwork on the drum set.  The talk box on Bellwether got the show off to a funky start.  Opo kept the energy going.  Livingston Storm is one of my favs.  This was a major highlight.  I loved the dark and dirty sound post-rock sound.  They explored more than I've ever seen them do.  Molluskunk was next.  Neon Tubes was a dance party with the Daft Punk cover Around the World sandwiched in the middle.  Hammerstrike was a hard rocking end to a fun set of Lotus.  I hung with Doc and his friend behind the table on the second level of the floor which is the best vantage point and sound.  We appeared to be the only people above age 30 in the place besides the band members.  I felt like Wooderson. 


Ashcon with its "groove your body" sample is a familiar one.  Travel has been a favorite of mine so that made me the show.   This also reached some dark terrain.  The Legend of Zelda theme brought back a lot of memories from that gold NES cartridge from my youth.  They jammed it out before dropping into a huge Flower Sermon which likely was the best improvisation of the show.   Tarot was a brief lull in the action before an unbelievably smooth segue from Plant Your Root > Sunrain.  This was extremely patient playing.  This show was the best Lotus I've seen dating back to my first show at Bent River in Moline 2006.  On Facebook they asked what we wanted to hear and I suggested Strawberry Letter 23 from the Jackie Brown soundtrack and this started the encore.  At this point I hit the road as they finished the show with Disappear into a Blood Red Sky.  There was a full moon which illuminated the icy snow that covered the Illinois fields.  I didn't get any sleep before heading back to work for another 7 to 4:30.  At the end of the day it was worth it.  When you go the extra mile that's usually when you get rewarded.  This was certainly the case with Lotus at The Canopy Club this time around.