The “Circle of Giants” winter tour is testament to the strength and resiliency of moe. They have been on the road across the country including an extended west coast, and Colorado run since the release of their new album, “Circle of Giants” in January 2025. This tour includes performances on multiple weeknights and every weekend including Sunday. This is very impressive for a band that has successfully sustained this lifestyle for over 3 decades.
On Saturday, March 1, 2025, I attended moe.’s performance at Brooklyn Bowl in Philadelphia, PA. This show was night 2 of a 2-night run at this venue and part of an overall 3-night visit to PA and NJ, having performed at the Wellmont Theater in Montclair, NJ. Moe. is a road warrior and this stretch of tour personifies their professionalism, dedication, and quest to produce high octane jam-rock music.
The night began at Brooklyn Bowl in Philadelphia, PA on 3/1/25 with individual band introductions over the house sound system. This is a recent addition for the “Circle of Giants” tour and stands out both for the hilarity of the introductions and as a marker that this tour really means something in the overall history of moe. At the core of this tour is their recent album “Circle of Giants” which serves as a cornerstone of song selection for many of their recent shows. Tonight, would not be an exception, but the opening of the show began with old school moe. song “Not Coming Down”. This selection was an excellent starting point paying tribute to the journey that moe. has undertaken in its many years, no matter what this band would remain on top. My brain was flooded with memoe.ries of my 1st moe.down (a festival the band used to produce in Turin, NY) when my brother and I forgot something at the top of the ski run on our hike and we had to climb back up the mountain to find these items while moe. played this song.
This transitioned into “Wormwood” a musical interlude and psychedelic toe dip into the larger pool that came next thanks to a cover of Pink Floyd’s “Fearless”. This cover choice radiated so well with the “Circle of Giants” 70’s classic rock feel and I smiled with delight at the wizard surrounded by happy little spores painted on Nate Wilson (keys) keyboard rig.
Next up was “Stranger than Fiction”, another appropriate choice considering the mood established by this early set. Followed by Chuck Garvey (guitar) shred fest “Prestige Worldwide” peppered with xylophone by Jim Loughlin (percussion). Next up was a somewhat breakout of Genesis cover “Carpet Crawlers”. I believe this was the 2nd time this was played, the premiere being at the Filmore in San Francisco, CA earlier this tour. This transitioned into an introspective “Four” followed by “Lazurus”. Lazurus has continued to be an inspiration to me dealing with health issues since 2023. This song radiates reincarnation in lyrical context and helps me feel like moe. gets me. This song is also a great tribute to the hardships members of the band have endured over their 35-year journey.
The 1st show on 2/28/25 at Brooklyn Bowl was almost sold out and tonight’s show definitely was. During set break I was able to lead my small band of moe.rons to some open space for set 2. I have always been a Chuck.side (rage.side) guy, but I was happy to now be on the opposite side of the room. Al.side is no more, Al Schnier (guitar) now sets up in the middle. This side of the stage was now Nate.side and I was eager to hear him tickle out his notes in closer proximity. Set 1 opened with “New Hope for the New Year” sung by Chuck. It was interesting filtering the first wave of sound I usually experience standing in front of the other side of the stage through the sound of Al and Nate.
I recently interviewed Al and he discussed the addition of Nate to the band- “adding the keyboards to be a full-time addition to our band, now you’re adding this range, a very large spectrum of instrumentation into the space where it’s not just Chuck and I occupying but Jim as well with all the mallet stuff he was doing. So now we’ve got four of us occupying that same range in terms of the harmonic spectrum (laughs), where those notes live. We kind of play the same range and notes so we must find a way not to clutter it and make space for one another, complement one another and it actually ended up being easier than I thought it would be. I was worried that it would become too dense, too much somehow. But it has actually given us more freedom to play less, to just step back and the music has matured because of this in a really cool way.”
This concept manifested itself in full force through the opening jam. This was followed by Rob Derhak’s (bassist) composite “Ups and Downs” from “Circle of Giants”. This song resonates with truth and is a cathartic release every time it is played. Another song from the recent album followed with a personal favorite, Nate Wilson’s composition “Yellow Tigers”, sustaining itself not only as a jamband song, but as a true rock and roll song defying moe.’s genre. The crowd was waiting for it and moe. delivered next with all time moe. favorite “Recreational Chemistry” this extended jam peak behind the curtain allowed me to really hear the separation and blend of notes the addition that Nate has brought, and I grinned wide throe.ing down to the harmonious effortless give and take exercise in listening that transpired during this song. This was followed by “Puebla”, a song that was never really a favorite of mine but now it is since it has been transformed by Nate’s arrival and the newer dynamic of the band’s sound. This song stretches towards an epically jam plateau, “oh Puebla, vamos a!” Transitioning into “Gone”, a happy little song sung by Al followed by a jam transition back into “New Hope for the New Year”. Cleverly, the band turned the entire 2nd set into a “New Hope…” sandwich, which was welcome on the menu.
The encore started with Al singing a cover of Ween’s “Freedom of 76” in his highest falsetto. For those not familiar, this song is chalked full of Philadelphia references. Ween, itself, is actually from New Hope, PA and the crowd ate it up as the 2 night Philly throe.down reached its crescendo. The night ended with “Captain America”, moe.’s antihero and a fitting goodbye to the City of Brotherly Love.
Set 1:
Not Coming Down> Wormwood> Fearless*> Stranger Than Fiction, Prestige Worldwide, Carpet Crawlers**> Four> Lazarus
Set 2:
New Hope for the New Year> Ups & Downs> Yellow Tigers> Recreational Chemistry> Puebla> Gone> New Hope…
Encore: Freedom of ‘76***, Captain America
*Pink Floyd cover
** Genesis cover
*** Ween cover
More about moe. and the “Circle of Giants” tour/album is available at moe.org
ALL PHOTOS BY CHRIS PAUL
