Over the past three and a half decades, moe. has faced an astonishing array of challenges on their globe-spanning campaign to rock, jam, and make merry. These include some of the gravest imaginable, like band members experiencing major health crises and tragic losses of loved ones. Despite that, the band is closing out an impressive career milestone year with over 80 shows under their belt and an ambitious tour schedule in place for 2026.
“Well, sometimes the simpler things are the ones that kind of get to you more," said Rob Derhak. "When you're faced with these life changing obstacles, you kind of see who your friends are. And we all have been together for all of it, and we've all stood by each other. And I think it makes the little stuff just not mean as much.”
Bassist Derhak – one of the band’s vocalists, songwriters, and founding members – says the 35th anniversary tour that’s taken moe. to every quadrant of the United States in 2025 has been a smashing success.
“The thing I'm noticing is fans that bailed on us a long time ago are coming back and being like, wow," he told WAMC. "And then I'm seeing younger people, and I'm seeing a lot of people traveling all over the place to go see us. And that's a really great thing to see.”
Derhak says the key to the band’s seemingly effortless sonic weave comes from patience and full commitment to group improvisation.
“We call it loosening the pickle jar as a joke," he laughed. "Someone said it to somebody at one point. And it's just like, everyone's just sort of passing the pickle jar around, and, like, no one quite opens it, but they just make it a little loose for the next guy. And eventually somebody opens the jar and rips the solo.”
It's not lost on the band that they’re firing on all cylinders as they head into their 36th year.
“I mean, how does it feel in the audience? Because it feels really good on stage," said Derhak. "It's like this sort of fog that's like on the top of a swamp, and it's sort of just like growing and bubbling. And it's really cool to just have all these different elements sort of like swirling and swirling until it really, like builds into something. And sometimes, having different key sounds and stuff like that and different effects on the guitar pedals really lets it build and build. And it feels really great. It feels like you're floating. And then somebody just will take a solo and then it just rips off. It's great.”
Saturday’s show at the Palace not only marks the end of moe.’s 35th anniversary jaunt, but the retirement of the Albany-area booker who first saw something in them no one else did back in the 90s.
“Oh, it’s going to be a banger," Derhak said. "First of all, we love Albany. We have roots there. We have band members in the area, we have so many fans. And we grew up in Central New York and we lived in Albany. This thing with this is, it's Greg Bell's final show, and Greg Bell is our promoter from day one in Albany playing at Valentine's to like, him and maybe two other people, and he'll tell you that.”
Alongside opening act Eastbound Jesus, moe. will pay tribute to their old friend the only way they know how- with two sets and an encore of singalongs, jamming, and the music that’s kept them afloat all these years.
“He's retiring, so it's going to be a big party, and the show- The lights are going to be fantastic, the music is going to be fantastic," said Derhak. "We're hoping for a massive crowd, which I'm pretty sure it will be, and it's right after Christmas, it's on a Saturday- It's just a lot of celebration.”
