Last Thursday night was Halloween, but instead of pretending that I cared, I decided to check out the concert at the Houston Field House, featuring moe. I could sum up the concert in three ideas. Loud. Dark. The faint smell of marijuana.
Arriving at the Field House, I purchased my ticket and was then frisked by a security guard. There’s a first time for everything in life, so why not? Then in exchange for my $23 ticket I was given this really cool bright pink wrist band, a souvenir to cherish forever.
Finding a place to sit wasn’t too difficult, being that the majority of the crowd was located on the floor near the stage. I’m used to seeing our hockey team chase the puck around the ice, but instead I was greeted with swarms of people, many dressed in Halloween costumes, dancing, jumping, and screaming for Particle, the opening band.
Dressed in suits like the Pentium guys wear, Particle played a variety of songs, which I could best describe as raving techno mixes. Now, I like dance music, but some of the Pink Floyd rips they played were just plain sacrilegious. The audience, on the other hand took in the loud music like ravenous children eating Halloween candy.
The members of Particle— Eric Gould on bass, Steve Molitz on keyboards, Darren Pujalet on drums, and Charlie Hitchcock playing guitar,—continued playing for the throngs of people slowly filling the field house. More and more people filled the floor, rhythmically moving along with the vibe of the music.
After what seemed hours of playing, Particle finally gave up the stage to moe.’s set-up crew, who turned the performance space into a makeshift bar. I wondered where this theme was going as a bar, stools, pool table, juke box, and oriental rugs were brought out.
I soon found out as moe. came on stage, all the band members dressed in khakis, blue shirts, aprons, bowties, and black wigs. Unfortunately the band’s impersonations of the Simpson’s bartender, Moe, weren’t that impressive. But yet again, the audience loved it. The things you can do to please the masses.
Starting their first set, moe. played a harder rock version of the Simpson’s theme song, and then a helium induced rendition of the Itchy and Scratchy song. Continuing, the band began to remind me of Phish, with their long, drawn- out instrumentals and tartaric beat.
Also like Phish, I realized I couldn’t listen to moe. for an extended period of time. The sound becoming repetitive and monotonous, and I quickly began to lose interest in the concert. On top of it the “thick” atmosphere was giving me a headache.
Maybe at a different time I would have enjoyed seeing moe. in concert, but Halloween wasn’t the night, and I left early deciding I should have gone to a costume party instead.
