It was on Saturday afternoon, smack in the middle of the three-day moe.down festival and during a feel-good version of moe.’s “New York City,” that the band was joined on stage by a group of grade school children. As the kids paraded around in front of the band, some in costumes and all smiling, singing and dancing, it was easy to see the mirror effect it had on the crowd – the music had tapped into the child in each of us, not a care in the world, just enjoying the music and the weather and that funny feeling one gets when sharing a good time with thousands of other people.

By the time the ten-thousand moe.down attendees had set up their campsites on Friday afternoon and readied themselves for a three day weekend headlined with six separate sets by host band moe. and fifteen other bands of the jam & funk genre, the sun was cooking at 85 degrees and the breeze had slowed to a slight whistle.

As the moe.rons (the term moe. fans have coined for themselves) began dipping into their coolers and pulling on expertly rolled joints, roars of hooting and hollering began to carry up and over the ridge in Mohawk, NY, barreling down on the beautiful Mohawk Valley and signaling the beginning to a weekend of raging.

For the first time in ten years of moe.downs, the festival was held in a different location from the usual Turin, NY campgrounds. The fest was moved to the beautiful Gelston Castle Estate in Mohawk, NY – a sprawling plot of land nestled on a ridge with spectacular views, wooded trails (which festival goers were not supposed to wander on but many did), and long swathes of late-summer wildflowers surrounding the festival site. Castle Estate proved to be a worthy substitute for the previous moe.down locations and it seemed that many moe.rons were satisfied with their new weekend vacation home, despite the cramped campsites and the few patches of poison ivy lurking next to vendors and port-o-johns.

The Macpodz kicked off the weekend with an hour and half long set that seemed dedicated to getting people ready for a rowdy weekend of music, dancing, and mind alteration. The horn-driven Macpodz ripped through two more sets that day, alternating slots with Tortoise, Nas & Damian Marley and, of course, moe. Nas & Damian Marley were a rare departure from the jam-heavy line-up of the weekend and many fans were happy to get a short but sweet taste of their unique mixture of hip hop and dub step.

Rain showers and cooler temperatures plagued moe.’s first set of the weekend, and many fans headed for the campsites after the first hour. Had they stuck around, they would’ve seen a tight “Captain America” and an especially tasty “Blue Jeans Pizza.” But, as moe. would be playing another five sets over the Labor Day weekend extravaganza, many folks thought it better to head back to the campsites, where they drank shitty whiskey and could hear the music as it carried over the hill and mixed its way into the party zone that is a festival campsite. And as the evening’s brief rain showers rolled in, the moe.rons drank, danced and raged into the wee hours of the night, toasting the sun as it began to peek out through the last of the evening clouds.

Saturday brought a few early rain showers but, as if on cue, the clouds opened up and the sun shone through, giving festival goers the bright and crisp weather one would expect in September in upstate New York. New York City’s Turbine kicked off the day with a set primed in three-part harmonies. A lot of the crowd had yet to make it to the concert area from the campsites, but as the set went on more people trickled in, smiling with approval. 

Following Turbine’s opening set was the Punch Brothers, who gave the weekend’s first really smoking set. Led by mandolin phenom and Grammy winner Chris Thile of Nickel Creek, this five-piece bluegrass outfit woke everyone up and got the groggy crowd moving. When the set ended, it was apparent the crowd wanted more. Turbine quickly filled the gap with one more in-betweener set, and then it was on to moe.

Moe.’s Saturday afternoon set was riddled with fan favorites and while the jamming was kept to a minimum, the crowd was still sent into a dancing frenzy with set opener “Skrunk,” followed by a scorching “Lazarus.”

The first surprise standout band of the weekend was L.A.’s Orgone. This nine-piece funk, R&B and soul outfit played three separate sets, the first leading up to dance rock stars-on-the-rise Lotus, then a set prior to moe. and after the host’s set break. Orgone’s mixture of dance and funk was the perfect breath of dance party air the crowd needed while on a break from the jam-heavy hosts. Orgone’s third and final set was one for the books – the crowd simply could not get enough of pint-sized frontwoman Fanny Franklin, whose stage-presence matches her powerful pipes – near perfect. Orgone’s funky instrumental tunes blended seamlessly with the tunes where Franklin was front and center. It was apparent that Orgone was stoked to be there, and the crowd responded with roars for an encore, which, due to time restraints, was not granted.

Moe.’s Saturday evening sets were the jammiest of all, with guitarists Al Shnier and Chuck Garvey nonstop noodling on classics such as “Plane Crash,” “Seat of My Pants,” and “Not Coming Down.” Despite a weak cover of Radiohead’s “Paranoid Android,” the set was met with high marks from moe.rons, both old and new. With that, the evening ended and fans made their way back to the campsites, where once again, the party continued into Sunday morning.

A sunny but chilly Sunday brought sets from opener Ryan Montbleau, followed by the incredibly talented Vermont-bred Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. Phish bassist Mike Gordon put on a show typical of his status as a jam superstar – extended jams where they were needed and tight endings where they were necessary. The second surprise stand-out of the weekend was a short set by New York City’s Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds, a nine piece soul and funk outfit led by 22 year old siren Arleigh Kincheloe. The Birds have quickly become the talk of the town in NYC’s club scene. After Sunday’s set, in which they were joined by moe. guitarist Al Shnier for a track called “Road Trip,” we expect you will be hearing a lot more from these guys in the very near future. 

Sunday brought another surprise departure from the typical jam and funk bands of Moe.Down with lo-fi garage rock duo the Black Keys. These guys have become one of the best bands around the dirty rock n’ roll scene, and they’ve done it with minimalist style – just the fuzz-heavy guitar masturbation of Dan Auerbach and impeccable percussion skills of drummer Patrick Carney. Their set was filled with old and new tunes, but set closer “I Got Mine,” off their Attack and Release album, was by far the fan favorite. 

Sunday evening saw sets from Vermont’s the Brew and moe.’s final performances for the weekend. Moe. classics such as “Moth,” “Timmy Tucker” and “Yodelittle,” were ripped with style and one of the encore tunes, “Farmer Ben,” featured teasers from Rush’s “Spirit of the Radio,” “Tom Sawyer” and “Working Man,” – a fitting tease considering everyone had to face the quick approach of work and the real world as the Labor Day weekend neared its end.

But before it was all said and done, the Mayor of moe.down (a silly way to honor one moe.down attendee, whom is nominated throughout the weekend and chosen by crowd applause) had to be chosen. Rage Lincoln, a tall young man who dressed as Abe Lincoln and greeted moe.rons as if he were a real politician, won the contest and during his speech he summed up the festival best: “The world will never forget what we did here: we raged face. We took a chance, made friends with a new neighbor, created a memory. Moe shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the moe.rons, by the moe.rons, for the moe.rons shall not wander around sober on this earth.”

Rage on, Mr. Lincoln, rage on.