4 guys named moe

Wildcat File Photo Arizona Daily Wildcat A bunch of moe.-rons.

• You wake up around 10 a.m. in a strange hotel room in a strange city.
• You hop in the shower (when it's your turn), grab a quick breakfast if there is time and hit the road.
• You arrive in a new city around 4 p.m.
• A quick test of the equipment. A little time for dinner and subsequent digestion.
• Make up the night's set list.
• Perform and then hang out for about an hour.
• Asleep by 5 a.m.
• Sleep five hours. Wake up. Repeat.

Congratulations, you've just experienced a day in the life of moe., one of music's fastest rising rock-n-roll jam bands.

Luckily for us, the band's grueling itinerary will bring them into Tucson to play the Rialto Theater on Tuesday, February 23.

"It seems cool, but in reality it's trying on the soul - not being in one place for any long period of time," said Al Schnier, guitarist/vocalist of moe.

"People don't realize we're working 18-hour days instead of eight-hour days like everyone else. What people see - the part on stage - is fun, but the rest is all work," said Schnier.

moe. will be playing at the Rialto Theater, 318 E. Congress, Tuesday, February 23. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., showtime is 7:30 p.m. Tickets for the all-ages show are $10 and available at Guitar's Etc., Zip's Records or charge by phone at 299-4733

Dubbed in 1997 by Rolling Stone as one of the "10 hottest underground bands" and originally started in 1991 as a cover band in Buffalo, NY, the guys (originally five members) took their name from the old Louis Jordan tune "5 Guys Named Moe," but when the group shrunk in size to four, dumping their saxophonist, the name of the group shrunk as well.

"Something about '4 Guys Named Moe' just didn't sound quite right," joked Schnier.

Hence, moe. was born.

With musical influences ranging from Frank Zappa to Radiohead, from the Grateful Dead to the Offspring, moe.'s music is truly a little bit of everything - rock, punk, country, bluegrass, psychedelic, classical - catchy sing-a-long choruses and hard-core mind-altering jams - all rolled into one.

It has been nearly two years since moe. has played in Tucson - the band's first and only time in town - until now.

Since then, moe. has released their second major album, Tin Cans and Car Tires, which is sure to produce a handful of the gems we will be privileged to hear Tuesday night at the Rialto. However, Schnier adds that the show will be a nice mix of songs both new and old.

"We don't go out to specifically play new stuff or old stuff like a lot of bands do. Some bands just play their whole new album and throw in one or two old songs to try and please everyone. We just play whatever songs we want to and whatever songs we think the audience will enjoy that night," commented Schnier.

The title of the new album comes from the line "Let's build a house out of tin cans and car tires," which comes from the song "It," the tenth track on the new album.

According to Schnier, "Tin Cans and Car Tires" refers to finding junk and doing something neat with it.

"It basically comes down to building something out of nothing," said Schnier.

Schnier also added that the new album is totally different from their first major release, No Doy.

Although No Doy was a solid collection of studio tracks, Schnier said the group tried too hard to put out a good representation of what they sounded like live. However, moe. was quick to learn that "studio" and "live" are two very different things.

"I'm really proud of Tin Cans and Car Tires. We really discovered a lot of what we are able to do in the studio," Schnier said of the new album, which succeeds at capturing the energy of a live performance without losing the focus of studio craftsmanship.

moe. displays their newfound understanding of music throughout their new album. Tracks like the catchy, melodic "Nebraska" and the melancholic, country blues feel of "Letter Home" alongside the experimental, soothing orchestral groove of "Plane Crash" show how much of the band's new material focuses on the transient nature of life on the road.

In a time when new bands come and go more often than interns in and out of President Clinton's office, moe. has made it clear with their music and their words that they are more than merely a flash in the pan.