moe. hosted its 11th annual moe.down festival over Labor Day Weekend. The three-day event was held in Mohawk, NY, marking the first time moe.down has taken place outside Turin, NY. In addition to moe., the festival featured an eclectic mix of bands, including indie-blues duo the Black Keys, reggae/rap troubadours Nas & Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley, Phish bassist Mike Gordon, livetronica act Lotus, jam-roots stars Grace Potter and The Nocturnals, Americana revivalist Punch Brothers, seminal indie band Built to Spill and instrumental post rock group Tortoise. The festival also boasted several rising jambands, including Ryan Montbleau Band, The Macpodz, The Brew and Turbine, among others

Throughout the weekend moe. performed six sets, including a marathon three-set performance Saturday (an afternoon set and an extended two-set show at night). The quintet’s Saturday show featured a particularly intriguing run from Radiohead’s “Paranoid Android” into “Ricky Marten” and “Time Ed.” The band ended things on a high note with the four song encore of Sticks & Stone ’s “Deep This Time,” “The Pit,” the recently revived “Farmer Ben” and “Moth.” For the first time in moe.down history, no additional acts sat in with moe. during its festival sets. moe. guitarist Al Schnier did make the rounds, however, sitting in with both Sister Sparrow and The Dirty Birds and Ryan Montbleau Band (Schnier joined the latter act for “You Crazy You”.).

Mike Gordon also performed with his regular solo band: Scott Murawski, Todd Isler, Tom Cleary and Craig Myers. The bassist focused mostly on his solo canon, though he did perform Radiohead’s “15 Step” and Phish’s “Sugar Shack” (a song originally written for his Green Sparrow album). The Mike Gordon Band also performed its first take on “Idea,” a Gordon original Phish debuted this summer and slated for the bassist’s forthcoming solo release.