moe.‘s Tropical Throe.down 2011 kicked off yesterday at the Dominican Republic’s Punta Cana Resort. The event began with a poolside set that saw the various members of the group on acoustic instruments except for Rob Derhak who performed on electric bass. The band brought back two older songs for the occasion, delivering “Queen Of The Rodeo” for the first time since 3/2/05 and “That Country Tune” for the first time since 1/10/07. The version of “Mexico” that the band delivered mid-set also saw a fan named Lucas joined in on bass while a six year old attendee named Eric strummed Al Schnier’s guitar (while Schnier handled the frets). The performance also included a question and an answer session, the first of many such interactions likely to take place over the coming days.

Here’s the setlist, drawn from our Box Scores section:

Tambourine, Faker* > CalifornIA, “Q & A with Band,” Mexico**, Queen Of The Rodeo^, Shoot First, Cornflake Girl

Enc: That Country Tune^^

Notes: Show was poolside; all on acoustic except Rob on electric bass *with Tequila tease ^Last time played 3/02/05 **with Lucas on bass (fan from buffalo) & Eric (6 year old) strumming & al fretting ^^Last time played 1/10/07