Shimmering in the glaze of the iridescent light, five guys in white suits stood on stage at the House of Blues Boston to bring in 2011. Twenty years ago these men were unknown amateur musicians in upstate New York playing house parties for beer and board. Since then they've certainly come a long way, creating both a one-of-a-kind history and community. And bringing 2011 in to a packed house at one of Boston's biggest venues, was another successful chapter to close out the year and their 20th together. For the moe. community it was a celebration filled with pride, excitement and humble appreciation.

Since their early days, moe. has always made music for all the right reasons. Their balance of playing carefully crafted songs and stretching out with conversational improvisation leaves each show feeling unique and exciting. As bassist Rob Derhak puts it in the band's 20th Anniversary press release/bio, the goal of the band has always been "to create honest, heartfelt music and make sure their fans have a good time. It was always about -- to a fault almost -- having a personal connection with the fans on stage. No matter where we play, we want them to know that they are part of the show -- like we were playing in a living room. We need their participation to inspire us, and, when we first started, we needed their apartments to sleep in…" And even playing to a large crowd at House of Blues, moe. never lost that intimate connection with their audience and of course, the experience was fun as hell.

The rest of Thursday night's first set veered away from their catchier, better-known songs, with a focus on exploring creative, new dimensions of improvisation.
After opening the second set with "Billy Goat," they delved into some fan favorites, most notably an enduring twenty-six minute "Meat." That brought the room up several degrees, highlighted by some ridiculous bass playing by Derhak at around the halfway mark. Other highlights from the second set were "The Pit," and "Timmy Tucker." After the "Spine of a Dog" encore, the masses teetered out onto Lansdowne, past Fenway Park, away from the potent stench of street meat and into the bustling Boston night.

Returning for night two of moe. madness we were greeted once again by a warm, celebratory atmosphere. The first set consisted of some slower ballads and sing-along types as the band gently and gracefully eased themselves into the performance. With twenty years of experience comes patience and finesse. "Water" was the turning point in the set that took the energy of the room up a few notches. For a special treat, members of the opening Dirty Dozen Brass Band teamed up with the headliners on "Happy Hour Hero," funkin' up the classic track off Tin Cans & Car Tires with a horn-drenched Cajun twist.

The deep and twisted "Lazarus" kicked the second set into gear followed by a brassy "Nebraska," once again featuring The Dirty Dozen. As expected, the countdown to 2011 was an exciting, explosive moment while confetti shot high into the air and balloons fell from the ceiling. It was time to celebrate. And celebrate they did, moe. style, by covering the Kool & the Gang classic "Celebration" featuring Al Schnier on trumpet, Marley Amico on sax, Eddie Derhak on trumpet, Ayla Schnier on keys, Ben Schnier on drums, ET from the Dirty Dozen on trumpet as well as an assortment of other brass blowers, synth players, singers and percussionists.

Ending the two-night Boston run in true moe. color, they encored with the epic "Rebubula." It was perfect closure and jumping off point for the New Year. The ecstatic and appreciative crowd responded like kids at Toys R' Us on their birthday. Fans, young and old, pumped their fists high in camaraderie to the band's emotional roller coaster of a song. Another one for the books with moe., here's to another twenty.