moe.down music festival returned after a 7 year hiatus with a diverse line up and a familiar, welcoming vibe. The event was held in Gilbert, PA from July 16-18.

Despite setbacks like a giant fire burning in Canada and severe weather including thunderstorms and tornado watches, moe.down festival continued to truck on and provide its attendees with a memorable and fun party.

Since the air quality was really bad on Thursday and storms impacting the area on Saturday, NYS Music was only able to report on Friday. Here’s what we saw.

The vibe was friendly and welcoming. People helped each other set up and bare through the storm.

moe. had three headlining sets featuring sit ins and exploratory jams.

Face melting solos were plenty.

There were sit-ins by guests like Daniel Donato, Kanika Moore, Brendan Bayliss, Mike Dillon, and Pappy Biondo.

Severe weather conditions and air quality impacted the festival, but the festival and attendees trucked on!

The vendor village and late night activities allowed attendees to explore and wander.

In a time of small festivals fading away it was beautiful to see a festival that was focused on the music and people rather than the profit. This was a large gathering of true fans and friends. These smaller festivals have started to go away and this one was a reminder of how special they are and that they should be cherished and protected.

moe. setlists

Thursday, July 16

Haze, Shoot First > Puebla > Tubing the River Styx > The Pit, Cajun Moon (w/ Pappy), A Band in the Sky, Faker > Carnival Punks, Where Does the Time Go?, No Quarter, Lazarus

Friday, July 17

Set 1: Yellow Tigers, Captain America > Crushing, Ups & Downs, New Hope for The New Year, Buster > Carpet Crawlers, Immigrant Song

Set 2: Downward Facing Dog, In Stride, McBain > Mar-De-Ma > Water

Encore: Rebubula

Saturday, July 18

Billy Goat > Meat (w/ Mike D), Happy Hour Hero > All Roads Lead to Home, Mexico (w/ DD), The Weight (w/ Kanika, Hayley, BB), Plane Crash

Encore: Wind It Up