A self-named festival, two Bonnaroos, and tour dates with the Dave Matthews Band and the Dead are making Moe among the busiest boys of summer.

The tireless Upstate New York jam band is slotted on to play both the second annual Bonnaroo festival in Tennessee in June and the first Bonnaroo NE on Long Island in August. Moe were awarded the Jammy Award (the jam equivalent of a Grammy, voted on by fans) for the best live set of 2002 after an up-'til-dawn performance at Bonnaroo 2002.

"It's sort of like the prize of prizes in terms of that awards show," says guitarist Al Schnier. "That's what the whole scene is all about. It was a very heartwarming and affirming moment for us."

Moe will open on the Dave Matthews Band tour for four nights in Columbus, Buffalo and Cleveland. They'll hook up with double Bonnaroo headliner the Dead for additional dates in New York and Illinois, on bills that will also feature Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan, respectively.

"In terms of whether or not these shows will win us any new fans, it's always sort of questionable because you're the opening act," says Schnier. "Even if there are 10,000 people in there, often the place isn't even half full. It's not for the money, clearly, and it's not because we enjoy the stress or tension. It's for the musical experience, to be part of a show that my heroes are playing. I'd go and be towel boy for these shows."

In July, Moe will join Widespread Panic, Cracker, Les Claypool and others for the Mid-Atlantic Music Experience in West Virginia. The band then closes the summer at the top of a bill at it own fourth annual Moe.down festival Labor Day weekend in Turin, New York. The lineup features the Flaming Lips, Rusted Root and Yonder Mountain String Band, as well as six sets in three nights from Moe. More bands will be announced in coming weeks.

"We'll know that it's gotten too big once people start showing up just because it's something going on," Schnier says, "I want people to come for the sheer love of it, and that's been the case so far three years in a row."

Moe have also begun preparing for next year, selling tickets for a Caribbean cruise concert March 7th to 14th. The weeklong adventure aboard "The Sun," a Norwegian cruise ship, will start in Miami and stop in Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Costa Maya and Cozumel, with the band performing "at least one show every day" throughout the week, and possibly more.

"When we play out by the pool anybody on the ship will be able to watch us, but when we do it in the venue then it will be for our fans only," Schnier explains. "We may do a show in Jamaica as well when we stop there . . . It's really gonna be insane."

Moe's 2003 summer schedule:

6/13-15, Manchester, TN, Bonnaroo
6/17-18, Columbus, OH, Germain Amphitheater
6/20, Darien, NY, Darien Lake Six Flags P.A.C
6/21, Cuyahoga Falls, OH, Blossom Music Center
6/29, Vernon, NY, Vernon Downs Raceway (with the Dead and Bob Dylan)
7/11-13, Lewisburg, WV, Mid Atlantic Music Experience
8/2, Joliet, IL, Route 66 Raceway (with the Dead and Willie Nelson)
8/8-10, Riverhead, NY, Bonnaroo, NE
8/29-31, Turin, NY, Moe.down

ROBIN A. ROTHMAN
(June 2, 2003)