Moe.’s Jamming Style Upbeat, Down-to-Earth

It’s tempting to lump all “jam” bands together as Grateful Dead wannabes. Like their mentors, they tour extensively, playing protracted sets of eclectic music for neo-hippies and hippies at heart. But the genre is actually surprisingly diverse.

New York-based moe. certainly knows how to jam, and takes a particularly down-to-earth approach, eschewing wacky stage antics a la Phish and pursuing a more intensely improvisational approach to its shows than the Dave Matthews Band. When the quintet took the stage at House of Blues on Friday, it opened with a warm a cappella number (“Spine of a Dog”), then promptly plunged into three hours of music. The songs were crafty concoctions of pop, rock, country, reggae and funk, blended in varying proportions. Guitarists Al Schnier and Chuck Garvey unleashed gales of extended solos, and high-energy ensemble work revved up the near-capacity crowd.

As engaging as moe.’s playing was at times, it would have made a greater impact had the musicians mustered a more charismatic stage presence.

Schnier and Garvey shared vocal duty with bassist Rob Derhak, and none is a particularly riveting front man. The group’s relentlessly upbeat, amiably low-key vibe was pleasant enough, but ultimately it was simply too much of a good thing, lapsing into a happy, friendly monotony.