As of 7:20 p.m. Sunday, moe.’s setlist for the night’s show is a blank page. Al Schnier is eating a cookie, while Vinnie Amico finishes his chicken and asparagus dinner. Rob Derhak is on the tour bus. Chuck Garvey talks on his cell phone in a tiny, cramped hallway of The Orpheum, all while Jim Loughlin floats around.

One of the many individuals running around setting up for the show sticks his head into the backstage room and looks down at a sheet of paper on a clipboard. Schnier looks up and says, without being spoken to, “It’s not my turn. I did it last night.” With a mildly frustrated look on his face, the man leaves the room. Several minutes later, moe.’s tour manager come to grab the sheet of paper, ensuing his search for Derhak … it’s his turn to write the setlist.

In less than an hour, moe. will take the stage in front of a packed and already energetic Madison crowd, playing a two-set and more than three-hour show. This Madison crowd hasn’t seen moe. in nearly two years while the band has bounced over Wisconsin’s capital, stopping in Milwaukee and visiting the state’s slightly southern friends in Chicago.

Amico attributes this absence to scheduling mishaps but is thrilled to be back. He shares the same sentiment as his fellow band members, who all commented on the great college town that is Madison.

“It’s a cool college town … it’s good to be down here,” Amico said between bites, joking that he has a daughter named “Madison,” which obviously keeps the city close to his heart.

The segue

The five men of moe. have dove into their tour head-first, throwing together unique setlists that utilize their segueing techniques. Derhak and Schnier take turns writing the show’s setlist, paying careful attention to which songs can and cannot be segued. After 15 years working together, these two band members have nailed what works and what doesn’t experimenting along the way.

When asked how the “Buster >Plane Crash > Buster > Plane Crash” mix worked at Bonnaroo, Amico simply turned his head and asked, “How did it end up working out?”

Schnier chimed in to the conversation, commenting on the rather shorter-than-normal time slot, and the stunt they pulled.

“At any given time, one member of the band can take something in a different direction, but it generally doesn’t happen in the middle of a song like that,” Schnier said, laughing almost in amazement at the sheer absurdity of the song concoction.

These jam gurus follow one member’s lead, listening closely for cues and playing off of one another during a song. Stepping back and watching each member during a jam tells a story of its own. It’s typical to see Derhak jamming closely with Garvey or Schnier throwing sounds off one another.

On the other end of the spectrum, it’s also common to see each member concentrating on and in tune with what they are doing, intently listening for cues and hoping for a solid improvisational mesh. Sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn’t. For instance, at Bonnaroo, it worked. And yet, halfway through “Recreational Chemistry” Sunday, it didn’t. The men lost sight of the jam, grasping for a good mix. But this is just one example.

“In each song, there are sections where just kind of a default person takes the lead,” Schnier said. “It’s just something that’s been established over the years. There are cues that we’re all used to hearing, but anyone could cue a change.”

Schnier said Loughlin is the only band member who doesn’t cue changes while stressing that at any given moment, someone could be on to something and the band will switch gears to follow him.

“We all know where point A is, and we all know where point B is … and everything in the middle is free. We’re all kind of just reaching around in there,” Amico said.

… the up and coming

In perfecting the segue, improv and jam, moe. is testing out some new tunes in the mix with the old on tour. The band is experimenting with a larger rotation of songs, bringing in lesser-known old favorites and making it practically impossible to predict what’s in store. Twenty new songs are also ready for recording and are being sampled while out on the road.

“We have all the songs together … we have 20 songs that are ready for an album,” Amico said. “Now we are looking for the next available amount of time when we can put it together.”

Amico added that the band hopes to record this year, but in the meantime, a new Warts and All live album is ready for release and a DVD will be recorded in early April. He also said that because of the band’s great success with the Wormwood recording style, talk has been thrown around about doing something similar with the upcoming recording process.

“It worked really well … the album flowed,” Amico said. “We’re definitely interested in maybe doing that again because of the way that worked out.”

While recording is in moe.’s future, to the dismay of avid Bonnaroo attendees, this three-time participant is rumored to be opting out of a fourth run, despite greatly enjoying the festival atmosphere.

“We graciously turned down our offer,” Garvey said backstage after the show, noting there is no chance of playing the festival. However, Derhak quickly interjected that “anything is possible.” Moe. is scheduled to headline yet another Summercamp festival this spring in Illinois and will likely turn up on festival lists throughout the country. Much still remains unconfirmed at this time.

Flashback to Sunday. Dinner is done and the setlist is written. The boys of moe. take the stage, beers in hand, Garvey holding a Spotted Cow, and open the show with “It,” an older song in the band’s rotation since 1996. This strong opening tune got the crowd dancing and singing along before the band quickly made their way into “Okayalright,” a newer but heavily played song off Wormwood, and another crowd favorite.

Moe. tested out yet another unique setlist in Madison, straying from the well-known “Rebubula” and “Spine of a Dog” and opting for lesser-known songs such as “Bearsong” and “Wind it Up.”

But as promised, moe. unleashed a stellar show with on-track yet lengthy jams. Moe. played off the crowd’s energy, staying strong well through the second set, even when concertgoers started to disperse and sit down from sheer exhaustion.

Three hours and two sets later, moe. ended the show, encoring with “Good Trip” and “Happy Hour Hero.” At this point, the crowd was staggering after a night of heavy dancing and singing. The clearly exhausted band stepped offstage.

After just a half hour or so to reflect on the experience, the moe. boys were asked how it felt to be back in Madison. Garvey simply stated, “I missed it.” Derhak laughed and added, “I don’t remember the crowd being this energetic.”