How’s the scene inside Fly Me to the Moon during a night grass show? I understand partly depends on who might be playing but in general is it 1) packed to the gills 2) hot and sweaty 3) crowd noise respectful of the artist. Thanks for any insight
In my experience, it’s as follows:
- yes - pretty much
- yes, due to #1
- it’s pretty noisy, but everyone’s there to have a good time
After Crooked Still a few years ago, I decided I didn’t want to go back to FMTTMS again - but that’s just me, being (to an extent) claustrophobic. Some people love a packed show.
Maybe others who have attended more recently or more often could chime in, too.
Apparently, the Moon changed hands very recently. I’m assuming not much, if anything, will change for Nightgrass this year … although who knows, maybe the new owner has ideas for a reconfiguration of the floorplan in the future.
If it were me, I’d consider pushing the bar backwards against the far western wall … or some other to open up the bottleneck which forms immediately to the left…
@hooterroll, the comment above is in reference to the floor layout, which finds a two-sided bar in the middle that divides the venue into two rooms – the one room with the stage, and the second, well, without it. The link below shows the view out from the stage, but there’s another whole room you can enter to the left of the stage (as the picture’s oriented) but which is mostly blocked by the bar. The path to that other room, I assume, is what FaceOnMars is talking about re: “the bottleneck”.
http://flymetothemoonsaloon.com/images/barlrg.jpg
Part of why it gets so crowded is that most people want to me in the room with the stage.
That said, for Crooked Still I was all the way in the back of this room and could still hear/see. People were just more annoying back there.
Last couple times, they are usually shut down between ski season and summer. When we’ve caught shows there earlier in the week, say Monday or Tuesday or Wednesday nights of bluegrass, it’s been that they just opened up after being closed for a couple of months.
That in itself isn’t a big deal, but when they had shows there early in the week, they’ve run out of beer and liquor! That’s happened the last 2 years running!! Not like there’s this huge festival coming to town and you might want to stock up on beer or liquor or anything . . . but seriously, they’ve run out, like at 11:00 pm at night!!
I’ve been pretty disappointed the last couple times in there for Nightgrass shows as well. Saw a Tim O’Brien and a Peter Rowan show there for nightgrass, the place was crowded, everyone was talking or yelling almost - it was loud and if you weren’t up front, you couldn’t hear anything.
I am glad to hear that there is a new owner, maybe some things will change.
Packway Handle…I sat as folks poured in all around me so tight I could not lift my glass to my mouth…too tight for me. :cheers
There is one thing I dislike about Telluride: FMTTMS!
As a venue, unless you get there early and up front, expect nothing but noise and BS. After Jorma in 2004, marred by many a rude drunk idiot, the venue has ceased to be an option for me ever since.
Oh no, bad karma bro! “NOT UP IN HERE!!!” Rob Riggle
… you say “hot and sweaty” as though it’s a bad thing 
.
FMTTMS is one of my favorite venues in Telluride…
Its best to get there early and secure a spot right up front and hold your ground :cheers
Then, you’re literally like right there with the band as they’re picking and singing, which I love…
And it’s nice too becuase it gets real warm in the show and then the air outside doesn’t feel quite as cold for the walk back to town park…
And, its got a cool scene outside of the venue on the sidewalk for chilling and hanging around late night…
Agreed… For Head For The Hills last year, I got there before the Leftover Salmon crowd arrived from the main stage, and it was cool because I was one of the 50 people who could fit in the front area… Went there the next night for DM3, and it was crap. Couldn’t get past the bottleneck, and couldn’t see or hear in the back. Decided at that point that it’s just not worth it.
can I come and go? I have a house around the block, i would be noice If I could duck out and still come back in if it was too tight
Yes you can come & go…no problem there!
Word on the street is the new owner is looking to really be engaged with booking bands and bringing it back to it’s former status as a place for live music. I wish Skip all the best and I’m sure he was glad to finally unload it, but the past couple few years have certainly had it’s ups and downs … and you’re correct, there was often a couple months of down time. However, last year I think he made a concerted effort to at least keep things running at a minimum so he could at least “show the place” (to potential buyers) … there were actually some decent acts booked over and a great open mic/jam which I always looked forward to participating.
As much as I think the moon can be a sweat box with plenty of chit chatters for nightgrass, I can’t understate how great news this was to see someone try to make a new go of things there. It’s kind of a “near miss” for almost losing a NG venue (warts and all), as it could’ve easily been turned into office space or a restuarant.
I too have heard good things about the new owner’s intentions. The Moon is a classic Telluride joint. Best places in there to keep one’s sanity (if this were your intention)- my favorites anyway- tend to be either in the front row at the band’s feet or on a couch on the back by the pinball (yes, pinball!) machine. Not much space in between for anything but being a part of the one-mass crowd- which isn’t a terrible thing, necessarily during Bluegrass…
Super high energy shows in there, people respectful, yes, if very high and tending towards wasted or at least ‘really loose.’ Great times, hot sweaty, tight as sardines (there’s also a little breathing room by the bathrooms)- but there’s something about that place and the kinda shows that bands put out there when it’s packed. So Nightgrass shows there GO OFF! It’s the next best place to see a Nightgrass show in my opinion, after the Opera House, even with the sardines and hot and all that. You can go in and out no problem, party outside or at your house or wherever. Classic Telluride locals’ bar, I’ve had many a fantastic time there during Bluegrass and regular Telluride living times. Will be interesting to see how the rumoured to be cool new ownership does things differently. I’m sure it will be great.
Basically, I say go to any show at the Moon if you don’t have tickets to the Op. Happy Festivaling!
Thanks everyone for the info!!!
Went to the innaugural show at the new Moon last evening (Funkdafari) & while they haven’t totally redone the place, they did a few little things which really makes a relatively big difference to open the space up … pushed the main bar in (to the west) by a 2-3 feet, removed the (dry) bar with stools on the immediately on the left (east wall) when you walk in, and pulled the SBD booth in by a few feet. These things were immediatel visible, but the new owner told me he re-wired the stage, which is key … it always had the potential to be a very buzzy electrical situation.