Moe. is blowing up.

In the wake of the retirement of Phish — the band that shaped and ruled the neo-hippie music movement for two decades — other established “jam” bands are trying to fill the hole left in the scene.

One group is moe., a 14-year-old quintet that has been receiving its fair share of attention lately in an apparent bid for the jam band crown.

Chuck Garvey, one of two guitarists for the band, says although moe. has been busy, the band’s playing has never been better.

“One thing that’s different [on this tour] is the overall energy,” Garvey says.

“I think that the band has just stepped up what we feel is good musicianship, and I think that the energy level and the intensity have definitely gone up in the last year or so. All the shows on this tour have been really intense.”

The members of moe. began their 18-date tour fresh off the heels of a charity concert to fund tsunami relief in Asia.

The Feb. 10 event saw several world-class musicians joining moe. on stage for renditions of both original songs and crowd-pleasing covers, like Eric Clapton’s “Crossroads.”

The guest lineup included appearances by mandolin player Sam Bush, keyboardist John Medeski and most notably, guitarist Trey Anastasio of the now-defunct Phish for the entire second set.

“We were really honored to have those guys come do that with us,” Garvey says of the benefit. “We rehearsed with Trey for a couple of hours and he was really pumped about it. He said he felt really bottled up, like he had to get out and tear ass a little bit, and he got us really fired up about it. It was one of the best things we’ve done in a really long time.”

All proceeds from the event were matched by the Dave Matthews Band and went to the Bama Works Village Recovery Fund, a charity established by Dave Matthews to help rebuild a village devastated by the tsunami.

Moe. already has plenty of big names to drop, including Matthews and Anastasio, but now the band can add one more to the list — Carson Daly.

Starting Feb. 16, moe. was the house band for three nights on Daly’s late-night talk show, playing short song segments every time a guest was introduced or the show went to or returned from a commercial break.

For a jam band used to extending songs into half-hour improvised epics, Garvey says playing 20-second bursts of material was a new exercise in discipline.

Although moe. didn’t get to improvise on TV, the band still does so extensively at its shows, which Garvey says keeps the whole experience fresh and interesting.

“My theory on improvisation is, especially when you do it as an ensemble, it’s exciting because it’s something that’s never been done before. It’s not like a specific play in football where you rehearse, rehearse, rehearse,” Garvey says.

“It’s spontaneity and it’s fun for everyone. I think it’s one of the best things that can happen in music.”

Who: moe.

Where: Val Air Ballroom, 301 Ashworth Road, West Des Moines

When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday

Cost: $22.50 in advance, $24.50 at the door