A music and emotion-filled weekend at The Capitol Theatre wrapped up on Sunday, November 26, as Twiddle, a band whose near two-decade tenure as a dominant Northeast jam band, came to a close. Using the annual ‘Frendsgiving‘ celebration to begin their indefinite hiatus, the group’s dedicated final performances (for now) matched the love and affection Twiddle fans poured out over three days and nights in Port Chester.
Frendsgiving has been a Twiddle tradition since at least 2017, a celebration around Thanksgiving that brings the Twiddle faithful together for a two or three night run at The Capitol Theatre. The fans who have made Twiddle a brand that goes well beyond the band are the core of this community, taking the music and lyrics, embracing them and incorporating them into their lives, as well as their artwork and inspired creations.
Celebrated Frend Art events have brought fans together in great numbers, showing the inspiration the band imparts on their fans. On Saturday, November 25 and Sunday, November 26, Coda Davidson once again brought Frend Art together for two shows, full of live music, workshops, live painting, and a chance to meet the artists and creators of these galvanized creators, for the first, or potentially, last time. Events like these are the reason Twiddle was head and shoulders above many of their brethren in the jam scene, creating a scene that was truly organic, mirroring the jams the band bring to the stage each night.
That was something that always stuck out about Twiddle – the band offered a fresh perspective of an organic fanbase and movement, one that was seen over the decades, bringing along comparisons to Phish, given their Vermont roots and tendency to jam off of oddly named songs. But Twiddle was not Phish, nor the ‘next Phish’; if anything, Twiddle was indicative of a generational swing for (primarily) millennials who sought to carve their own niche in the jam scene, being far more than a photostat of the ‘other’ four guys from Vermont. The comparisons between the two bands began and ended with ‘’well, they’re from Vermont and there are four guys in the band” simply because there was no reason for a ‘next Phish,’ which holds true even today with other bands from the Northeast.
One aspect of Twiddle’s legacy that may be overlooked is how effectively the band made sure to uplift bands in the jam scene that were just starting out, giving these artists with small followings a big stage by opening up for Twiddle at various points in the first half of the 2010s. Former Twiddle manager Kevin Rondeau was instrumental in this, seeing the promise of bands like Mister F, Wild Adriatic, and Strange Machines, offering them opening slots or late night at festivals across the Northeast. There were countless bands you could see at Frendly Gathering or Tumbledown who you might be able to see at some point at a club, but this elevation to festival billing or direct support at a show was a game changer for those bands lucky enough to have the opportunity, particularly for those who knew how to use this boost to their long term advantage.
So as Twiddle entered this final stretch of shows, I found myself nostalgic, wondering how many Twiddle shows I had seen since The Big Up 2010 – I ballparked the number to be around 30 but it could be higher still – and what the legacy of the band will be following this final run at The Cap. I recalled attending the band’s first Capitol Theatre show, seeing the joy from Rondeau and keyboardist Ryan Dempsey when they learned the show was officially sold out, a mere three hours before doors. The fans were alive with energy the entire night, knowing they were witness to the start of the band’s next step.
That energy was still seen outside the Capitol Theatre for Frendsgiving, with Twiddle fans lined up for early entry, aiming to ride the rail one final time, or displaying pin boards and their wares for advance arrivals who sought out the abundance of Hispanic food found throughout Port Chester (don’t sleep on El Rinconcito Salvadoreno, right behind the Capitol Theatre). Fans likewise lined up all through the venue to pick up the final run of merchandise, including three incredible prints from Vinny Naro, and even had a wide selection of prints and merch from the Twiddle archives for sale in Garcia’s.
And then there was the music.
The Kitchen Dwellers provided a great opening set, and sit-ins, on Friday, November 24 and Saturday, November 25, a connection going back over a decade that has seen Kitchen Dwellers making it to the east coast usually twice a year and finding a healthy audience wherever they play.
Friday night of Twiddle began with instrumental “Stroganoff” and “Syncopated Healing,” the latter echoing the phrase/advice “Heal your life,” something not lost on the faithful in attendance and streaming at home on Fans.Live, following with a big jam out of “Daydream Farmer” and inviting up Torrin from Kitchen Dwellers for “Cabbage Face.”
Set two’s “Brick of Barley” welcomed a familiar face in Scott Hannay, AKA ‘stage daddy’. Hannay’s musical journey has included stints with Capital Zen and later with Mister F, as well as his own 8-bit musical creations, and currently serves as keyboardist for Mihali’s band, which has a rosy future paved out for it. “Brick of Barley” also gave drummer Adrian Tramontano a worthy drums segment that made this one of the jams of the weekend. “River Drift” had Mihali coming out to the front of the stage, pouring emotion out of his DGN guitar as he fell to his knees during the peak, fans raising their hands up with requited love. A tease of “Hedwig’s Theme” from Harry Potter was found in “Amydst the Myst,” and sunflowers found space on the walls of The Cap during “Hattis Jam” > “When it Rains it Poors,” the latter an anthem for Twiddle if there ever was one.
The encore on Friday would have Twiddle bring up Kitchen Dwellers quickly, none leaving the stage, as they tuned up all nine musicians for “Glycerine Medley,” which had bits of “No Woman No Cry,” “Wagon Wheel” and “Farmhouse,” framing the first night perfectly with post-show music “You’ve Got a Friend in Me.”
Saturday night’s sets would feature songs that encapsulated Twiddle’s storytelling chops, including fan favorites in the first set, “Nicodemus Portulay,” “Fantastic Tale of Ricky Snickle,” “Mamunes the Faun,” “Beethoven & Greene.” Set two saw a cover of ALO’s “BBQ” inside of “White Light” (which gave its name to the band’s official charity) and the Beatles “Rocky Raccoon” with Torrin and Swain from Kitchen Dwellers joining in. Torrin would stick around for “Subconscious Prelude” and the entire band joining Twiddle for a raucous cover of “Burning Down the House” in the encore slot. Ryan Dempsey took the opportunity to crowd surf, with success, during the encore as Hannay took over on key, the stage lit up with smiles and excitement from the bands in this, their final live collaboration.
Sunday night featured three sets, each one piling on the classic Twiddle songs fans clamored to hear, as well as some rarities in the mix. The first set featured two of those bust-outs, “Bronze Fingers” and “Five,” with a set ending “Earth Mama.” Over the next two sets, the biggest jam vehicles took the crowd for a spin one last time – “Latin Tang” had a jam on Vulfpeck’s “Dean Town,” with Mihali ascending to the Stage Left box seats for an incredible solo; “Apples” made way for “Doinkenbonk,” one of the silliest song titles in the Twiddle catalog, but with a groove and jam that make up for it, and Primus’ “Too Many Puppies” sung perfectly by Zdenek Gubb, slapping the bass with precision to close the middle set.
Set 3 began with “Orlando’s,” a song that has given birth to a music venue of the same name in Burlington. “Jamflowman,” a song that became one of the most identifiable Twiddle songs, thanks to the line “Jamflowman don’t give a damn” found “Frankenfoote” to follow, Frankies projected all across the walls of the Capitol Theatre. “Gatsby the Great” was yet another song that lent itself to becoming Twiddle parlance and art (“Luva Duck“) and closed with an always mesmerizing “The Box.”
Before returning for an encore, Capitol Theatre owner and promoter Peter Shapiro came out to thank the fans, give Twiddle due credit for their longevity, and surprised the band with medals for each of them. After hugs and smiles, the band returned to a song played on Friday night, “When It Rains It Poors,” Mihali calling an audible and returning to their most streamed song, and with appropriate lyrics as they hit pause after 20 years:
Now listen to the words I’m
Saying in this line that your life will be just fine and
Troubles do not stay they
Get replaced with good times
Now you got a great life
Smile as you walk by
Thinking about the Day
Fare thee well Twiddle, we’ll meet again someday.
Twiddle “Frendsgiving”- Capitol Theatre, Port Chester – Friday, November 24, 2023
Set 1: Stroganoff, Syncopated Healing, Daydream Farmer, Cabbage Face (1), The Mission, Brown Chicken Brown Cow#
Set 2: Collective Pulse, Brick of Barley (2), The Devil, River Drift, Amydst The Myst$, Mushrooms of the Sea> Dr Remidis Melodium, Hattis Jam > When It Rains It Poors
Encore: Glycerine Medley (3)
(1) – w/ Torrin Daniels (Kitchen Dwellers)
(2) – w/ Scott Hannay
(3) – w/ Kitchen Dwellers (no stage break before encore)
$ – contained Hedwigs Theme
Twiddle “Frendsgiving”- Capitol Theatre, Port Chester – Saturday, November 25, 2023
Set 1: Nicodemus Portulay> Indigo Trigger, Fantastic Tale of Ricky Snickle, Every Soul> Mamunes the Faun> Every Soul, Beethoven & Greene
Set 2: White Light> BBQ [1] > White Light, Rocky Raccoon [2], Subconscious Prelude [3], Polluted Beauty [4], Lost in the Cold [4], Slippin in the Kitchen
Encore: Burning Down The House [5]
[1] – ALO
[2] – The Beatles w/Torrin & Swain
[3] – w/Torrin Daniels
[4] – Mike on Saxophone
[5] – Talking Heads superjam w/Torrin, Swain, Joe Funk, Scott Hannay & Mike on Sax
Twiddle “Frendsgiving”- Capitol Theatre, Port Chester – Sunday, November 26, 2023
Set 1: Be There, Moments, Bronze Fingers, Fighting For, Hattibagen McRat, Five, Earth Mama
Set 2: Frends Theme, Latin Tang#, Apples > Doinkenbonk > Too Many Puppies*
Set 3: Orlando’s, Jamflowman> Frankenfoote > Gatsby the Great, The Box
Encore: When It Rains It Pours > Over the Rainbow > When It Rains It Pours > Every Last Leaf II
# with Scott Hannay
* “I Will Always Love You” tease
Photo gallery by Filip Zalewski
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