(Writer: Tammie Eller)

On Thursday, March 28th, Twiddle made their triumphant return home to the east coast with night one of a two-day fundraising benefit for the White Light Foundation at the Paramount Theater in Rutland, VT.  Twiddle brought the heat in a way that reminded everyone there why we are obsessed with this band.

Set one opened with “Nicodemus Portulay”. Then, the boys from Twiddle proceeded to blow everyone’s mind for the next hour by building one of the most epic sandwich sets in recent shows. We heard “Subconscious Prelude”, “Gatsby the Great”, “Doinkinbonk”, and “Zazu’s Flight” all segued and sandwiched together with some buttery jams in there to wash it all down.

(Photo: Frankie Cavone)

Twiddle didn’t stop playing until it was time to take a set break — at which point everyone in the crowd looked at each other with huge eyes making sure other people had just witnessed the same magic.

Then, Ryan Dempsey on keys, Mihali Savoulidis on lead guitar, Brook Jordan on drums, and Zdenek Gubb on bass came back out and opened set two with the East Coast premiere of “Dinner Fork”. And again, spent the next hour melting our faces with a mega-sandwich that included “Grandpa Fox,” “River Drift,” “Daydream Farmer,” “Hattie’s Jam,” and “When it Rains it Poors” with a super-special “Gubb Dumps” (bass solos) that everyone loves oh so much.

(Photo: Frankie Cavone)

Twiddle played a gorgeous rendition of “Beats and Greene” as an encore and stepped off the stage leaving everyone wondering the same thing — how in the world would Twiddle top this show tomorrow night?

Twiddle came back for their final show of the two-day White Light Foundation fundraising run on Friday, March 29th.  Apparently, the members of Twiddle work best under pressure because, unbelievably, they spent the next couple of hours answering that question with one of the most epic sets of music we have gotten from them so far — and they even added lasers this time.

(Photo: Tom Schassler)

Twiddle opened set one with a crowd favorite called Orlando’s. Which was fortuitous, because keyboardist Ryan Dempsey had the grand opening of his bar, Orlando’s Bar and Grill, scheduled for the very next day.

Now, while Thursday night’s show was all about sandwiches, Friday’s was all about the jam.  On Friday, though, lead singer Mihali Savoulidis, using a different guitar than most of us are used to, threw down some experimental, otherworldly bars that took everyone in the crowd to nearly orgasmic levels of musical ecstasy.

But the amazing, mind-blowing, type two jams Twiddle delivered throughout the night Friday are only a small fraction of the larger story. Friday’s show was a homecoming in every possible way, and the atmosphere reflected that everywhere you turned. Even the people working security had a good time.

Of course, any good homecoming includes players from the past — and Twiddle delivered with two heart-touching sit-ins. First, Casey Grant from the Dr. Jones Band sat in for the end of set one and helped Twiddle bring “Mamunes the Faun” to an epic close. Then, for the encore after set two, one of Mihali’s childhood inspirations named Rick Redington joined the boys on stage for what was arguably the best version of “Eyes of the World” that Twiddle has ever delivered.

(Photo: Frankie Cavone)

Throughout the show, Ryan Dempsey, gave us some keyboard skills, including standing up on them and playing with his feet, that simply cemented him as one of the most talented and hilarious keyboard players in the business right now.  Zdenek Gubb on bass along with Brook Jordan on Drums held the night together with solid rhythms and delicious bass lines that only they can deliver — all with a little help from Yoda, of course.

So, on top of two earth-shatteringly epic nights of music, Twiddle, along with the White Light Foundation, raised money for three separate scholarships to help students that attend Castleton University with these shows. Leave it to this band to not only create an atmosphere of love, light, and acceptance, but they also entertain their fans with mind-numbingly good music, show love and appreciation to everyone that helped them get where they are, and give back to their community all at the same time.

Twiddle continues to deliver to a fan base that grows and falls more in love with the band every single day. Catch them at one of their upcoming tour dates: April 11 at Higher Ground in Burlington, Vermont for an acoustic set or April 12 at College Street Music Hall in New Haven, Connecticut. Those two shows will kick off Twiddle’s next Road to Red Rocks Tour which ends with them co-headlining with the Pigeons Playing Ping Pong in Colorado.

March 28th, 2019
Set 1: Nicodemus-> Subconscious Prelude-> Gatsby the Great-> Doinkinbonk-> Gatsby the Great-> Nicodemus, Zazus flight-> Doinkinbonk

Set 2: Dinner fork-> Grandpa Fox-> Every soul-> Grandpa Fox -> Dinner Fork, Daydream Farmer, River drift, Hattie’s jam-> When It Rains It Pours

Encore: Beethoven and Greene

March 29th, 2019
Set 1: Enter, Orlando’s-> Apples-> Tiberius-> Orlando’s, Machine, Mamunes the Fawn, Latin Tang ^

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