Over the long weekend, Twiddle brought their celebrated Frendsgiving event to The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, N.Y., marking the end of the final tour before the extended hiatus they announced in late 2022. The three-day event–a culmination of 18 years worth of touring by Twiddle.–took place on Nov. 24, 25 and 26. The first two evenings saw the band enjoy support from Kitchen Dwellers, while the final show saw three sets from the Vermont-born jamband along with an exceptional and emotional encore.
The first set of Frendsgiving was opened by the instrumental “Stroganoff,” which gave way to deep cuts “Syncopated Healing” and “Daydream Farmer.” They then welcomed Kitchen Dwellers banjoist Torrin Daniels for their bluegrass jam “Cabbage Face.” The first frame was concluded with “Brown Chicken Brown Cow,” and little time was wasted before they continued with “Collective Pulse” before another instrumental “Brick of Barley” to crack open the second set. They tilted towards jazz, with Scott Hanny on keys and Adrian Tramontano on drums and shared two songs off their 2022 LP Every Last Leaf. The second set was closed by “Hattie’s Jam” > “When It Rains It Poors.” before an encore of Bush’s “Glycerine” with all of Kitchen Dwellers.
Night two began with a string of classics with an “Every Soul” > “Mamunes The Faun” > “Every Soul” sandwich. The second set also featured a sandwich with ALO cover “BBQ” placed between the beginning and end of “White Light” – the namesake Twiddle’s charity Organization White Light Foundation. Like the previous evening, the second night was also lush with sit-ins: Daniels and Shawn Swain joining on a cover of The Beatles’ “Rocky Raccoon” and the former staying on for “Subconscious Prelude.” Michael Oehmen also joined on saxophone for “Lost in the Cold” before Twiddle ended the set with another take off Every Last Leaf, “Slippin in the Kitchen.” They ended the evening with a superjam of Talking Heads’ iconic song “Burning Down The House” with Kitchen Dwellers.
The final evening was truly a family affair with memories of the band in the form of fan photos projected on The Capitol Theatre’s hallowed walls. With just three sets remaining, they proved to be ready to close things out with fireworks. They launched the collection of songs in the form of bust-outs with “Be There,” “Bronze Fingers,” “Fighting For,” and “Five,” all appearing in the first set. The second set was highlighted by “Latin Tang” lush with funk and flow and elevated by a cover of Vulfpeck’s “Dean Town.” Later on they dished out more favorites with “Apples” and “Doinkinbonk!!!,” which featured sections of Primus’ “Too Many Puppies.”
The final set from Twiddle saw deep jams in the form of “Orlando’s” and “Jamflowman,” before guitarist Mihali Savoulidis added his shredding to “Frankenfoote.” The final set also saw “Gatsby The Great,” “The Box” and a sentimental “Beautiful” which brought things to a close. For their final encore, the band gave one of the only reprises of the three-night run dishing out “When it Rains it Poors” before 2023 favorite “Every Last Leaf II.”
Photographer Dino Perrucci captured the magic below.
Twiddle Frendsgiving 2023
The Capitol Theatre – Port Chester, NY
Nov. 24, 2023
Set I: Stroganoff, Syncopated Healing, Daydream Farmer, Cabbage Face [1], The Mission, Brown Chicken Brown Cow
Set II: Collective Pulse, Brick of Barley [2], The Devil, River Drift, Amydst the Myst [3],
Mushrooms of the Sea > Dr. Remidi’s Melodium [4], Hattie’s Jam > When It Rains It Poors
Enc.: Glycerine Medley [5]
[1] with Torrin Daniels (Kitchen Dwellers) on Banjo
[2] with Scott Hannay on Keys
[3] with Hedwig’s Theme teases
[4] with Drums and Gubb Dump section
[5] Bush; with Kitchen Dwellers; with “No Woman No Cry” (Bob Marley), “Wagon Wheel” (Old
Crow Medicine Show), “Farmhouse” (Phish), and “One Day” (Matisyahu) teases; No stage break before encore
Nov. 25, 2023
Set I: Nicodemus Portulay > Indigo Trigger, The Fantastic Tale of Ricky Snickle, Every Soul > Mamunes the Faun > Every Soul, Beethoven and Greene
Set II: White Light > BBQ [1] > White Light, Rocky Raccoon [2], Subconscious Prelude [3], Polluted Beauty [4], Lost in the Cold [4], Slippin in the Kitchen
Enc.: Burning Down The House [5]
[1] ALO
[2] The Beatles; with Torrin Daniels on Banjo, and Shawn Swain on Mandolin (Kitchen Dwellers)
[3] with Torrin Daniels on Banjo
[4] with Mike Oehmen on Saxophone
[5] Talking Heads superjam; with Torrin Daniels on Banjo, Shawn Swain on Mandolin, Joe Funk
(Kitchen Dwellers) on Upright Bass, Scott Hannay on Keys, and Mike Oehmen on Saxophone
Nov. 26, 2023
Set I: Be There, Moments, Bronze Fingers, Fighting For, Hattibagen McRat, Five, Earth Mama
Set II: Frends Theme, Latin Tang > Dean Town [1] > Latin Tang, Apples > Doinkinbonk!!! > Apples > Doinkinbonk!!! > Too Many Puppies [2] > Doinkinbonk!!!
Set III: Orlando’s, Jamflowman [3] > Frankenfoote, Zazu’s Flight, Gatsby the Great > The Box, Beautiful
Enc.: When it Rains it Poors [4] > Every Last Leaf II [5]
[1] Vulfpeck; with Scott Hannay on Keys
2] Primus
[3] with Layla tease
[4] with Somewhere Over the Rainbow tease
[5] with Scott Hannay on Keys