Friends Come Out to See Twiddle at The Underground
On more than a few occasions, I am called on to cover a show, and I will be honest, I don’t really know much about the bands. Sometimes this leads to disappointment, but more times than not, it leads me to ask myself, “why didn’t I know about these bands?“
Fortunately for me, Saturday night the call came to check out a couple bands at the Underground, and it was one of those nights where I had to ask myself that question. My first exposure to Midnight North and Twiddle was way better than what my expectations were. Going in, I had heard that Twiddle was a jam band. Normally the jam band style of music isn’t really my cup of tea, but the guys in Twiddle showed me more than your standard 12 minute song sessions. Midnight North didn’t fall into that category and had perfect vocals and tight instrumentation which has something to do with some great family influences.
I am not sure what style you would classify Midnight North as. I guess that is always open to a little interpretation, but there are some country rock influences in their sound for sure. As I mentioned the musicianship in the band is top notch, some of this is in part to frontman Grahame Lesh’s roots in his father’s, Phil Lesh’s work. Grahame’s style is definitely his own however. Lesh and fellow front woman, Elliot Peck, harmonize and flow as one to create stories with their music. The rest of the band brought one of the best sounds I have seen in a long time. Thumping bass and hard driving drums kept the pocket tight and the keys filled in the layers that rounded out their unique sound. The band is out on tour and a must see if you get a chance. If you aren’t able to catch them out on the road on this tour, you can catch them playing Sunday nights at Terrapin Crossroads in San Rafael, CA. You might want to check the schedule to see when their next gig is. I really want to own their collection of music as I really felt a good vibe and great songs from this band. Their performance left me wanting more.
So, it is a small world. I just saw Twiddle play in Charlotte on Saturday, and at the writing of this article I am in Denver where Twiddle is going to be playing Red Rocks on Friday. Bad timing for me as I am going to be flying back to Charlotte at about the same time they are taking the historic stage overlooking Denver’s skyline.
There a few fans in the crowd who said they were going to fly out to the Red Rocks show… Superfans. If I knew what I know now I would have stayed an extra night in Denver and go check the Vermont boys out again. Again, the musicianship was unbelievable as they gave their friends two sets of scorching music and finally wrapped at midnight. From the moment they hit the stage, the crowd never stopped dancing and moving with every lick played by Mihali on his guitar. I really had no idea what Mihali’s style might be.
Snapback sitting low on his forehead and hair flowing out the back, he put on a guitar clinic all night. Some shred mixed with those contagious melodies, then some more shred. Can you dig it? I could. The other boys were equally up to the task of following Mihali’s lead. Zedenek’s bass was reverberating in my chest, and he grinned at the crowd like he had something on his mind and wasn’t letting us in on it. At times, Ryan Dempsey played his ivories with one hand as he pumped his other fist into the air and sang at the top of his lungs, and he even sported a keytar to show off his own soloing skills. I am always a fan if a band can rock a keytar. Drummer, Brook Jordan, lifted the rhythm section to that next level as he added a few more dents to his drum heads.
If you hear a Twiddle jam session, you will move. You will not be able to help yourself. They have a few more dates out there on the books, so if you want to jam with friends, get out and support Twiddle and Midnight North.
