Skip to main content

Twiddle & Jaden Carlson Band 3.14.15


The Aggie Theatre
Fort Collins, CO

Words & Photos By Brad Yeakel (Opti Mystic Outlooks)


With a handful of friends, old and new, I ventured to Fort Collins' Aggie Theatre to indulge in another night of Twiddle. I was immediately delighted to see Jaden Carlson was the only opener. That meant Twiddle would likely play the second set that Denver could have used.

Jaden looked at home on stage, expertly dropping guitar solos and sonic waves with hints of Buckethead, Steve Vai, and several other freakish virtuosos. Her set was phenomenal, highlighted by a cover of "Listen to the Music" with all of Twiddle guesting. She and her musical allies also "Rick Rolled" us with a surprise cover of Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up."

When Twiddle hit the stage next, I was optimistic that we would get two sets. As the first set kicked off, the vibe seemed quite different than the previous show in Denver. The crowd, much thinner, was of a different variety. CSU students accounted for the the majority of the room, and the underage area was packed. With a slightly altered consciousness, I connected with the music heavily, and was focused on the elements that made up their sound.

First, there was the obvious... Phish. Being a four piece band from Vermont that plays heavy compositional improv rock was bound to draw that parallel. It was relevant in the sense that they approached composition and exploratory jamming in a similar way to the Phearsome Phoursome, but there was much more to it than that. The calypso rhythms and positive lyrics displayed an energy derivative of the String Cheese Incident, while their frenzied precision was more like Umphrey's McGee. But even that fell short of the whole story. Through a tune that seemed to be straight out of Moe.'s catalog, and into territory that reminded me of 311, their diversity within the realm of styles I love was vast.

I also liked the Fort Collins show a bit better because they did play more of the material I knew. My first set highlights were "Pachelbel's Canon in D" and "Doinkinbonk," the latter of which contained "Too Many Puppies" by Primus. As the band took a break, so did we, refreshing our drinks and grabbing some air. When second set began, the band slipped straight into psychedelic waters. I really enjoyed "Wasabi Eruption> The Box," which was full of energy, much like early moe. material. "Apples" with the entire Jaden Carlson Band was a rocker as well.

On my first listen, I didn't care for Mihali's voice, but it has grown on me gradually, and now I actually enjoy it quite a bit. I thought all of the musicians were well above average, and at times showed glimpses of sheer brilliance. While there was room for improvement, the margins were small. They easily followed each other through lengthy compositional passages, into jams, and out the other side with nary a snare. As the last night of a tour that had Twiddle canvassing the state over the course of two weeks, the band still seemed fresh, happy, excited, and ready for more.

With a shade over four months until their debut at iconic Red Rocks (opening for the String Cheese Incident), Twiddle seemed to be committed to their path, and a blooming community seemed to be ready to walk it with them. They had earned their way into my personal listening rotation, and I expected them to stay there for a while.

Brad's Photo Gallery

www.twiddlemusic.com

www.jadensound.com

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Livetronica Sampler 3.22.11

Words by Greg Molitor ( ReMIND Photography ) Ozric Tentacles This British group has proven innovative throughout the years offering a space-rock meets psytrance sound that remains alive to this day. Though never having a major record label, Ozric Tentacles has produced 28 albums of diverse psychedelia throughout its career. The band met at the Stonehenge Free Festival in 1983 and truly fathered livetronica music with its use of sequencers and synthesizers. Simply put, there would be no livetronica without Ozric Tentacles. www.ozrics.com Octopus Nebula Colorado’s Octopus Nebula has certainly hit its stride as of late with its constant touring and increased festival interest. The group expands on the deep sounds of highly regarded acts such as STS9 and Shpongle but also carves a path of its own with its fresh takes on synthesizer tones and sampling in the live setting. Octopus Nebula Live at Cervantes' Masterpiece Ballroom on March 26, 2010. <--- Direct Archive Link www.octopus

Buckethead: Gimmick or Guitar God?

Words & Photos By Nicholas Stock ( phatphlogblog.blogspot.com ) At what point does the gimmick overshadow the performance? The obvious answer is Buckethead. The man is an amazing guitarist but something is not right in this world. The idea a performer who dons a KFC chicken bucket on his head for a concert has always intrigued me, and some of his side projects such as Colonel Claypool’s Bernie Bucket of Brains have been huge successes. However his performance last weekend in Fort Collins simply left me perplexed. From his robotic dancing, to his nunchuck display, to the fact the he performed with an iPod rather than a band all added to my confusion. Going into the show I was ready to be blown away, despite rumblings of disgruntled fans from the previous night’s show at The Gothic. Buckethead had had some sound issues and some missed cues in Denver but I was still trying to be positive for the show in Fort Collins. It did go off without a hitch technically but that was the least

The Origin of MusicMarauders

Words By J-man "What should I name this fucking thing?" I asked myself in the midst of a joint in my Upstate, NY apartment. "It's got to be something with just 'Music'in the title. Nothing more specific than that, as we'll be covering a wide variety of genres." One more drag on the joint yielded the memory of driving down Woodward Ave. in Detroit, listening to Tribe Called Quest's Midnight Marauders. "MusicMarauders! That's it... It completely encompasses what we do in the sense the we are 'maraudering' or 'pillaging' for music," I thought as I stared out of the window at about three and a half feet of fresh Upstate snow. First things first, the domain had to be registered. "Do I have ten dollars in my account?" I thought to myself from a position of just scraping by. Pulling out my shiny, rarely used debit card, I put it to the test and was able to secure MusicMarauders.com. "What's next?" I