After an eventful 2022 traversing the United States and the outer reaches of electronic-infused improvisation, the sonic explorers of Papadosio returned to their home base of Asheville, NC to ring in the new year. The two-night run at The Orange Peel marked the Athens, OH-bred quintet’s first New Year’s Eve in its adopted hometown of the past decade since opening for GRiZ at the then-U.S. Cellular Center downtown in 2016.

Papadosio’s New Year’s Eve run represented something of a dividing rod in the Western North Carolina music haven, splitting locals between The Orange Peel and Leftover Salmon‘s year-ending stand at Salvage Station across town. As many out-of-towners and permanent residents alike filled The Orange Peel, Papadosio hit the stage late Friday evening at 10:47 p.m., ensuring a single, marathon-set performance.

The run began with a rendition of “Unparalyzer” which would rank among the finest performances of the weekend. Dropping into the open waves of psychedelia, brothers Sam and Billy Brouse tantalized us with their synthesizers. Steering the expedition while drummer Mike Healey controlled the mission’s velocity, the band’s journey officially began.

Night one would see Papadosio explore its wide range of stylistic pursuits. From the head-banging prog rock riffs bookending “Unparalyzer” to the light, pop-synth bounce of “Reishi” into hip-hop-inspired 808s and Anthony Thogmartin‘s robot voice on “Write Sing Play Mix”, Papadosio showed that the label “jamtronic” hardly does the band justice.

Over the two nights, Papadosio encapsulated the sum of its achievements for both this year and its entire 15-plus-year history. The first night displayed just how much progress the band had made in 2022. By recruiting opening support from DJs Mark Farina, SOOHAN, DJ Bowie, and fellow Ashevillian Numatik, Papadosio curated a lineup reminiscent of the new Secret Dreams Music & Arts Festival, which the band helped launch this year at its familiar stomping grounds of Legend Valley. That spirit of artistic communion was even more important in light of Resonance Music & Arts Festival‘s postponement due to permit issues.

Absent from the run were many songs from T.E.T.I.O.S., with the band having celebrated the ten-year anniversary of the double LP with a full-album performance spread across two nights in Cleveland over Thanksgiving weekend.

Additionally, Papadosio has released three new songs in the past four months, breaking a studio silence of two years. The band delivered back-to-back new tracks on Friday with “Not Just A Word” followed by an XL telling of “Zoom Out”. For XL renditions of songs, Papadosio expands beyond the normal live telling of a track and follows the composition to its full completion.

By the midpoint of the first night, Dosio had already settled into the room for the weekend. That ease of comfort guided the band through seamless transitions through Microdosio‘s “Agarikon” and “The Eyes Have Eyes”, punctuated after a pause by “Out of Hiding”. The set-closing take on “Smile and Nod” elicited comparisons to Nine Inch Nails, for whom Papadosio proved its affinity with a covers set at Resonance 2017. To wrap up night one, Papadosio delivered perhaps its best-known song, “Find Your Cloud”, wrapping in the early hours of New Year’s Eve with a version that was given the necessary time to develop.

While night one of the 2022 Papadosio New Year’s Eve run displayed how far the band had come that year, night two celebrated everything it has done before. From the opening XL “Threes” that ignited the entire room, Papadosio loaded the setlist with classics from across its discography.

The two-slot “Skipswitch” would prove another stand-out jam of the weekend, required listening for whenever this set hits the group’s Bandcamp Back Lounge. Rob McConnell‘s bass hypnotics springboarded the band back to its 2008 EP with the title track By The Light of the Stars. Hopping back into Doc Brown‘s DeLorean, Papadosio traveled forward to modern times for the live debut of “You’re A Catman“.

The band’s newest single hits all the notes a Papadosio song should. In the live setting, the song is a mountainous region with many hills and valleys to explore. As the bandmates traveled to the edge of exploration, they looked over the edge and took the leap together. Taking the progressive electronic tension to its breaking point, Papadosio burst through into jam bliss.

With the clock striking 11:45 p.m., the band began a slow crawl into “The Plug”, appearing to show fans what song they’ll be counting down 2022 with. A slight detour into “Cordyceps” proved a fakeout, as the band transitioned back into “The Plug” with just enough time for a quick Ram Dass sample before ringing in 2023.

For the first song of the new year, Papadosio fired up the favorite “Improbability Blotter” with the glitchy track presenting a side quest for Sam Brouse to cover The Prodigy‘s “Breathe”. The classics kept coming as the blissful “Puddles For Oceans” bounced along the aquatic surface with playful keys. Arriving at a glorious peak, images of a sun rising and planets spinning flashed on the five LED screens behind the respective band members, with the dawn of a new year giving the promise of a fresh start.

The final voyage of the main set, “The Bionic Man Meets His Past”, was merely gravy atop the ecstasy of the two-night journey. Finishing out the run, Papadosio relaxed the room with the chill, lo-fi ambiance of “Cubensis” to send the crowd into 2023.

Papadosio will resurface for a three-night run across Florida beginning January 19th in Jacksonville. Tickets and a full list of dates are available on the band’s website. Check out some image galleries of the New Year’s Eve run from photographers Tanner Henson and Hunter Rentz.

Setlist: Papadosio | The Orange Peel | Asheville, NC | 12/30/22

Set: Unparalyzer, Reishi [1], Write Sing Play Mix > Not Just A Word, Zoom Out [1] > Agarikon > The Eyes Have Eyes, Out of Hiding > Smile and Nod [1]

Encore: Find Your Cloud

[1] XL

Setlist: Papadosio | The Orange Peel | Asheville, NC | 12/31/22

Set: Threes [1], Skipswitch > By the Light of the Stars> Skipswitch, You’re A Catman [2] > Catalyst, The Plug > Cordyceps > The Plug [3] > Cordyceps, Improbability Blotter > Breathe (The Prodigy) > Improbability Blotter, Puddles for Oceans, The Bionic Man Meets His Past

Encore: Cubensis

[1] XL

[2] FTP

[2] Ball drop