All the holiday feels were in full force as Twiddle returned to The Capitol Theatre on Friday night to celebrate Frendsgiving, its fifth since starting the annual event in 2017. As is always the case when the Vermont-based feel-good band is in town, positive vibrations would run high for the duration in Port Chester, NY’s famed rock palace, especially as many fans participated in a canned food drive for local families that kicked the evening off with a sense of charity and community.

Dogs In A Pile and Twiddle have been on the road together since the end of October and both bands enjoyed a homecoming of sorts after having extensively toured through the Gulf states and Midwest. The Jersey Shore natives sure looked at home on the big stage as their enthusiastic Dog Pound showed up with purpose and force as the band conjured good cheer with an enthusiastic opening set. To see this young band is to be welcomed into their family and they have that intangible something beyond the musical notes that makes you want to keep coming back. A terrific six-song set was bookended by highlights “Little Things” and “Bent Strange”.

Dogs In A Pile – “Little Things”, “Stranger” [Pro-Shot] – 11/25/22

Twiddle opened its show with a live debut of the title track from its latest album, Every Last Leaf. “Every Last Leaf is a metaphor for life,” Mihali Savoulidis explains. “When a leaf falls to the ground, something will grow from it. Everything is part of this grand circle. In the music, we’re exploring all of life’s sides—from the sad and angry to the proud and happy.” It was more of the latter this time around as the band continued with the album’s next track, “Beautiful”, Mihali’s tender vocals echoing prominently around the domed hall.

“Stroganoff” and “Life Back Now” preceded the first of the evening’s Frends who would join Twiddle, with Michael Bafundo and Mike Oehmen chiming in on saxophone and trumpet for a run of fan favorites from Plump (Chapters 1 & 2)– “Complacent Race”, “Moments”, and “Polluted Beauty”–punctuated by “Latin Tang”.

A stretched-out “The Box”, led by the rhythm section of Zdenek Gubb (bass) and Adrian Tramontano (drums), kicked off the second frame before the horns returned for “Syncopated Healing”. Dogs In A Pile’s Sam Lucid (bass) and Brian Murray (guitar) then joined Twiddle for “Distance Makes The Heart” before the horns returned for “Enter”.

Ryan Dempsey led the way through one of the band’s signature compositions, “Orlando’s”, marked on this day by notable improvisation that included teases of the Talking Heads’ “Crosseyed And Painless”. The horns took a break during an uninterrupted run of “Apples” > “White Light” > “Mushrooms of the Sea” > “Apples” before returning for the set closing “Lost In The Cold”.

Dogs In A Pile’s Jimmy Law (guitar) and Jeremy Kaplan (keyboards) were the final Frends to join the fray for a standout Twiddle debut of Marvin Gaye’s “How Sweet It Is”, a feel-good song to punctuate a feel-good evening on a feel-good holiday.

Twiddle, Jimmy Law, Michael Bafundo, Mike Oehmen – “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)” (Marvin Gaye) – 11/25/22

Dogs In A Pile continue their tour tonight at The Met in Pawtucket, RI while Twiddle hosts the second and final night of Frendsgiving at The Cap with Neighbor as support.

Washed in a rainbow swirl of colors, lasers, and LED panels, Twiddle is as pleasant to the eyes as they are to the ears. Check out a gallery of photos from Charlie Jenkins (IG: @charliefrancisphotos) below.

Setlist: Dogs In A Pile | The Capitol Theatre | Port Chester, NY | 11/25/22

Setlist: Little Things, Stranger, Ugly Song, Hesitate >, Appleseed, Bent Strange

Setlist: Twiddle | The Capitol Theatre | Port Chester, NY | 11/25/22

Set One: Every Last Leaf I (1), Beautiful, Stroganoff, Life Back Now, Complacent Race (2), Moments (2), Latin Tang (2) @, Polluted Beauty > (2),

Set Two: The Box $, Syncopated Healing (2), Distance Makes the Heart (3), Enter> (2), Orlando’s (2)+, Apples>, White Light>, Mushrooms of the Sea>, Apples, Lost in the Cold (2), How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) (4)

(1) First time played, Adrian on guitar
(2) With Michael Bafundo and Mike Oehmen (Horns)
(3) With Brian Murray and Jeremy Kaplan
(4) Debut, Marvin Gaye, featured horns plus Jimmy Law
$ – Mihali cowbell jam
@ – Lady Marmalade tease
+ Crosseyed & Painless tease