Mihali Magnificent in Return to Albany, NY

Mihali Savoulidis, best known as the lead singer and guitarist for the Vermont rock quartet, Twiddle, made a stop in Albany Friday night, filling the rowdy Pearl Street Pub. With the eager crowd ready to rock, fans pushed up tight against the small stage to give Mihali a warm Albany welcome. With a huge smile on his face, Mihali wasted no time wowing the crowd with his impressive one-man-band mastery of looping pedals, beat boxing, searing guitar riffs and his unique, one of- a-kind voice.

Indeed, the multi-talented singer/songwriter was in fine form Friday, showcasing a number of newer songs (Stubborn Smile, Fading State, Empty Overflow, Carved Lines) all while experimenting with a number of new toys in his ever-growing rig, most noticeably a gorgeous new standalone bass guitar that produced a massive sound and huge grin whenever it was called upon.

(Photo: Zak Radick)

After a brief reset, Mihali would go into story teller mode explaining how a beloved family member in the crowd tonight once told him the song he was about to play “contains one of the greatest moments in rock n roll” and that it was dedicated to him. With that, a chilling cover of the Counting Crows classic ‘Round Here.’ Now firing on all cylinders, several Twiddle songs began working their way into the set, highlighted by passionate versions of Every Soul, Apples, and then the most impressive sequence of the night, a long-form mashup of Orlando’s, Frankenfoote and Jamflowman all rolled into one. At this point Mihali began to reflect on this time of year, beginning a heartfelt talk on gloomy days, the changing of the seasons and how “sometimes it’s normal to feel depressed, but to always hang in there because good things are coming,” leading into a powerful take on the Twiddle song Lost in the Cold. Hatti’s Jam > When It Rains it Pours rounded out the lengthy single set show. For the encore, Mihali was once again joined by Twiddle’s sound man for a crowd pleasing cover of the Harry Nilsson classic Coconut, a much sillier and vulgar version than that of the iconic tune featured in the closing credits of Reservoir Dogs.

Need more Mihali? You have three more upcoming chances to catch him again in New York. First his solo show on November 16 in Ithaca and then two nights with Twiddle in Port Chester, as part of the highly anticipated Frendsgiving run with Aqueous, November 29th and 30th.

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