Concert Review

Kung Fu & Twiddle – Dirty Dozen Tour

April 11 • Rams Head Live • Baltimore,MD

By Matthew Bowers • Photos by Joe Schlee

On a chilly spring night in Baltimore, a tour featuring two of the most talked about bands in the scene right now would descend on the city and turn Rams Head Live into a funk driven spaceship and blast it into outer space. Marking the seventh stop on the Dirty Dozen tour, Twiddle and Kung Fu have been joining forces almost nightly to bring a non stop dance party to cities on the east coast. Both bring their own unique blends of sounds and both are overflowing with talent and the ability to get a crowd moving and sweating with ease.

The show would take off running as both bands would join forces on stage together for a funked out superjam that would set the tone for the rest of the evening. As Tim Palmieri of Kung Fu would trade licks with Mihali Savoulidis of Twiddle, anybody in attendance who has ever picked up the guitar most likely immediately felt the need to practice more. These are two of the best guitarists on the scene, and can keep up with just about anyone they play with. The two bands jamming together would set the tone for the night, and all of the happy people in the audience were booty shaking and smiling knowing they were in for a long night of amazing music and fun.

As the super jam finished up, Twiddle would leave the stage with the music uninterrupted. The format for this tour is no setbreaks, which inevitably leads to a lot of jamming between the two bands. This would be the first seamless transition as Kung Fu would begin their featured set.

Kung Fu blends elements of prog, funk, and shredding psychedelic rock to leave crowds with their jaws open every time they finish a jam. Drummer Adrian Tramontano and Chris DeAngelis would hold down the grooves all night while Todd Stoops hammered on his keys. Rob Somerville on sax and Tim Palmieri on guitar would hold down the melodic side of things, and these guys can absolutely wail. Tim Palmieri is certainly one of the best touring guitarists right now, and he did not disappoint when it came to showing his chops. Relentless funk jams and shreddy peaks had the crowd in a frenzy for the entire set. Mihali of Twiddle would join the band on stage, and the lucky crowd got treated to a debut of a new song called “Lost in The Cold.” This song would showcase Mihali’s vocal talents and of course featured a fantastic guitar duel with Tim Palmieri that would be a theme throughout the night. The version of Hollywood Kisses with Mihali and Tim absolutely just shredding with each other was a personal highlight of this set.

As Twiddle started to transition on stage and jam with the Kung Fu guys, it was hard to imagine that there was still another set to be played, and it would be a great one.

Twiddle is a band that has been really taking off over the past couple of years. Their blend of reggae, funk and improvisational jamming is the perfect storm of sounds to appeal to pretty much any fan of music you can groove to. They have all the talent in the world to put them over the top, these guys are worth all of the buzz they’ve been getting.

The amount of music these guys play together really shows when they’re on stage, their extended improv jams are impressive to say the least. It’s a kind of skill that takes knowing your bandmates extremely well and hours and hours of practice. With no shortage of soaring guitar solos and booty shaking basslines, some of the jams they create are really just beautiful. As I danced along with everyone else, the vibes in the room were all positive and there was no way anyone couldn’t enjoy themselves with the quality of music coming off the stage. Mihali is one of those guitar players that when you listen to him play, you think “how did he do that?” He is almost note perfect and can switch from psychedelic shred to blissful quiet playing without missing a beat. Ryan Dempsey on keys would trade licks with Mihali and hold down some rhythm while Zdenek Gubb on bass and Brook Jordan on drums would take care of locking up the low end funk and reggae grooves. This set would include a crowd favorite “Hatti’s Jam > When it Rains it Pours” segment that would have the entire room singing along. The icing on the cake is that Tim Palmieri made an appearance during this segment that would just send the vibes through the roof. If you didn’t have a big cheese grin on your face at this point, you would have looked out of place.

As the set went on, Todd Stoops and Adrian Tramontano of Kung Fu would both make appearances, setting up for a “Let’s Get it On > La Bamba” encore that would feature all 9 musicians on stage.

As the show came to a close, the crowd gave an enthusiastic ovation that was beyond well deserved. This is a co-bill that just works together, and I personally hope to see the two bands make a stop in town again. I left the show sweaty and tired from dancing so much, and would have stayed there another 3 hours if they would have been willing to play that long. From the looks of the people leaving the venue, I can say without a doubt I wasn’t the only one that felt that way. It was one of those memorable nights of music that you hope for a repeat of, and I appreciated every second of it. Many thanks to both bands for making amazing music, and putting smiles on people’s faces night after night.