Particle People Jammed Dunedin Brewery for… Particle! And They Jammed Right Back
Particle blew into town last night, and there is some doubt about whether The Dunedin Brewery is still standing. Because Particle rocked the house.
The Steve Molitz-led quartet had played Jacksonville the night before (Tuesday, October 3rd), but Molitz confided this show was even better: two searing hour sets of rocktronica. Clearly, the band was excited to be here. Molitz has been a frequent visitor with his buddy Joe Marcinek and his bevy of all-stars, but for the other three this was their first time. Guitarist Michael Daum confided he’d heard about the great food, beer and vibe and was happy to confirm those reports.
Rocktronica? Listen, Particle used to be classified as a jamtronic band, and that they certainly are (the band prefers the descriptor ‘space porn’). The second iteration of the band was announced in 2006 with an album and concert video titled Transformations Live for the People, and ever since then the band has been in transformation. They rocked before, but not like this. It was titanic (the proper use of the term, not a ship reference).
The evening got a nice kick-start from the Dunedin Brewery House Band that performs every Wednesday. Drummer Dave Gerulat led the band through a thoroughly enjoyable set of covers, beginning with “Get Back” and two Lettuce tunes, Jordan Garno (Leisure Chief, Serotonic) bending the guitar strings and Vinny Svoboda big on bass. In between, Kelly-Ann Garno sang “I Wish” and “I Want You Back.”
To close, they turned the spotlight on the late great Tom Petty with excellent versions of “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,” “Breakdown,” and “American Girl,” all with Kelli-Ann on vocals, Jordan occasionally dipping in. Austin Llewellyn had a superb night on keyboards.
And then it was time for the main event. “This has been a long time coming,” Molitz said, “But we are really excited to be here.” And with that, it was showtime!
Particle launched with a short intro piece named “The Heist,” then into a new composition (we got several) tentatively titled “Organ Chords.” That featured Molitz on talkbox, and Daum tore off his first excellent solo. Bassist Clay Parnell handled the vocals on “Devil’s Work,” and then the fun really began.
Molitz began the intro into “Triple Threat,” and the packed Dunedin Brewery just exploded with excitement. And the excitement lasted 21 minutes as the band dug deep into the trance-dance jamtronic magic. Parnell, who was stunning all evening, played some really nasty space bass, and drummer Kito Bovenschulte propelled the tune into the stratosphere. Daum took two great solos.
And there was Molitz. If he had to stand still while playing, he’d have to quit. The man is a perpetual motion dancer, with his myriad keyboards as his partners. He was front and center on every tune, and he ripped this one up.
Next it was time for some fun, as they went all Midnight Star with “No Parking on the Dancefloor” with Daum and Parnell on lead vocals and Molitz on the talkbox; Daum again blistered. They closed set one with a magical 16-minute romp through the title track to the band’s first album, Launchpad. Synthesizer heaven.
Normally, weekday music hours at DunBrew are 8 to midnight. The band came out for set two at 11:52. Would it be an eight-minute set? NO, it would NOT. It was an hour and eight minutes of brilliance.
Another new song, “Home Away from Home,” got the set underway, with lots more synths. Then Particle threw down a huge “105,” which segued eventually into “Metropolis.” At this point, Molitz invited DunBrew proprietor Michael Lyn Bryant to join him on the tune. Molitz had used Bryant’s MOOG several times on visits with Marcinek and had invited him up to play. Bryant killed it. It was another 21 minutes of bliss.
That moment you sit in with Particle on your Moog and the only thing Steve Molitz says to you before digging in is: “You know this thing better than me, so…”
That’s when you play your fucking ass off!
The last segment of the set was “Bravo Delta > Accelerator > The Elevator.” The first two were real rockers, and they finished with another great tune from Launchpad. Bovenschulte was a beast all night, especially here.
At this point, it was 12:45, 45 minutes over the usual time. You know what happened, though. “ONE MORE SONG, ONE MORE SONG, ONE MORE SONG!”
Molitz: “Do we have time to play one more?”
Crowd: PANDEMONIUM
Molitz: “I’ll take that as a resounding YES!”
And what spilled out was an incredible quarter-hour of… “Axel F!” DAMN!
And we’ll quote Molitz here: “We’ll be back again real soon!”
We have witnesses.
And Mike Bryant will make sure it happens.
[Particle: ONE: The Heist, Organ Chords, Devil’s Work, Triple Threat, No Parking On The Dance Floor, Launchpad; TWO: Home Away From Home, 105 > Metropolis (w/ Mike Bryant), Bravo Delta > Accelerator, The Elevator; E: Axel F]
Photographs courtesy of Jess Phillips.
