Happy Birthday, Dunedin Brewery!
There are many reasons I like writing about shows at Dunedin Brewery. I live almost an hour away, yet I’ve been there 104 times and have seen 161 musical performances (yes, I have a database).
The venue is intimate; you are almost on top of the musicians, but in a good way. The atmosphere is warm and inviting. The beer is… spectacular. The food is great. The wait staff is awesome. They have an excellent sound engineer who plays great music during the breaks. There is never a cover charge (with the except of one or two special events a year).
Every bit of that is important. But none of it would be enough to keep me racking up the mileage were it not for the incredible job that DunBrew proprietor Michael Lyn Bryant does in curating a sparkling list of shows day after day, week after week, year after year.
I’ve had the chance to see bands such as Jeff Coffin (my first show there), Roosevelt Collier, Consider the Source, The Fritz, Col. Bruce Hampton (Ret.), Kung Fu, The Lee Boys, Particle, and Bernie Worrell and almost every Florida band on the scene. And that sick Freekbass dance party last week! Coming up in the next few months? Kung Fu, The Nth Power, Perpetual Groove acoustic, and Toubab Krewe on the schedule with music every day.
So you can bet I’ll be there this Saturday, July 6, for the venue’s 23rd birthday bash. It’s held to commemorate the outstanding success of Florida’s oldest microbrewery, still independent & family-owned.
Marketing director (and rapper supreme) Jon Ditty shared this press release:
On Saturday, July 6th, Dunedin Brewery is releasing three new packaged beers in 16-oz. Tallboy Cans — only available for purchase in the Tasting Room! These beers include: their classic Beach Tale Brown Ale (which was actually their first beer ever brewed), Surface Current (a Traditional Gose), and their brand-new, cheekily-titled, “air.” (an extremely light, refreshing, summer lager). Cans will go on sale at 11 a.m. In conjunction with the Can Release, Dunedin Brewery’s kitchen will be hosting a “Pop-Up Wing Thing” in the outside front of the establishment — serving up new/unique variations of their staple Chicken Wings. This is, of course, in addition to their full-length menu, featuring customary Pub-style selections. Finally, at night, the celebration culminates in a Live Music Double-Header, featuring Antelope: A Tribute To The Band, Phish (at 9 p.m.), followed by South Florida Electro-Funk by Guavatron (at 11 p.m.). Save the date for the perfect storm of fun in Dunedin, Florida.
The Antelope show will be special as guitarist and singer Matt Weis is making remarkable recovery from his recent accident. Despite the fact that this fine band, with Juanjamon, keyboards, saxophone, vocals; Trevor McDannel, bass; and Michael ‘Thunderfoot’ Garrie, drums, plays primarily the music of Phish, Weis has promised to keep his head-nodding to a minimum.
Guavatron returns to the brewery for another memorable show. These boys have been stratospheric for some time, especially at Suwannee Hulaween and both of their sets at Orange Blossom Jamboree (that silent disco set was sick!). Expect some magnificent jamtronic goodness when Adonis Guava, guitar, vocals; Conor Crookham, bass; Roddy Hansen, keyboards; and Casey Luden, drums, vocals, play the indoor set.