Guavatron 3.0 Debut at Dunedin Brewery: BRILLIANCE
Guavatron 3.0, featuring a recent personnel change, made its first big splash at Dunedin Brewery June 2 and at a show the following night at Beachside Tavern in New Smyrna Beach. The Dunedin breakout was more like a tsunami with two superb sets and two brand-new killer tunes.
Guavatron now features Cory Ricardy on drums, and former drummer Casey Luden proved himself equally adept on bass. They join Adonis Guava on guitar and Roddy Hansen on keyboards and synths as a formidable quartet.
And not just keyboards and synths, either. This is Dunedin Brewery, home of a wonderfully refurbished Hammond B3 organ and Leslie cabinet courtesy of music benefactor Harv Majeski. Hansen incorporated the B3 into the set.
Shortly into “Turtle Dreams,” it became obvious that Ricardy was a fine fit for the band. That song, loaded with jamtronic goodness, rolls through several waves of feeling, this one 19 minutes long. Next they cued up “Gustavo,” which launched into a new jam a couple minutes in. The jam wandered into “Awake” before finally returning to “Gustavo” to close. Hansen made good use of the B3 on brand new composition “Help (I’m Stuck in the Fuselage),” a stunning funk jam with James Brown guitar and a badass bass-and-drum foundation.
They shut down set one with a great reading of “Moon Boots,” a song which began taking shape at their magical Suwannee Hulaween set last October. The room was wall to wall with head-bobbing fans dancing and grooving to the new lineup and the trance-dance grooves.
Set two opened with another bust-out, the debut of “E.S.V.,” another solid band tune that began with some spacey playing from everybody. Telltale synth chords betrayed “Disco Shades” (and mine were in the car!), such a good dance tune. “View From Above” is another tune unveiled at Hulaween, and this long prog-rock romp was perfection, Ricardy again fully up in the mix. There was more funky prog as “De Funke” poured out, including a Ricardy feature, plenty of deep, deep space bass from Luden, and Guava’s incredible guitar. “Xilla” actually began to emerge from “De Funke” at the 12-minute mark and helped fuel the 28-minute dance party all over the floor. They could have stopped there, but a tasty “Spring Roll” encore seemed in order, the perfect end to a perfect night of music!
Philly Garcia ran lights (more than the brewery’s usual). Once again, I thought the sound was louder than necessary, but I have earphones that help immensely. Thanks to all at Dunedin Brewery for making this Guavatron 3.0 debut such a monster success!
There were several recordings going on. We are indebted here to Charles Cioffero for this flawless recording and uploaded by Sticks of Fire Taper on the vitally important archive.org. Are you a subscriber? You should be! Thanks also to Chuck Smalling of Funk Eye Media and John Strojny of Silent J Studio for their photographs and to Michelle Waxler for her videos!
[ONE: Turtle Dreams, Gustavo > Awake > Gustavo, Help (I’m Stuck in the Fuselage), Moon Boots; TWO: E.S.V., Disco Shades, View From Above, De Funke > Xilla; E: Spring Roll]
