Are You in the Dizgo Family? I AM NOW! **AUDIO JUST ADDED**
[The audio from this show was just added by Marc Foster (St. Pete Taper) to archive.org. Archive was hacked recently, and some editing issues cannot be fixed yet, but the music is here. Thank you. St. Pete Taper!]
That was my answer to a fan who had snagged a setlist and let me take a photo of it.
This was after Dizgo, the Indianapolis quartet, had pounded out two and a half brilliant hours of music in The Moon Tower at Dunedin Brewery (Saturday, November 9). We will have a lot more to say about this show, but, given that there are six more shows on their Florida run beginning tonight (Sunday) in Miami at The Villain Theater, we wanted to get the word out NOW. Photographer extraordinaire Chuck Smalling (Funk Eye Media) was up till 3:45 a.m. processing the dazzling photos here, and know that there are audio AND video recordings on the way some time this week! We are grateful as always for these dedicated archivists.
Audio should be ready later today!!!
Amazing improv trio Zero Context opened the show with a great, creative set, led by Mike Bryant, keyboards, synths, more stuff, vocals; Jamie Newitt, drums; and Vinnie Svoboda, bass. Bryant heads several such groups, and he is the proprietor of the brewery. Svoboda is a member of Anthill Cinema and a superb RATM tribute group and plays often with Row Jomah. Newitt is the drummer for The Heavy Pets.
There are so many, many bands that it is impossible to keep up with everything, so you must rely on people you trust to direct you toward new music. I knew Dizgo was a band for some time but had never encountered their music, until, that is, Bryant posted in August that he was bringing them to Dunedin, which led to me listening to live shows and then writing an article about the upcoming tour. To be clear, this is ALL Bryant’s fault.
In addition to the great ambiance in The Moon Tower, Zach Stafford was on hand to light up the screen (OK, wall) behind the bands. Stafford is A/V tech at FloridaRAMA, and those of you at Suwannee Hulaween absolutely saw his work, because he built and ran the video wall for the main stage! He did the Zero Context set and the second Dizgo set. And house engineer Chris Fama was once again impeccable!
DIZGO are: Andrew Pickel, guitar, vocals; Kevin Hinnefeld, bass, keyboards, vocals; Justin Clark, drums; and Jake Evatt, keyboards, vocals.
Dizgo can do many, many things: rock, funk, dance music, R&B, jamtronica, psychedelic. There is, however, one thing they cannot do. They cannot help but turn everything into incredible jams. That was the theme of the night, as song after song and medley after medley, they JAMMED! It started right away with “It’s Alright,” a track from album Melt, and it is also on their album Live in Atlanta (both 2024) with Pickel on lead vocals.
That quarter-hour jam dove immediately into “Never On Time” (Live in Atlanta), with great three-part vocals and outstanding Hammond B3 and clavinet work from Evatt. Slowly but surely that morphed into “I Can’t Go for That,” which naturally turned into a deep, danceable jam. WOW!
Next up was “Fly,” which twisted into an islands/reggae groove called “Botswanna.” These gentlemen work as an extremely tight unit, which was obvious both listening and seeing them perform. Hinnefeld was a beast on bass, and Pickel’s range of styles on guitar dazzled. “Rainbow Lightning,” another track from Melt, roared out of the gate, and that tumbled into The Romantics’ smash “Talking in Your Sleep.” The joyous wall-to-wall dance party never stopped for an hour plus.Â
Time to recharge!
Stafford’s trippy video images elevated the second even higher. Dizgo opened the set with “On the Groove,” a killer jam introduced by Clark’s clap cymbal; the song is from Dizgo’s 2019 LP Deeper. It turned into a full-on dance party during “Run!” (The Quarantine Compilation, 2021), and that jam dug DEEP! The room got dark and dirty as they tore into the Lowell George masterpiece “Spanish Moon” (that’s the only way you can legally play that song).
Pickel announced a new song: “Outer Space.” Layers of funk kept the crowd moving as they turned up the heat. The dance party turned brilliantly jamtronic during “Golden Grapes” (State of Constant Motion, 2017), which in turn became the anthemic “No Diggity.” Dizgo OWNED this room!
To close it out, the quartet went once more to Deeper for “Set Me Free,” another great dancing jam loaded with synths.
OK, FLORIDA, YOU’RE ON NOTICE! That’s you Miami, Boca Raton, Tampa, Fort Pierce, St. Petersburg, and Gainesville!
DIZGO Florida Run
11/10  Villain Theater | Miami FL
11/13  Crazy Uncle Mike’s | Boca Raton FL
11/14  Skipper’s Smokehouse | Tampa FL
11/15  Botttom’s Up Public House | Fort Pierce FL
11/16  Synergy Glass & Venue | St. Petersburg FL
11/17  Heartwood Soundstage | Gainesville FL
More DIZGO, More Often
11/21Â Gabe’s | Iowa City IAÂ **w/ Daisy Glue
11/22Â Bourbon on Division | Chicago ILÂ **w/ Jimkata
11/23Â Moontown Brewing Company | Whitestown INÂ **w/ Stardust Social Club
12/05Â Heist NoDa | Charlotte NCÂ **w/ Once Below
12/06Â The 720 Room | Spartanburg SC
12/07Â Barrelhouse Ballroom | Chattanooga TNÂ **w/ Kasvot Chatt
12/12Â Charleston Pour House (Goosemas Night 0) | Charleston SCÂ **w/ Cam Herdt & Nite Zero Band ft. Ryan Storm
12/13  Wahoo’s | Greensboro NC
12/14  Live at the Shop | Dunbar WV
12/21  Festivus @ Hannon’s Camp America | College Corner OH
2025
09/09  SeaBisco Alaska | Seattle WA
DIZGO
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