Twiddle Reunites For Special Performance At 2025 Frendly Gathering

The Frendly Gathering festival returned to its roots this past weekend at Windham, Vermont’s Timber Ridge after an eight-year hiatus. Gubbulidis Orchestra's headlining set on Saturday turned into a full-on Twiddle reunion as guitarist Mihali and bassist Zdenek Gubb, along with special guests keyboardist Ryan Dempsey and drummer Adrian Tramontano, shared the stage together for the first time since November 26, 2023.

Twiddle began an indefinite hiatus following their 2023 Frendsgiving run at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York. Tramantano had been on drums for the band after previous drummer Brook Jordan left in 2022. Brook Jordan is now focusing on a career as a singer-songwriter and presented a 45-minute midnight “campfire set” at Frendly Gathering 2025.

Gubbulidis Orchestra focused their Saturday night set at Frendly Gathering on beloved favorites from the Twiddle live repertoire. Mihali and Gubb opened as a duo with “White Light” and then performed the former’s solo cut, “Easy,” before returning to the Twiddle catalog for “Beethoven & Greene” and “River Drift.”

Adrian Tramontano hopped behind the kit in time for oldie “Daydream Farmer” and stuck around for the rest of the set. After “Daydream Farmer,” longtime Twiddle collaborator Scott Hannay added keys to a rousing cover of Stone Temple Pilots’ “Plush.” Keyboardist Leon Campos then swapped in on “The Mission.”

An emotional moment followed as Mihali welcomed Ryan “Norbert” Dempsey to the stage. The Twiddle lineup of Mihali, Dempsey, Gubb and Tramontano worked through classics “Syncopated Healing,” “Every Soul,” “Mamunes The Faun,” “Apples,” “Jamflowman,” “Frankenfoote” and “Frends Theme” over the last hour-plus of the memorable set. “Mamunes The Faun” also featured Scott Hannay.

Mihali, Ryan Dempsey, Zdenek Gubb and Adrian Tramontano punctuated the evening with a “When It Rains It Pours” encore. Ryan Dempsey could be seen around the festival on Saturday dressed up as Bob Ross, as he was the “Artist at Large.” The Frendly Gathering 2025 also hosted performances from Mihali, Trevor Hall, Hayley Jane, Little Stranger, Moon Hooch, Satsang and more.

Watch video of the Gubbulidis Orchestra set featuring the Twiddle reunion below along with an audience recording taped by Phil Fernandez:

Setlist

Set: White Light, Easy, Beethoven & Greene, River Drift, Daydream Farmer*, Plush*#, The Mission*@, Syncopated Healing*^, Every Soul*^, Mamunes The Faun*^#, Apples*^, Jamflowman*^, Frankenfoote*^, Frends Theme*^

Encore: When It Rains It Pours*^

• * – with Adrian Tramantano on drums
• # – with Scott Hannay on keyboards
• @ – with Leon Campos on keyboards
• ^ – with Ryan Dempsey on keyboards