Guavatron at The Moon Tower – 06.28.25
West Palm Beach jam masters Guavatron returned to Dunedin Brewery for a special show in The Moon Tower, a special ticketed event, given that most shows at the brewery are free. There were two bands performing over in the pub, but this was the first time Guavatron had played one of these special shows… and the first time many of the capacity crowd of 100 had been to one.
It was special indeed. Guavatron delivered another brilliant show, house engineer Chris Fama had the enclosed room dialed in perfectly, Zach Stafford ran superb projections on the wall above the band, and the crowd joyously responded to every bit of that.
Two sets. Four songs each set. Jamtronica, heavy prog, funk, disco, and blistering rock poured out for almost two and a half hours.
The rocket ship launched with the hammering beat of “GRIT,” everyone on top of his game. Partway through the opening 23-minute salvo, bass player Casey Luden busted out the synth bass to up the ante (I hadn’t seen him play it before). Adonis Guava was shredding on guitar while Roddy Hansen evoked all manner of sounds from his streamlined keyboards. They made a subtle left turn into the joy of “Ray Gun,” which meandered through jam and reggae and funk for a 27-minute romp before dialing it back for a quick, three-minute “GRIT” coda. DAMN!
One of the band’s recent compositions, “Reflections,” followed, with vocals from Adonis, tamping down the beat slightly, but that would soon explode as the quartet dove headlong into “Help (I’m Stuck in the Fuselage).” This tune is killer, and they tore it up. Cory Ricardy has made a huge mark as the band’s drummer, and he had a spectacular night. He had a quick drum solo before he and former dummer Luden, now on bass, had some great D&B interplay before the close of the set.
Before the show, Adonis came over to greet us and kindly asked if we had any requests. I said JUST PLAY; there was no question, however, that Donna would call “Cousin Kelly.”
After a short setbreak, the boys returned to the Moon Tower stage, opening with another recent composition, “E.S.P.” This was only our third time hearing it, but it is quickly becoming a favorite. Then BAM! “Cousin Kelly” had the entire room moving and grooving. Hansen danced all over his keyboard array, and Luden went to the bass synth again.
As they do on the regular, about 11 minutes into the jam they shifted WAAAY uptempo for the disco-fied dance tune “Are You Ready to Party?” (The response, incidentally, was HELL YES!) Adonis and Luden sing this one together, very effectively. The packed room was bouncing as one. Almost 18 minutes later, they downshifted into the very dark prog of “Shadows,” vocals by Adonis. That captured everyone’s attention one more time as the quartet rode that a few minutes beyond quitting time.
100 minutes of pure joy for 100 patrons rocking the concept of special ticketed shows at The Moon Tower at Dunedin Brewery. Guavatron will be back. I suspect most of the patrons will, too.
[ONE: GRIT > Ray Gun > GRIT, Reflections, Help (I’m Stuck in the Fuselage); TWO: E.S.P., Cousin Kelly > Are You Ready to Party? > Shadows]
SOMEBODY captured audio of this show. We’d sure like to know who you are!