Dizgo Makes Charleston Pour House Debut (Photos + Recap)

Last week, up-and-coming jamtronica band Dizgo out of Bloomington, IN made their Charleston Pour House debut for a two-night stand on June 21 and 22. As the only double header on their docket this summer, Dizgo performed two sets of originals plus covers on Wednesday night following Dead on the Deck, then two sets of Phish on Thursday.

Going into this I wasn’t familiar with the band, but the Pour House has consistently shown its ability to find talent, and seeing that Dizgo were doing two nights on their first time ever playing the venue seemed like a vote of confidence. I caught night one and I was not disappointed.

The band is a four-piece, with guitarist Andrew Pickel at the front, drummer Eric Ottinger, and then the unique aspect in the jam world — rather than loading up on guitars, Dizgo have a dual keys setup in both Jake Evatt and Kevin Hinnefield (who also plays bass).

This arrangement not only gives Dizgo’s sound an electronic edge, but also allows for jamming on lead between Pickel and one keyboardist while the other plays a more decorative or rhythmic role. Or, Hinnefield picks up his bass and we get a more standard four-piece arrangement.

Dizgo’s flexibility in instrumentation along with their ability to craft compelling, exploratory jams make them a band to watch on the scene. Their presence is one of funky, electronic rock, grounded by real drums and a guitar tone that often aligns more with a traditional jam rock sound.

Elements of Phish influence shined through in their sets of originals, of course, and I found myself hearing bits of “David Bowie” and “Fluffhead” as Dizgo built their jams. Speaking of David Bowie, they also played a real nice cover of his 1983 hit “Let’s Dance”.

Wednesday night after Dead on the Deck is a great slot for up-and-coming jam bands to cut their teeth in Charleston, as the venue is already filled with Deadheads who are often down to try something new. While the show wasn’t packed, there was a decent enough showing that the room didn’t feel empty, which is all an out of town act can hope for on a weeknight show in a new town.

Sometimes bands come back, and sometimes they don’t. Dizgo is one that I think we’ll be seeing again before too long.

Check out the rest of Dizgo’s summer tour dates on the graphic below (tickets here), and see a photo gallery from Night 2 at Poho below that. All photos by Zach Pollak (@pollakphotography).

Dizgo Summer 2023 Tour

Dizgo does Phish at Charleston Pour House – 6/22/22

All photos by Zach Pollak (@pollakphotography).