12/31/01 - Monday, Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA

By any definition, 12/30/01 is a tough act to follow. This is especially true if you consider that 12/29/01 was a tough act to follow and 12/30 managed to top it, or that 12/28 was a tough act to follow and 12/29 topped it. But 12/30/01, easily one of the best shows of one of the best years, is a tough act to follow in itself. 12/31/01, played the next day in the same room, is bound to invite comparison. This was as true this weekend, with the never-before-released footage of both shows debuted on back-to-back days, as it was when the shows were first played nearly twenty years ago. While the comparison is inescapable, it has not been kind to 12/31/01. Therefore, in this review, I will try my best to avoid dwelling on it any more than necessary.

📷: discobiscuits.net

The New Year's show opens with three above average standalones: Aceetobee, Spaga and Three Days. Aceetobee is a fiery opener, both exploratory and fast-paced enough that the long stretches of improv don't drag. Spaga is probably the strongest of the three, a patient dnb excursion that builds to an explosive conclusion. These first two standalones are, unfortunately, one of the high water marks for the show. It's not hard to fault the fans, after being treated to Jigsaw > Sound 1 > Jigsaw, the first inverted Shelby, Floes > Sound 1 > Floes, Triumph > King of the World > Pygmy > Ladies, for expecting a little more than a few excellent standalones. Unfortunately, most of the rest of the first and second sets is pretty pedestrian. Three Days is a solid version of what I believe to be a great cover, but it does not go as deep as either Aceetobee or Spaga. The Dribble jam starts off in swampy dub territory, and while I am more forgiving than some towards this style of play, it only becomes interesting to me when there is some kind of high-energy payoff. In this instance, the jam only plods along until it finds Hope. The Hope offers nothing at all—this is the first Senor Boombox style Hope, in which the formerly exploratory jam section was replaced with a simple vamp on the ending. A disappointing development for the song, and a disappointing conclusion to the first set.

Darth Vader and The Disco Biscuits

The second set opens with a standard Plan B, which gives way to the New Year's Eve gimmick: a mashup of the theme music for Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Superman, with the last of these three containing the countdown. After the John Williams montage, the band launches into the traditional Happy New Year Helicopters, with a twist. This was the first Helicopters to feature the composed jam section that would appear in every Helicopters through late 2003, and would come to be known in 2017 as "Bionic Helix." Its first performance here is inspired; it actually sounds like a new section to the song. After an excellent atmospheric rendition of this section,  the band plays the Helicopters riff again to signal the drop into the jam proper. This second jam is nicely exploratory: it builds up to an early peak before breaking down for more exploration. The transition back into the peak is sudden, but this is only a reflection of the exploratory quality of the jam. Reactor finds its way into a weird dub style jam, and this style works a lot better for me here than it does in the Dribble, for a couple reasons. Dub jams are considerably rarer in Reactor than in Dribble, the jam covers more interesting territory here, and it resolves to a more interesting conclusion. Magner in particular crafts an excellent and catchy theme in the minutes before Brownie lays down a distinctly Crickets bass line. Shortly after this the jam picks up the pace and builds to one of the more energetic and organic post-1999 Vassillios intros. Vassillios is a little more standard, but eerie and sinister, building to a solid Reactor ending. The set closes with fan-favorite Jamillia.

Superman, Indiana Jones, Vader, and Barber

Set three is probably the most consistent after the more uneven sets one and two, and probably the strongest overall, even if it doesn't have any music on par with the highlights of the past three nights. The final Boulevard ever builds with extreme patience from a lumbering bliss groove to a chaotic Dribble ending. The point in the jam when the tempo begins to rapidly pick up is excellent and masterfully executed. Barber holds on to the bliss riff from the beginning of the jam through all of the twists and turns, ebbs and flows of this jam, up to and through the Shimmy teases, giving context and continuity to this sprawling masterpiece. The Dribble ending is bombastic, an excellent conclusion to this multifaceted jam. The Dribble outro is excellent fare, moving from the traditional shuffle to a more relaxed blissful trance jam, with Magner simultaneously working those distinctly 02 trance synths with the ambient soundscape effects. The tempo picks up and builds to an inverted Confrontation. The jam out of Confrontation is short and strange as the band segues into the first of the modern, reworked Save the Robots. Robots still has a lot of work to go before it would become the heavy hitter it is today, and it is weird to hear what is essentially a jamless Robots. The jam into it is very solid though. After Robots comes an early Sister Judy's, which develops into a patient, old-school trance-fusion style jam that builds to a minor key Shimmy-esque crescendo before a gradual shift into a fantastic Basis ending. The encore is a drawn-out Aquatic Ape, dedicated to Max Dawson, and played with a by-then unconventional dub jam in the vein of the 1999 Aquatic Apes. It's not terribly interesting but it's a good piece of fan service to a dedicated fan.

12/31/01, in my final estimation, is an unfairly maligned show that has plenty of merit on its own. Sure, it isn't a front-to-back transcendental experience the way 12/30/01 was, nor does it contain anything on the level of the highlights of 12/28 or 12/29, but at the same time it isn't the most disappointing drop in quality for a New Year's show either. The gimmicks are fairly restrained, and although the band plays it a bit safer, that's true of nearly any New Year's Eve show. The highlights from sets one and two combined with the fairly nonstop set three is enough material for two sets worth of great music. It doesn't live up to the combined expectations of being the final show of 2001 and the show to follow 12/28 - 12/30, but could any show possibly meet these expectations? 

Highlights: Reactor > Vassillios, Boulevard > Dribble, Judy's > Basis, Spaga, Dribble > Confro, Aceetobee, Helicopters, Confro > Bots

—Andy

Welcome to Virtual Tour 2020 - 12/30/01

"Strange things are afoot at the Circle K" - Ted Theodore Logan, 1989

📷: The Disco Biscuits 'Virtual Tour' 2020

A prophetic statement indeed by Mr. Logan over thirty years ago as we are living in very strange times currently.  I want to thank both the Disco Biscuits and Nugs for coming up with such a fantastic way to entertain the Biscuit Kidz and any newcomers out there looking for a new thrill.  Another major thanks to Chris Lonergan for having the foresight to begin video-taping the band so long ago.  An interesting note, 12/30/2001 was the first show that Chris ever recorded for the band and these tapes have been long sought by the fanatical base of the Biscuits - this is special stuff.  Also, the synchronicity of the 12/30 E-Factory show finding its way out to the masses on the anniversary of 3/27/99 is not lost on me - these are my two favorite shows this band has ever played.  I have long stopped trying to figure out which I like more, but I will say that this opening show of the virtual tour will always hold a special place in my heart since I was there, still a noob to a degree, and experiencing my first show in Philadelphia!  

The first set is a masterpiece in rock-based Disco Biscuits that had reared its head over the fantastic December mini-tour across the southeast just a few weeks prior.  The 'Pilin' is a blistering attack with a monster Barber solo that had the over-crowded E-Factory going bonkers right off the bat.  After a rowdy pause that allowed the fans to let the band know they were ready, the Biscuits would dive into one of the smoothest sets of music they played all year.  The transitions are all flawless and the ideas from each member built a set of music that would catapult this show into anyone's Top 20 lists; yet, it surprisingly did not even contain the jam of the night!!!  That would come in the decidedly more dancey second set, but we will get to that later. 

The opening notes of 'Magellan' trickle out over the wild crowd in front of the band and we are off and running.  The first jam is a solid, if not standard jam with a dark, somber mood turning the E-Factory into a tribal stomp of heaving bodies jostling to the tom-drum back bone.  Magner brings in swirling, repetitive keys that elicit laser beams from Barber as we head to the peak.  On the back side of the peak the band heads out into the jam.  Early on Brownie sets the tone of this delay drenched improv with a descending bass line that molds the entire next few minutes.  Fine rotational jamming leads to 3-4 distinct mini themes that could all be up there with some of the better jams of the night.  It seems as though we may be headed for a standalone until the beat gets a bit off-kilter and Sammy becomes more present.  As if on cue, the Doctor slides in the shuffling intro beat to 'Floes' and the band is on it instantly.  Everything rolls along nicely as 'Floes" hits its normal pace and tone until the drums begin to pick up the pace. The dynamic duo of Barber and Sammy show just how well they worked together.  The pace continues to quicken and the entire venue was going nuts.  Where would they head next?  Back to the end of 'Magellan' or somewhere new, we found out quickly as the smooth as silk transition to 'Sound One' shocked the sweaty, crowded fans (this was not a place for "social distancing").  The jam in 'Sound One' is down-tempo and dominated by Brownstein's bass for a bit as he and Barber twirl around each other in one of the most memorable moments for me in this first set.  Barber varies his lick slightly over the course of the next few minutes dropping an octave at one point as Sammy picks up the pace underneath.  In hindsight, the pattern the drums take on did foreshadow the return to 'Floes' in my opinion, but at that time I had no clue and the rest of the band was still taking this jam out as far as they could.  The bluesy licks are gone as the band slides effortlessly back into 'Floes.'  The finale is HUGE and had the venue erupting, but they aren't done as the dark, brooding tone gives way to Barber's tease of the Allman Brother's classic 'Jessica.'  The rest of the band seems to be just as excited as the crowd and jumps right in with Barber for a brief jam of the song that winds its way down in key to the drop into 'Shem-Rah Boo!'  This 'Shem Rah' jam is a classic example of quality over quantity as the band brings up the pace and crams a mammoth dance party into the space of about five minutes.  The MOTH MOTY is nice, albeit short and seeps into the end of 'Magellan' led mostly by Magner's beautiful piano.  Pure bliss as the band peaks again and Barber takes one more swing from the rock star side of the plate.  As the final lyrics of the song are sung the crowd can no longer hold back and explodes with delight.  There aren't many bands that summon such ovations heading into setbreak, which by the way, will only be "fifteen minutes."

📷: The Disco Biscuits 2001 Promo Shot

Now, by this time in the evening, I was feeling no pain and stood up on the second level bleechers of the E-Factory, dead-center awaiting the second set.  My expectations were through the roof, but if I am being honest the band could have just stopped there and I would have been fine.  Luckily, they chose to come back after what I KNOW was more than fifteen minutes and proceeded to attempt to level the entire venue with all of us in it.  'Svenghali' signaled a different path for this set right off the bat with its drum-n-bass and breakbeats, this was no longer a straight rock show.  This jam is dark and industrial and makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.  Sammy drops out at one point as Barber drops a riff that is forever tattooed on my brain, turned to liquid at the time by the 180 degree turn the tone of this set had taken from the first set.  The next ten minutes of music is not the type that lends itself to description and I hope you all take the time to listen if you missed the stream on Friday night.  Standing in awe of the opener, there really was no telling what was about to happen.  I remember jokingly remarking to a stranger next to my buddy and I that I "thought they were going to open with something good after that first set" and could instantly see the earth-shattering confusion in his eyes.  I am not sure if I actually let him know that I was joking, so if you are reading this, I am sorry for freaking you out when you were just looking for a high five. 

There is not much I can say that hasn't already been mentioned over the years about the pairing of 'Triumph-> King of the World.'  When a jam is so good that a fanbase anoints it a name (Pirate Funk), I feel a bit oafish trying to describe in any detail what the jam sounded like.  Instead, I will implore you to delve deep into the Fall tour of 2001 and try to suss out the multiple times the band, led by Magner, attempted to reach the perfection found on the night of 12/30 with this theme.  Figure out some thoughts and look for a post about this exact topic at some point in the near future to really get into some online discussion about your findings.  All I can say about the 'Pirate Funk' jam is that I get goosebumps every time I listen to it, including now, and feel as though it is easily one of the best jams this band has ever played.  The energy level in the E-Factory as they come out of the jam and the pace picks up as they slam into the beginning of 'King of the World' is up there with some of the most memorable moments in my show-going career (is there a better term for this?) and I can vaguely remember almost falling off the bleachers that I had forgotten I was standing on.  Not to be outdone, the jam in 'KotW' is evil and industrial with razor sharp tone from Barber complimented by growling bass and hammering drums.  Magner next lays back with angelic washes of sound, which became a staple of the upcoming 2002 sound, as the band starts to take their foot off the accelerator for a bit and a blissful space is found, 'Blissco' as its been described over the years.  The next few minutes are all Barber's with which to toy.  His lead lines are a gorgeous representation of his ability to build and rebuild a single phrase in so many different ways that one can barely keep track.  But what's this, there is an hint of the Pink Floyd masterpiece 'Run Like Hell' that the Biscuits have made their own over the years.  NOPE, they deftly drop into the Zappa classic 'Pygmy Twylyte' but the games are not yet done.  Just as the crowd recovers from the quasi-fakeout of the 'RLH' build dropping into 'Pygmy' the holiday run classic 'Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies' comes out of the demented toy box and drops the entire room on its head.  I remember being completely floored by this childhood favorite echoing through the venue.  This night's offering still stands as my favorite version I have ever caught live.  The drop back into 'Pygmy' catches everyone off guard once again and the band slides in for the knockout punch.  The normally upbeat jam does not emerge and instead we are coated in thick dubby sludge.  Barber's lick that he lays over the top of the dub, echoing with delay is another of those sounds that encrusts my gray matter to this day and when Brownie drops out, leaving just Barber's guitar, there is barely anything left to hold onto anymore.  This is dark and dirty music as Barber heads up the neck of the guitar with bluesy slashes at your sanity.  The 'Crickets' tease from Brownie is yet another example of how easily these guys can toy with a crowd and disappears as quickly as it arrived.  The pace begins to quicken at just the right time and we find our way back to another brief 'Crickets' tease from more than just the bass before they begin to head towards another looming transition.  Tension is built and Barber and the band drop into the beginning of 'Hot Air Ballon,' what a great call...FAKEOUT!!!  This sent the venue reeling, the walls shook, people looked completely lost, and I just remember laughing uncontrollably.  The drop into 'And the Ladies Were the Rest of the Night' was flawless and the jam went to a straight four-on-the-jamband-floor dance party.  Apparently, this was the payoff for the complete destruction of our minds. The 'Home Again' closer was the sing-along good time everyone needed to dance off the cobwebs one more time.  The encore closes the night with above average versions of both 'Spy' and 'Mulberry's Dream,' but at this point every last bit of people's psyche was spent.  Unreal.

This show was my last of the year in 2001, sadly I wasn't able to make it to NYE due to work.  There isn't much else I can say about this show other than I am beyond elated that the video of such a momentous night of Bisco has finally seen the light of day.  It's definitely one of the best shows I have been lucky to see over the 20 years of following the Biscuits and I hope I have at least done it some justice in my ramblings. So to close, I leave you with more words from lips of Ted Theodore Logan and Bill S. Preston, Esquire, "Be excellent to each other!"

🌲👽🌲

- walsh.

3/27/99 - Saturday, Graffiti’s, Pittsburgh, PA

We've already heard from Walsh on this storied show, but 3/27/99 is one of those shows that is so good, there's no such thing as too much commentary. Or, as one might say, "too much was never enough!" Published here in full is my review of 3/27/99 from last year, remastered and retooled.

Score: 5/5

Highlights: Dribble, Dribble > Waves, Very Moon > HAB, Aceetobee, Run Like Hell > Nughuffer, Nughuffer > Run Like Hell

https://archive.org/details/db1999-03-27.mastered.flac



Run Like Hell > Nughuffer is a very solid opener. The jam is an excellent Barber-led bliss theme that transitions into Nughuffer so smoothly you can barely notice it. The Very Moon is absolutely delightful. 2/18/99 was a very important development for the song, but I would argue that this is the night it became a monster. Solid middle jam, and the funk jam builds up from a very simple funk riff to an absolutely wild trancey Hot Air Balloon intro. Shades of the Shimmy > Basis from Magner around 14:30. The drop into Hot Air Balloon is perfectly executed, but of course Hot Air Balloon is pretty much jamless. The Aceetobee intro is one for the ages, almost completely type two. The jam contains shades of Hot Air Balloon even before Barber teases the intro, and is unnerving, ambient and spooky. The riff that Barber hits on right before dropping into the song is absolutely brain-melting. The final Aceetobee jam is an extremely satisfying end to an excellent set.

Old Skool Biscuits

Set II opens with one of the best Magellans ever played, stretched out and spacey in the middle, just the right length with a very satisfying peak. There is some decent albeit brief type I in the Voices, almost entirely from Magner. The “forces drawn in from afar” vocal sample continues into the Dribble intro, to great effect. This is easily a top three Dribble for me. The steady build of Barber’s riffs coupled with Magner’s flute-like patch is absolutely perfect. The way Barber shreds the final jam sections from 15:00 to 16:15 is in the running for my favorite minute of Barber playing. The Dribble outro is fast-paced from the beginning, with the final word “perfume” echoing in rhythm with the trance beat. By about 28:00 the jam completely breaks down into Waves trance. Barber locks into an excellent theme pretty much right after the track switch. This culminates in a fiery Waves peak. Nughuffer > Run Like Hell is excellent as well, and the transition from dark Nughuffer jam to blissful RLH territory is smoothly done.

📷:Max Dawson

The first encore is a solid Plan B, followed by Magellan Reprise, a perfectly fitting encore to cap off the final night of what at the time was the band’s longest and most significant tour. However, after the band left the stage, they returned once more to deliver the ten minute aural assault that is Waves > Basis. As the story goes, the band did not want to end the tour leaving the Basis from 3/25/99 unfinished. The jam is pretty much entirely type one, and a Basis jam from the jump, but it’s such a cool idea and so well-executed that I wouldn’t even begin to think of complaining.

An easy 5/5. One of the greatest shows of all time. Dribble > Waves is my favorite, but there’s almost no filler, and very little that isn’t some variation of excellent.



Stray Observations:
There is a Hot Air Balloon tease in the Aceetobee intro, more obviously from Barber, but also from Brownie and Sammy as well.
Prior to the second set, Barber says that they’ve played 107 sets in the past two and a half months, and that they’ve been saving the best for last. Prescient. He introduces Magellan as a song about a famous explorer from the 1200s. Only off by 300 years. Maybe he was thinking of Marco Polo?
During the Dribble intro, Brownie plugs the next four Biscuits shows, 4/7-10.
There are little Helicopters teases in the transition from Plan B to Reprise.
Barber replaces “my homeland” with “Pennsylvania” in Magellan Reprise

3/27

There are few times where a consensus may be reached in this wonderfully obsessive and diverse fan-base, but today’s anniversary highlights one of the clearest.  Twenty-one years ago today, as the Biscuits took the stage in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a ridiculously long tour came to an end and the band and its fan were forever changed.  The Biscuits’ sound, the seeds of which were sewn at the end of 1998, had morphed into something unique in a scene begging for experimentation.  This was ominous music bent on taking over the world as society prepared for the never-to-come Armageddon of Y2K.  To paraphrase a friend, 3/27 might not be everyone’s favorite show, but one is likely to find it in almost everyone’s top 10.

📷:The Disco Biscuits

Right off the bat we are hit in the face with that sound.  Rib cages are rattled and your heart seems to speed up to join in as the doctor sets the controls for the heart of the sun.  The sound on the Rich Steele re-master makes you feel as though the band is in your living room; it’s intimate and intent on keeping your attention.  Slapping bass notes hit the crowd's face as though they were pulled straight from that famous scene in the movie Airplane and the rest of the band comes alive around the astoundingly deep pocket.  Not to be outdone, Magner and Barber begin what will be nearly fifteen minutes of a musical version of “TAG, you're IT”  The two musicians dancing around each other both in the composed sections of the song proper and improv segments. The second jam is seemingly a continuation of the intro and almost makes one forget the first lyrics even occurred.  As the jam begins to head toward Nughuffer territory the keys and guitar taunt and tease while nearly pulling the crowd’s mind apart.  Everyone “knows” where this is about to end up but nobody has the ability to relax, the tension rises to an almost uncomfortable level until FINALLY a release and we drop into the end of what would be a dyslexic story of careless glass etiquette, the end of 'Nughuffer.'

The Very Moon had slowly been endearing itself to fans since its debut, but the ability for the band to take the song to improvisational heights had been slow to arrive, until the Graffiti.  The peak is hot and must have been breathtaking to witness.  The funk slowly simmers its way into a cacophonous mixture of grimy outro and demented intro as the Hot Air Balloon rises from the caverns of the previous jam.  What a segue, what a show!

Was it known to many before this version that Aceetobee needed a Basis-like intro?  Did folks know that the payoff would be so rewarding?  Maybe, but everyone found out this night and I could go for more of these type AC2B intros.  As the band brings the song through peaks and valleys there’s a constant push and pull of group mind that showcases the most impressive talent of the Biscuits, their ability to leave their egos at the door and truly create a piece of improvisational music far from the traditional model of trading solos.  It’s hard to believe that there could be many more highlights after the heights that such a first set could attain let alone that two different songs would actually surpass said heights.

The band, and especially Barber, arrives with what very well could be the best version of Magellan the band has ever played.  Again, it is not common to find such a fan base in agreement when it comes to comparing songs, but most of you would at least mention this night’s Magellan in the conversation.  The improv is dark and brooding, yet provides the momentum and movement needed for this masterpiece to truly shine.  The guitar lines and riffs chosen over the entirety of the song twist and turn around the pulsating low end and bring emotions to the surface that are rarely stirred up as most music cannot attain such depth.  Screams of elation shimmer from the crowd noise in the background as notes spill out of each other.  Your body is no longer under your control as the energy created over the previous space in time overflows in shrieks of emotion and flailing attempts at understanding what is actually going on.  This is not just a group of people on stage playing a song, this is a collection of artists communicating the ideas of the muses, ancient ideas about love and light and exploration. 

“Once around the world and now I think I’m done…”

🎨: Gwen AP

Yet, we are far from done.  As FOH magician Jon Lesser repetitively bleeds ‘Voices Insane’ vocals into the ‘Dribble’ intro drums once again the clarity of this re-mastered source truly shines and it again seems as though the band is in your living room with you.  As the jam takes shape everyone is straight “Relaxin’ with the Disco Biscuits” while the chaos still looms deep in the recesses of the music.  The peak is held out for everyone to imagine, but doesn’t allow anyone to know what it will be like.  Shouts of appreciation erupt every time the stuttering low-end of ‘Dribble’ is teased and tightened but somehow eluded again and again.  It is sadistic in the best way possible and one of the main ways this band separates itself from the others in this music scene.  Playfully demonic, perfect for masochistic fanatics who chose to be challenged instead of placated when it comes to the type of music they seek.  Slyly, the Doctor slips the skittering intro beat under the rest of the music and we find ourselves rising and heading to an increasingly more frantic place.  Finally we hit the chorus again and have some ground to cling to, albeit briefly.  The apple-butter-toast segment is such a happy, cathartic release at this point in time that it is almost impossible to imagine the places the outro will lead, but go there we must. 

Lesser compliments Magner’s repetitive segue into the jam with more echoing lyrics from Barber as the guitarist begins an all-out assault on the senses with what I can only imagine might be every lick he knew at the time and then some. The energy behind this music is palpable and has me “dancing” from the couch as I type, it’s uncontrollable and a bit frustrating when trying to use a keyboard, but so fun.  As the pace quickens and the music gets less dense a quieter space is reached and once again Sammy and Barber play off each other like mad men introducing more and more movement to the already propulsive jam.  Arriving at a galloping rhythm the band is entirely in the pocket and the music itself is in control.  There are no clues as to where we will end up at first, but then Barber’s licks begin to sound familiar.  There is a feeling reminiscent of the stormy build up found earlier in the ‘Magellan,’ a teetering effect that leaves the audience unsure of their footing.  Blissful, circular licks pour out over the crowd as their lot has been cast and the crowd slowly recognizes the approaching peak to ‘Above the Waves.’  Brilliant!!!

The rest of the show is far from an after-thought as the band folds the show and the end of the tour back in on itself with the closing three heroic couplets found at the end of set II, the emotionally charged first encore, and the bruising second encore and tour closing send-off.  You have to listen to the end as a reward for your mind after such an onslaught.  This tour changed the band, the sound, and the expectations of the crowd.  So much creativity, so much drive and hunger is evident across the entire three month behemoth, but it is this show, this night in Pittsburgh that truly crested the peak of where the music could go at that time.  This is why we give them all our fucking money!

-walsh.

3/26/99 - Friday, The Blind Pig, Ann Arbor, MI

Today's 21st anniversary recap highlights an underappreciated show. The penultimate show of winter tour 1999 has always lived in the shadow of the next night's barn burner, but it has plenty of merit and is replete with highlights. Presented below is my write-up and review of the show. Enjoy

Score: 3/5

Highlights: I-Man > Shimmy, Vassilios > Shem-Rah Boo, Ape > I-Man, Helicopters

https://archive.org/details/db1999-03-26.flac

📷: Josh Altman

The Morph jam starts off as a very minimalistic and mellow Morph jam, gradually meandering into noodly trance territory. As Sammy moves the jam towards Shem-Rah Boo, Brownie dedicates the “next bit” to Carla’s birthday. The Shem jam starts out nice and trancey but begins sounding like a Vassilios intro very early on. Despite giving away the mark, it’s a pretty great jam, patient and eerie, although it does drag in places and the drop into Vassilios is badly botched. Vassilios jam, however, is fantastic. It starts off in traditional ambient trance, but builds quickly on a chaotic Barber-led theme midway through the jam. The jam builds in triumphant intensity as it gradually reaches Shem territory. The peak is a flawlessly executed capstone to the excellent jam. A solid MOTH MOTY finishes the set.

Helicopters is a great version. It gets into deep space a bit in the middle, with Magner making excellent use of the rabbit hole synths, and builds up to a ferocious conclusion. The band seems to lose control of the beast they’ve created; the ending goes off the rails a bit and the peak comes out of nowhere. Bit of a weird placement for a short Eulogy, but a nice breather until we get to the big segment. Ape gets off to a very patient start, with Barber playing a very simple riff and Magner accompanying on the piano. At about 10 minutes they find a very nice groove that’s almost a slowed-down Ape ending jam, which they break down around 14 minutes and sort of peter down to an I-Man intro. The jam is solid overall, even if it never got into raging trance or DnB, but the segue could have been better executed. The jam out of I-Man starts off in Magner-led Blissco and culminates in dark Barber shredding. It’s the final Shimmy of the tour, and it might just be the apotheosis of the recent bliss themed Shimmies (so far). It’s hard to timestamp a highlight, but 10:30 to about 14 might be it. This is a seriously fantastic jam, and out of the first jam in I-Man no less. Shimmy has a pretty cool vocal outro jam, but the show falls off pretty significantly after this: the Shimmy outro quickly becomes a standard I-Man middle with a standard jam into the ending of I-Man, which quickly outros into a pretty standard Morph ending. On top of all this, the Overture encore is jamless, which feels like a cheap cop out after the recent spate of jammed Overtures.

📷: Unknown

3/5.  Another almost 4. I-man >Shimmy is the clear highlight.  Vassillios > Shem-Rah is excellent.  Helicopters and Ape are both solid and worth a couple spins, and Shem-Rah > Vassillios is probably worth at least one.

Stray Observations:
Magner is definitely teasing something at 21:48 in Vassilios but I’m not sure what.
This is the first Shimmy outro jam.
I’m pretty sure this is the last jamless Overture, excluding the weird medley version from the 06 Hammerstein show. Could be wrong.

Top 5 Philadelphia Shows

We have one final installment of content for quarantine weekend: a ranking of my five favorite Philadelphia shows from all eras. This ranking is, of course, purely subjective, and I've done my best to point out the highlights of each show

5. 4/17/09 - The Electric Factory

The first set really gets going with the spectacular version of Save the Robots. The first jam is fiery and explosive, and the second is a restrained groove into Rockafella. The second set is consistently strong from the jam out of Caves, with the massive Dribble > Shem-Rah Boo > Dribble standing out as the main highlight. The third set, like the first set, is centered around one particularly strong segment, Spraypaint > Cyclone > Spraypaint, which features some of the era’s best “machine-gun Barber.”

4. 5/27/07 - The Electric Factory

Another three set show (at least in theory) making up for cancelled sets, the Electric Factory show begins where the previous night’s Jam on the River set prematurely ended. The show opens with the Munchkin Invasion that was rained out at the previous night’s show, and the music doesn’t let up for the rest of the set. The second set is the longest and most interesting, featuring an electrifying O Fortuna and an excellent version of Spacebird, one of the few inverted versions. The third set is basically a long encore, but it’s enjoyable as well.

3. 12/30/01 - The Electric Factory

2001 was the first year that the New Year’s Eve show was played at this iconic venue, but it’s the night before that is the most interesting to me. Choosing between the first and second sets is very difficult, and while most people seem to favor the second, I’m inclined to choose the first. The entire segment is great, but the Floes > Sound 1 > Floes that is at the center is another level of spectacular. The show is most well known for the Triumph > King of the World jam, a masterpiece in its own right, but I think the first set is overall just a hair stronger.

2. 12/30/99 - The Theatre of the Living Arts

The penultimate show of 1999 is flawless front to back. The first set is the stronger here; I don’t know anyone who would dispute that. The Vassilios jam is some of the best music the band has ever created, and the rest of the sandwich maintains at least close to that level of excellence all the way through. The second set is remarkably consistent, containing best ever contenders for Down to the Bottom and Mindless Dribble, as well as an explosive Shem-Rah Boo and a surprisingly exploratory Pygmy Twylyte. Even the encore, The Thieving Magpie > Plan B > The Thieving Magpie, manages to cover some  impressive improvisational ground.

1. 12/31/99 - The Theatre of the Living Arts

This show is so fat that it seems almost unfair to let other shows compete against it. I debated excluding it from the list, but I decided that there might be some out there who have not recognized its greatness. To get the obvious out of the way first: yes, on its own, the Akira jam in set three is probably enough to put this show towards the top of the list. However, there is nearly an hour of fantastic music in both set one (Morph, Svenghali > Boop (><) > Svenghali) and set two (Helicopters, Very Moon, Spaga). With all of that, the fourth set is really just gravy (and true, it doesn’t add much, but it doesn’t dip in quality much either). This is easily the greatest show the band has played in Philadelphia, maybe anywhere.

—Andy

What's up Philadelphia...erp, sorry, what's up blog?

Ok, ok, I am sorry for being flippant about another run cancelation, and I really do hope that I can ease the pain (even in the slightest) by rambling on about my favorite pieces of Fillmore improv that the Biscuits have ever played.  As Andy mentioned yesterday, we at A Clamouring Sound wanted to ramble through our favorite jams of Fillmore runs past and then come out with post show reviews.  Obviously, that cannot happen, but we did not want our friends and readers to go without any Biscuit input, data, memories, or fun.  So let's get this show on the road.

I: House Dog Party Favor 2nd Jam - 12/30/2018- 
I know the exact day that I fell in love with House Dog.  Still reveling in my blissful n00bness, I ventured to the Wetland's Preserve in Manhattan to catch "Electron opening for their friends The Perfume."  It was Monday, April 16, 2001, in a venue that had brought me so much joy and adventure that the mere mention of IT gives me goosebumps.  The force of that first encounter with HDPF is a clear building block in the foundation of my love that became an obsession.  I had just experienced the emotion of "getting IT" about the Biscuits sound at the Roseland a couple days prior, so my gray matter was primed to absorb as much as they could muster; but I digress.

Fast forward seventeen years and I am in my emotional second home, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  A place laid nearly holy by the band I write about today.  The experiences most have had in the "City of Brotherly Love" haven't always been wholesome, but they are times that every single one of you can imagine, eyes closed, reminiscing as we speak.  It is the city of legend.  Streets littered with operatic innuendo and inverted visions of what music can attain...

📸: Andrew Blackstein 

Sorry, I completely talked through the first verses and jam...oh well, let's start at the second House Dog jam, how convenient.  As the band fades out of the main theme Brownie begins a pattern of uplifting bass notes that seemingly invites a choral patch from Aron, and we spiral out into the unknown.  What felt like an hour, but was only two minutes, passes and somehow Barber heads up an octave in the same pattern he had been repeating earlier; and once again the chorus sings.

What just happened?  The floor of the Fillmore seems less sturdy than earlier in the show, slippery and uncomfortable to a degree.  Is music supposed to do this to a person's mind?  And if not, why am I so transfixed?  How has it been almost twenty years since I first found this magic?  Why am I not talking about the jam anymore?  Good question.

Allen completely changed the arc of this jam, far from the blissed out glory of the prior segment, we are left with a freakishly clever deconstruction of the beats laid out prior.  Dr. Fameus is in charge and the band catches on quickly.  The rest of the boys jump on and get dark instantly.  This is not the music you were into in grade school, hell, this isn't the music anyone should be into in grade school.  Things are dark and the tempo is rising quicker than my blood pressure, pumping fists around the floor, laughing at friends, loving my life, it just seems too simple when reality suspends for even a brief moment.

Whoah, sorry, I forgot this thing was public. So, back to the jam...

This music: the distorted, demented dance party that you are so excited about; this is why your old friends think you're so strange, but we can talk about that over a beer some time.  As breakbeats echo around your mind, there is a slight mention of the House Dog ending.  What time is it?  Was that standalone?  High-fives all around, check the watch, what the french toast?!?!  Makes sense after that mayhem that we take a breather with DRIBBLE.  Lolz.

🌲👽🌲
walsh.

Thanks guys, we will be back in about fifteen minutes...

Philadelphia Fillmore - Jam Highlights

When asked to name a legendary venue, most Biscuits fans will gravitate towards the sites of older classic shows, venues where the band cut their teeth as young musicians. The Wetlands Preserve springs immediately to mind, or the Trocadero, or the Electric Factory (where the band once graced a mural on the men’s room wall). Even a one-off venue like Silk City Diner, with only one (momentously significant) show would likely be widely recognized as hallowed ground. 

For this reason, it might be strange to consider the Philadelphia Fillmore, a venue the band played for the first time in 2016, a legendary venue. Certainly it is not on the same level as the Wetlands, but all the same something must be set for the remarkable quality and consistency of the fourteen shows played there as of March 11 2020. Ever since the band made the new venue their Philadelphia outpost in February 2016, the band has reliably delivered high-quality performances. Some of our favorite standouts are highlighted below.

2/6/16 Tunnel > Abyss

The Tunnel is one of the most poignant songs in the Biscuits catalog. It is always a treat to hear live, but rarely does a version hold up as strongly as this one, which is easily the best version played with Allen. The jam proceeds along a standard, yet elevated, Tunnel groove. At the thirty minute mark of that video, Barber locks into a very simple, elegant groove, and Magner complements him with the choir of angels patches (fitting given the nature of the song). At 31:35, Brownie leads the jam into new waters with a purposeful bass line that Magner quickly adapts to. Barber locks in within a minute, and the whole band builds on this triumphant theme for the rest of the jam. The patient theme building in the following ten plus minutes is inspired playing for any era. When Brownie finally comes in with the Abyss ending bass line around 42:20 it is both sudden and smooth.

2/3/17 Let's Dance > Humu

Disco Biscuits live at the Fillmore, 2/3/17 - Andrew Scott Blackstein

How the band takes the dazzling triumphant joy of Bowie’s Let’s Dance into utter freaking madness before returning to the poppy bliss of Brownie’s Humuhumunukunukuapua’a is nothing short of spellbinding. Magner’s descending synth line quickly leads the jam into the more eerie waters, and Barber picks up what he’s laying down immediately. As the jam gets darker, Magner reprises similar synth lines to the ones he played in the beginning of the jam, while adding in transcendental effects (see 2:58:00) to elevate the atmosphere. At 2:58:35, Barber takes the reins and pushes the jam forward, and the rest of the band follows suit. The tempo quickens, and Magner’s synth effects become more digital; the combined effect is a frenetic jam passage that perfectly encapsulates the notion of “controlled chaos.” Some excellent theme building from Magner and Barber in the ensuing minutes that culminates in a fantastic crescendo at 3:01:50. The jam winds down in a way that doesn’t quite resolve all of the tension it had built up, and when Brownie begins playing the Humu bass line more distinctly (around 3:05:50) it feels almost as if you’re coming up for air after a deep dive below the ocean’s surface. This jam is my pick for the best of the setbreak era.

12/29/18 Reactor > Orch

This will likely be the most controversial entry on the list, as this set was, and I assume still is, very polarizing. To my ears, there isn’t a finer Reactor in the setbreak era (and the only other contender, interestingly, was also played at the Fillmore). The jam proceeds as a standard Reactor theme. It builds up to a fakeout that is almost Reactor but not quite—where Reactor is triumphant, this false peak is sinister—which creates an almost uncanny valley effect. Barber goes absolutely nuts on the disaster siren pedal (which I know many hate, but its usage feels appropriate in this section). After the soul-crushing brutality of this theme (and some admitted sloppiness in the transition) the band latches onto a theme that feels almost deceptively pleasant around 2:35:50. There are hints of Very Moon but, of course, the band is saving it for later. They relax in this pleasant space with only minor variation until around 2:42:13 when Barber signals another shift. Credit to Magner for making a piano sound so sinister. A very patient build into Orch Theme develops from here.

—Andy

3/11/00 - Saturday, Wetlands Preserve, New York, NY

Archive Source

The Disco Biscuits took a two-and-a-half month hiatus after New Year’s Eve 1999, and in that time underwent many changes. The most significant of these was the abrupt dismissal of Marc Brownstein, whose absence in this show is almost deafening (more on that later). Most of the other changes stemmed from this one major change. The band debuted four new songs—because they lost a significant amount of their catalog with the loss of Marc. They tried out many new sounds and lineups—because they were still trying to figure out what the future held for the band. Many of these configurations pay off in a meaningful way, but I can say that more easily with the comfort and security of twenty years hindsight, living in a world where Marc Brownstein rejoined the Biscuits four months later. I can’t imagine attending this show, thinking this was the future sound of the Disco Biscuits, and being pleased with it. 

Brownstein’s absence is felt not just in the music, but in the opening banter. Hearing Barber and Magner interact on stage is just weird. Here, as well in the music, Brownstein’s absence is deafening. He wasn’t just responsible for holding down the rhythm section, he was the voice of the band. The three members try a variety of strategies to compensate for Brownstein’s absence, and rather than reviewing the show chronologically I will look at each of these strategies.

www.discobiscuits.net

The first configuration is the standard Disco Triscuits: everyone in their original roles, with Brownstein’s bass lines covered by Magner. All four debuts, and the majority of this show, are played under this lineup. It sounds probably the most like the Biscuits we know and love compared to the other lineups; however, the sound is distinctly less “edgy” than it is with Brownstein on the bass. Magner’s bass synths give the sound a kind of smooth, almost loungey feel, and a palpably electronic sound. This leads to some very cool atmospheric and spacey jams. In most cases this is a successful experiment; there are no notable failures. The jam into Floes does basically come to a stop, but that is the nature of the song, and the jam out of Spaga breaks down very gradually and organically. Eine Kleine Nachtmusik and Story are two of my highlights of the evening. The violinist in EKN is one of the better Biscuits sit-ins I’ve ever heard, and the Story and 7-11 are both extremely strong debut versions. Otherwise, the rest of the music played under this configuration is pretty unremarkable.

The second configuration, and probably the most controversial, features Sammy on the bass and Mauricio filling in on an e-drum. This lineup has some advantages and numerous disadvantages. The sound is very distinct, and the ensemble created two classics in the Biscuits repertoire, Crickets and Munchkin Invasion (both of which debuted later in the year). The sound is very atmospheric, and makes for a cool, textured style of jamming. However, the tempo is hindered by these artificial drums, and many of the composed sections and (especially) peaks sound utterly terrible. Svenghali, Voices and Basis are all played with Mauricio.

www.discobiscuits.net

The Svenghali is particularly excellent. The atmospheric jamming style works really well, and Mauricio is particularly talented with jungle style beats. If Svenghali is a song that doesn’t suffer tremendously from lacking a massive peak, Basis is perhaps a song that suffers the most. There are some cool moments of atmosphere in the Basis but it is a snooze overall, and there is absolutely none of the usual satisfaction in the ending. Voices is a compositionally challenging song, and none of the composition sounds particularly good. The bridge in particular is atrocious.

A guest bassist (Carol Wade) does a competent job in Dribble (a solid version to be sure, especially considering she’s only bassist for a day) and Barber puts down his guitar to play bass on Jigsaw (resulting in an electronic style that gets old fast). Overall, neither of these configurations are particularly interesting or significant.

The show is a real mixed bag. The highs are high. The lows are really low. There’s very little flow or cohesion (unsurprisingly). I started off intending to score these shows, but I’m not sure I can, so different as they are from ordinary Biscuits shows. I’ll leave you with my personal high points, and allow you to judge for yourselves.

Highlights:

Svenghali: 
Lush and richly textured, this Svenghali jam is indisputably the Mauricio highlight of the show, and possibly the whole tour. Magner utilizes a lot of great effects that become standard later in the year, and Sammy is an almost surprisingly solid bassist.

Eine Kleine Nachtmusik:
What an impressive cover! The guest violinist meshes very well with the band, and the jam they craft together is superbly tasteful trance.

Story of the World:
Probably the strongest debut of a night with four very strong debuts, this Story briefly dips its toes into a more sinister atmosphere before returning to the triumphant peak.

7-11:
Compositionally it’s very rough, but once the jam section starts that hardly matters. Magner’s synth bass lines don’t sound better anywhere in the show. There’s a distinct 7-11 theme before the jam breaks down and begins heading back into Spaga. Another very worthy debut.

—Andy

Introductions

My introduction began, as early as I can certainly tell, in late 2009 or early 2010. I do not remember the first time I ever heard the name “The Disco Biscuits” (growing up in a Philadelphia suburb, they were very nearly a part of the collective consciousness) but I remember distinctly the first time I heard their music. The song was “Park Ave,” the venue was the Fuji Rock Festival in Japan, and the medium was YouTube. Listening back, there isn’t much special to this version, but at the time, watching that video, I remember thinking that there was no other music like this in the world.

The next step in my journey was the discovery of the Live Music Archive. I have always been an obsessive listener of music; when I discover a new band I devour every single album until I get bored and move on. I had found the studio work of The Disco Biscuits to be far less compelling than the live video and, for some reason, the obsession didn’t stick long enough for me to discover the live albums like The Wind at Four to Fly. In fall 2011 I discovered the Archive and rediscovered the band. I began vociferously downloading and listening to shows and learning the history. Finally an obsession I would never be able to work my way through!

Fall 2011 was not the best time to get into the band, and so I continued to listen to tapes for another couple years before I finally made it to my first show, 12/28/13. To make the show, I took the commuter train from Philadelphia to New York, and hung around in Penn Station after the show to take the same train home. I didn’t know a soul there, but because I had spent so much time listening to tapes I recognized every song played (minus the relatively obscure Resurrection), including every time they went into and out of Spaga and Floes. I continued to attend shows solo for years until I gradually formed a corps of like-minded friends, whose obsession with the music drove every desire to see this band.

I have always been a student of history. I tended towards a preference of the older Biscuits style and sound. In the beginning, I was a little self-conscious of the fact that I had started so late, that I hadn’t seen as many shows as my other friends, etc. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had missed the only wave that had mattered, and I would have to content myself with experiencing the ripples. However, I gradually came around to a more enlightened position. I am tremendously lucky to have discovered this band—which makes music like nothing else in the world—when I did, and especially now that they appear to be in something resembling a second renaissance, I no longer feel like their best years are behind them.

For me, the obsession with the music and the history has always been the driving factor. I am more excited than words can do justice describing to be a part of this project.

—Andy

an overture...

Something introductory.

A preamble to a dramatic musical journey of mine found with a little band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  A prelude to a lifelong dream of wanting to tell the stories and the anecdotes of my life following this group awash in light and sound, year after year, tour after tour, show after show.  But it needed to be bigger than just my journey and understanding and it could not be chronological.  It just would not make sense in such a linear retelling.  As the music gets turned around and upside down, so has the story of this band and my fascination with their music.  The hope is for a deeper, more episodic presentation built to entice both the jaded vet and impressionable noob while entertaining all those in between.  Shows will be reviewed and statistics will be thrown around for all my setlist nerd family, but there will also be room for more interpretations and more connections explored between the music and this insatiable need we all seem to acquire. We have all been left a bit different after finding this band - good always comes with some bad - but, overall I have learned more and lived more since my first show nearly twenty years ago than I could have ever imagined when first introduced to their sound.

When faced with the term "introduction," there are two specific dates that come to mind, but they are not about "bustouts" or palindromes, repeats or the last time a certain tune was played.  They are both about decisions I made based around events those nights, during (and after) those shows that would go on to alter my life forever.  

One decision was to go to Toad's Place in New Haven, CT on November 17, 2000 to see the Disco Biscuits for the very first time. An introduction.  While the discussion of this show will make its way public later this year, I cannot say that I had any idea as to what was enveloping my senses that evening.  Years later I would realize just how good that music had been, but it was the connections made that night that forced a change of plans for the New Year's Eve show ahead in Worcester.  Small decisions at the time, a change of hotel perhaps, but in hindsight decisions that lead me down a path I would not change for the world.  The other decision was seven years later, after what feels like a lifetime's worth of changes had occurred.  Through friends of friends I met my wife after venturing south on a whim, and contemplating a major life decision to move out of the northeast.  Sure there is no clean recording of that night and the music was probably surpassed a multitude of times by now, but it is the feelings that this music holds long after such a night that draws us all back again and again.  

The desire for this blog is to foster an environment in which people feel inspired to delve deeper into a sound that can emotionally move so many.  There has to be a reason that there are so many love stories and friendships found in every group of friends throughout this scene.  There must be something other than notes strung ever-so-dramatically over beats meant to unite and divide attention.  These types of stories will intertwine with other people's tales and the depth of this band and their fans can be showcased in more and more nuanced fashion.  This will be a place for all of us to reminisce and discover the days when I remember when...a place for Bisco.


🌲 👽 🌲

B4L

walsh.

P.s Thank you to both Andrew Blackstein(IG: @blacksteinphotography) and Dave Vann(IG: @dv_in_sf) for allowing us to use their amazing photography.