Notes From The Drop Zone - 6/23/20 (Andy)

As the Disco Biscuits took the field of Citizens Bank Park nearly six months since having played a proper concert, I was overwhelmed with feelings of awe and anticipation. The feeling was at once familiar and unprecedented; while the band was venturing into uncharted territory with their free benefit show in an empty stadium, it still felt intimately familiar. I had the same pre-show jitters that I always do before this band takes the stage, the same nervous anticipation that I was about to watch a grand experiment unfold, one that might fall flat on its face or result in the greatest musical experimentation I had ever heard.

There had been considerable buzz for this show in the days leading up—not always a great thing for a band which thrives best under minimal pressure. With that in mind, and considering how long it had been since the four had played together, I tried to keep my expectations reasonable (although I still couldn’t help running through the least plausible “what ifs” in my mind). The opening Home Again seemed to confirm that this would be a pretty standard run-through of the “hits,” such that they are. Home Again was played cleanly and competently, but at no point did it deviate from the norm. My expectations were thrown against the floor and shattered, however, as the band launched into Digital Buddha. Buddha is one of the best vehicles for dark trance-fusion jamming in the repertoire, and it is just about impossible to play a “typical” Buddha. The jam out was a nice tense groove, interspersed with some disaster siren effects from Barber (I know this pedal has numerous critics, but I think it would be hard to argue it was not used tastefully here). The jam began to pick up in tempo, with Barber’s playing becoming harsher and grungier, as the band segued deftly into Anthem. The shreddy and energetic Anthem broke down into a very groovy outro jam, and the whole band immediately locked into an excellent theme. The jam quickly resolved into an excellent Buddha ending, completing the sandwich. A quick jamless Hope provided a buffer between two sandwiches, as the band immediately launched into Spraypaint afterward. Spraypaint is a great jam vehicle as well, but unlike Buddha it is very frequently played as a “typical” Spraypaint. This is why I was very glad to see the band take Spraypaint out of the box, for what was probably my favorite jam of the night. The normal Spraypaint bliss very gradually crept into more sinister territory, and the band developed an excellent type two theme. This dark theme melted into a bliss section somewhat, as the band launched into their newest song, Running Into The Night. Running was either outro’d or unfinished (I think the latter, but I’m still not really sure with that song), and emerged into a triumphant major key jam that segued pretty quickly back into Spraypaint type one. The band launched into a standalone Crickets to close the show. Both jams were on the shorter side (I believe the Crickets was less than 20 minutes long), but the first jam particularly had a very cool, if perfunctory, first jam, with excellent trancey effects from Magner.

The band managed to exceed expectations with this short show. Clean playing, good setlist construction, and two or three jams that are worth revisiting. Highlights: Spraypaint > Running, Buddha > Anthem > Buddha.

—Andy

Notes From The Drop Zone - 6/23/20 (walsh)

The year is 2020. The place is Philadelphia. The band is the Disco Biscuits. The music is the reason.

With such a fractured society about and deep loss in my heart I was genuinely nervous as the stream began. The pressure was palpable through the TV and I wondered if the band we love could muster up the energy needed to allow their music to take off the way it must. The leadoff batter took to the plate and I could feel the tension as the first pitch was tossed. How would this work, what will this feel like, can we get a win finally? Play Ball. 

In an instant everything seemed to make sense again as the chords to 'Home Again' rung clear through my brain, this was what I was missing. A smile. A simple smile spread across my face as the words crested and for the first time in what felt like forever I was happy, I was able to laugh and sing along to my favorite band. All the sadness lifted and I began to dance, a kid again if but for a couple hours, and I was able to forget. I was surprised by the tone of the jam and realized quickly that this was going to a good time, this was going to work. As they wrapped up the song it seemed as though the band was going to play to the possibly new crowd with melodic, easily digestible Biscuits, but I was so wrong. 'Buddha' exploded across the screen and suddenly there was an energy that I did not think possible built in an empty stadium. The jam was frantic and not what I had expected for such a stage.  As Barber began to become more prevalent in the mix I jumped off the couch yelling 'Anthem,' scaring my cat half to death. This song has grown on most quickly and did not disappoint as it glided back into the end of 'Buddha' perfectly. After Brownie addressed the unseen audience the band tossed in a short, but well played 'Hope' that worked well as a palate cleanser. I do miss those 'Gentle nature of a woman' jams from 2007, but that is for another post. I was surprised at first by the 'Spraypaint' call, but quickly ran through the lyrics in my head and felt slightly embarrassed that I hadn't expected such a call to arms during such chaotic times. The band quickly left behind the main theme and ventured off into a dark milieu that fit the mood of our current situation perfectly. Grimy was the first word that popped into my head as they continued deeper into the abyss until a lighter, brighter jam lifted the band into 'Running Into the Night.' Coming from such a dark place seemed to take a little of the steam out of this version and the lyrics seemed to suffer most, it seemed almost unsure and didn't excite me as most of the previous versions of this new number had. All that was quickly forgotten as the band charged back to the 'Spraypaint' ending. This was one moment where the lack of crowd energy seemed obvious although it was done well. Then they dropped a big ol' 'Crickets' and I started to lose my mind. Standalone 'Crickets' are the stuff dreams are made of (nightmares are dreams ok?). The first jam was borderline industrial at times, drum n' bass adjacent if you will, and led to the second most obvious moment of the unfortunate disconnect such a technology cannot breach. The peak was done perfectly, if a bit brief, but without the explosiveness of a full room behind the band it passed a bit flat to me. Whatever, I was still pumped and the off-kilter funk jam was the perfect ending to such a unique night in the history of The Disco Biscuits.

I just have one question, can we get another one of these?