Headstash

Road To Camp Bisco 2012 Reviews

Photo Credit: Holly O'Connor

07.05.2012 – 9:30 Club – Washington, D.C.

Set I: (Helicopter fake-out), King Of The World, Aceetobee > Tricycle > Aceetobee, Jigsaw Earth, Mindless Dribble > Helicopters
Set II: Resurrection > Story Of The World, Voices Insane, Morph Dusseldorf > Abraxas > Morph Dusseldorf, I-Man
Encore: Frog Legs

The first night of the three-night “Road To Camp Bisco” Disco Biscuits run was an all-out rager. If all you read was that, then, well, you already know how the night went. For their first show since Mayan Holidaze in late January, the now-infrequently playing livetronica quartet sold out the legendary D.C. venue. It was one hell of a way to return to the scene.

Opening with “King Of The World,” we all felt like royalty as the crowd greeted the band with open arms and an onslaught of cheers, applause and mayhem. The “Helicopters” tease that preceded the opening track would later resurface at the end of set one. 

[Find more information about The Disco Biscuits on their official website.]

Photo Credit: Holly O'Connor

From the first note, The Biscuits had the club charging up for what became an incredibly electric atmosphere. Their intensely destructive jams were on full display tonight with the classic “Aceetobee.”

The lighting somehow was able to keep up to speed with the unstoppable guitar riffs, smoldering bass and chest-pounding drum beats. The audience was in awe of the spectacle and tightness despite the long time off.

The show reached its pinnacle with the presence of “I-Man,” throwing the grateful crowd into a ruckus. The band seemed to be having as much fun on stage as the crowd. The energy, passion, pace and constant happy smiles of the band engulfed the warm darkness of the night. This show was the perfect beginning to a three-night run. It gave the loyal fans exactly the show and songs they were eager to hear and the band got their Camp warm-up.

The encore was a resurrection of “Frog Legs” and sent the audience home happy and ready to head to New Jersey.

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Photo Credit: Holly O'Connor

07.06.2012 – House of Blues – Atlantic City, NJ

Set I: M.E.M.P.H.I.S. > Run Like Hell > Confrontation¹ > Shem-Rah Boo² > Bombs > Crystal Ball³
Set II: Above The Waves, Magellan, House Dog Party Favor > Crystal Ball³ > The Great Abyss > Run Like Hell
Encore: Wet
¹inverted
²unfinished
³dyslexic

Walking in to the House of Blues on Friday, I had an ultimate feeling of relief seeing friend after friend with huge smiles plastered on their faces. The vibe was so intensely positive from start to finish, and you could tell everyone was riding the same proverbial high of being able to see their favorite band after what felt like an eternity.

The boys did the right thing by starting off the night with a loose jam that built up into a raging “M.E.M.P.H.I.S.,” to which the crowd went absolutely bonkers, screaming every word in a collective catharsis.

[FOLLOW The Disco Biscuits on Facebook.]

The “Run Like Hell > Confrontation> Shem-Rah Boo” segment had everyone dancing like crazy and the jam into “Bombs” was great even though it felt a bit misplaced after a string of such classic Biscuits tunes. The highlight of the first set was the build-up and drop into the end of “Crystal Ball,” a song that many go nuts for every time they play it.

The second set was back to classic Barber-driven songs, starting with three standalone tracks – “Waves,” “Magellan,” and “House Dog, Party Favor” – all of which had everyone enthralled.

The “Crystal Ball > Abyss> Run Like Hell” all of which was executed really well. The “Wet” encore was short and to the point, but was most definitely welcome. In my opinion, the show was well-played and had a great song selection, but most importantly the fans put out more love and energy for this band than I’ve seen in years.

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Photo Credit: Holly O'Connor

07.07.2012 – The Starland Ballroom – Sayreville, NJ

Set I: The Very Moon¹> Crickets² > Spacebirdmatingcall, Aquatic Ape³ > Svenghali⁴
Set II: Spraypaint > Sound One > Astronaut² > And the Ladies Were the Rest of the Night⁵ > Cyclone > Spraypaint, Once The Fiddler Paid
Encore: Munchkin Invasion
¹without funk section
²middle section only
³unfinished
⁴ending only
⁵inverted

The Disco Biscuits closed out their “Road to Camp Bisco” tour at the Starland Ballroom to one of the loudest and most enthusiastic crowds I’ve ever been a part of. [Ed. Note: And Holly’s been to 100+, so that’s saying something. - NR]

And while the band did seem a bit (understandably) disjointed at times, their enthusiasm on stage and patient jamming gave us more than enough reasons to keep cheering.

Starting the night off in sensual fashion was New Jersey native and up-and-coming DJ Speakerbot. From the time doors opened until just before The Biscuits came on, Speakerbot was spinning vamped-up disco remixes of classic tunes both new and old.

Photo Credit: Holly O'Connor

Stevie Nicks' “Edge of Seventeen” was a crowd favorite as well as The Talking Heads’ “Naive Melody,” which seemed to articulate his feelings toward being on stage at his hometown venue.  

When The Disco Biscuits came out it was an exciting moment for many who hadn’t seen them in six months as well as those who had been to the two previous nights.

“The Very Moon” to open the show was a great selection, but you could tell they were still getting used to playing together again. At times. it seemed as if Magner and Brownie were looking to Barber for cues to no avail.

Eventually Brownie took the lead with a hard-hitting funky bass line that morphed into a methodical jamming of the middle of “Crickets”. Still, the highlight of the first set had to be “Aquatic Ape > Svenghali”. Barber and Allen were locked in this whole time, feeding off each other in a way that was amazingly organic.

There were times during this segment that they seemed a bit lost, but were eventually led into some free-form jamming that was, if nothing else, exploratory. A gigantic “Svenghali” peak ended the first set with Barber (along with everyone else in the crowd) practically screaming the vocals.

Horizon Wireless, another New Jersey local DJ spun some dubbed out psy-trance beats during set-break while The Biscuits prepared to throw it down for the last pre-Camp set.

[FIND complete lineups, ticketing information and analysis of all your favorite festivals via our 2012 Festival Guide.]

Opening set two with a monster “Spraypaint” segment seemed to continue where they left off in set one – with great Biscuits sing-alongs. “Sound One” had a seriously danceable outro jam into the middle of “Astronaut” for my personal favorite point of the show.

Magner was undoubtedly taking the lead on this key and synth heavy jam that is also known as a “suspended in the air” or SITA jam for short. Whatever you want to call it, the middle section of “Astronaut” usually doesn’t disappoint and this was no exception.

Keeping the momentum going, an inverted “And the Ladies Were the Rest of The Night” produced another one of the better moments of the night. Everyone in the Ballroom was getting down during this part of the show. Following “Ladies” was “Cyclone,” and while it had some great energy this was probably one of the sloppier moments of the show.

Eventually they circled back around into the ending of “Spraypaint” and then paused for the first time since getting back on stage. The crowd roared in appreciation for the dance party we were just bestowed and smiles lit up each band member’s face.

As they took a quick break to sip on water and prepare for the next note, the venue continued to rumble while fans screamed, clapped and whistled until “Once The Fiddle Paid” began to close out the set. Much to our delight, Barber and Brownie exchanged high-fives on stage and Allen was even giving some out to members of the front row. It was great to see them having so much fun together again.

The vigorous crowd continued its roar from the time they left the stage until the first note of “Munchkin Invasion” rang through. As an encore, it was a great choice, as it seemed to build off of the energy that the second set produced.

Magner was all over the place during “Munchkin,” but shined especially during the ending. At one point, he turned completely around and seemed to be playing the keyboard from behind his back! Not something you see at every Biscuits show, but just another reason as to why he is continually the MVP of this band.

Overall, the show had its highs and some lows. At points, their time apart was obviously reflected through scattered playing, but that was to be expected. All four band members were having a blast on stage and this made for way more great moments than flubs. One thing is true, they set the bar high for Camp Bisco and hopefully even more shows in the coming months.

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The Disco Biscuits will perform next at Camp Bisco XI at the Indian Lookout Country Club in Mariaville, NY from July 12 to 14 alongside Bassnectar, Skrillex, Lotus, Big Gigantic, Amon Tobin and many more.

For more information about the festival, check out the event’s official website or our 2012 Festival Guide. For more information on the band, visit their official website.