The Return of Bisco to New York City

On March 11th, The Disco Biscuits took the stage at the Wetlands Preserve in New York City. This was their first show since New Years Eve, their longest break in several years. The large, tight-knit fan base the band had developed over that time, especially in the past year, was excited. But, many were also confused, or otherwise not sure what to think, due to the band's separation from bass player Marc Brownstein which occurred just after the first of the year.

Despite the confusion that people may have had, the long time since a show, and the amazing peaks the band had reached in their last few shows, led fans from all over the country to converge on NYC for their first taste of the future of Bisco.

This month, we have contributions from four fans who took road trips to this show. While they do not all agree on everything, you will find common themes throughout their stories. As these themes sum up much of my own feelings about this show, I'll let their words tell the story after this introduction.

After Lake Trout opened, The Disco Biscuits played the following:

Set 1:
Spaga-> Flows #. Smoothie King. Sven Gali *. Eine Kleine Nachtmusik # (Mozart, with Jon Kim violin). Jigsaw Earth (Barber on bass).

Set 2:
Story Of The World #. Voices Insane *. Basis For A Day *. Little Boy On The Moon #. Mindless Dribble (with Carol Wade on bass !!!). Get Your Ass to the Party # > Spaga

Encore:
I-Man (Barber on acoustic, Sammy on djembe.)

# new song, first time played
* Sammy on bass, with Mauricio on sequencer

The anticipation surrounding this particular Disco Biscuit show was different then usual. I had missed NYE and therefore had missed the last TDB show with Marc on bass and I didn't know what to expect from this experimental bassless trio. I hadn't even planned on going since I live in Cleveland and getting to shows in NYC can be expensive if you have nowhere to stay, but then I got the call. Jesse Jarnow, a New Yorker stuck in Ohio for school offered me a ride and place to crash at the legendary e-rocks place, and from that moment on I was psyched for a night at the Wetlands.

I cut out of work early and Jesse and his friend Dan picked me up at my place to start the 8+ hour drive to the big city. As someone who loves to travel, going to see TDB and spending a weekend in NYC was like a double bonus, my only other trip there was also to The Wetlands to see the Biscuits in December of '98. The long drive was made less painful due to the company and music as the miles flew by like notes coming off of Barber's guitar. We made it to Erica's just shy of 1AM as we joined a host of others to watch the Akira video from NYE, which reminded me that half the fun of traveling for shows is the people you get to meet along the way.

By 4PM the next day we were getting ready to leave for the city and meet a host of people for some drinks and grub next to The Wetlands. After some tense moments in traffic and with The Man we finally made it to the restaurant only slightly frazzled but still ready to rock the house. It was interesting, as people from all over the country, many who had never met before, talked to each other like they had been friends for life. I have never been around a community like this before and it can only add to the already incredible magic that The Disco Biscuits create. Nervous anticipation about the new sound was mixed with everybody's excitement to hang-out again and throw-down hardcore like only TDB can. The next order of business would be to sample some of Clayton Belkamps tasty "Disco Biscuit" drinks.

With a couple drinks and a tight set of Lake Trout under our belts, we were all ready for the main course, the reason we spent hours driving or hundreds of dollars flying, the band that is the center of this amazing family, The Disco Biscuits. They came on stage and bust into Spaga as if to say "we are still The Disco Biscuits, so hold onto your fucking socks, here we come".

Immediately some tension flowed from my body as it became clear that they weren't going to scrap what they had worked so hard to achieve over the last year just because of a line-up change. The night was full of new songs, interesting line-up changes and guest musicians but there was a noticeable whole in the sound. What i loved is that the band was willing to experiment and possibly fall on their face in front of their fans. Many bands might not have played out until they had a replacement and practice time, but the biscuits took a risk, and created some beautiful soundscapes along the way.

Sure, at times they stumbled, but when they got back on their feet, it was all the more impressive. When Carol Wade took the stage to play bass on "mindless Dribble" I think everybody's knees got weak. This would be the only song played with the same style line-up that we are all used to, and Carol filled in remarkably.

Mauricio also helped define a new direction for some of the jams, and turned "Sven Gali" into one of the highlights of the show, and when all was said and done at 4:45AM I left with a smile and anticipation for the next show, because that's what it's about for a music junkie like me. The world created in a good jam can make everything else meaningless as you stand there and let the waves of sound completely engulf you. The Disco Biscuits push the boundaries further then anyone else I have ever seen and this is why I will spend half of my weekend in a car for a 4 hour show. The music and people make every mile of the road trip worth it.

Now, comes the worst part, saying good-bye to friends you don't see that often and driving home. An eight hour drive with a pot of Bisco waiting at the other end is tolerable, but the drive home with only work waiting for me just flat out sucks. Another roadtrip behind me with memories and tapes of the show to remember it by, now the only question is how can I get to Boston for the show at The Middle East?

We (me and my roommate Chrissy) took my car from Towson, MD. On the trip up to the show, we stopped randomly on the Jersey turnpike for amusement and bought PJ pants to wear to the show (monkeys for me and dragons for Chrissy). We needed to stop I need to walk around. The day had already been too long because i had interviewed for grad school in the morning, which was a stressful experience. So, we just let go of the stress by acting silly, singing some of our infamous duets from the Chrissy Show.

Before the show, we stopped by Erica Lynn's to hang out and then went by the Thai place where a bunch of friends were meeting - but we weren't eating cause Thai food is gross. ;) And we napped.

In the show, I was excited to see a lot of people that I hadn't seen in a really long time. Musically, I thought that the show was really good. A little weird. But that was to be expected, i think. I was especially impressed by Carol Wade's skills on bass. I was also impressed by the general. I wish that some songs though, were never even attempted because they seemed "hollow" without a bass.

Overall, the trip had many highlights: from the exceptionally fun car ride, to the reunion with friends to seeing one of those friends (Carol) up on stage. Pretty much the only negative, I would have to say, was going home to face reality- work and homework.

Most of the trip from Oneonta, NY to NYC I did solo. I drove my piece of shit car to Tarrytown where I met up with a crew at Elynn's casa, as I do before all the Wetlands Biscuits shows (its like a tradition). On the way to the show, I found myself going 85mph on the NY State Throughway, listening to Camp Bisco Bert>Basis, which has already caused me to get one ticket. At least on this trip I did not get a speeding ticket or my car did not break down (which has happened at other recent shows). I have really bad luck when it comes to driving to shows.

My friend Rich drove my car into NYC, as i am still a wuss at city driving (almost killed in Boston :|). We met a ton of people at the Thai House near the wetlands, this would turn out to be a BAD IDEA.

Hanging out preshow was awesome. This was my first show where I was legal, and Clay's drinks were great. I got to talk to lots of people I hadn't seen since NYE. It was kinda weird being at the Wetlands cause I have some associations of it with the past that I try not to remember.

For the first time since 8/11 I didn't stand in front of the stage for a Biscuit show. It was a nice break, but right before the show started i felt kinda sick and extremely tired. I'd get a burst of energy then be overtaken by exhaustion. (Although i must say Floes got me to move!).

By the end of first set I was barely able to keep my eyes open. I got very sick! It must have been the food. I had to leave right before second set started, to go sleep in my car.

All the trouble of finding a ticket (didn't get one till Thursday night - THANK YOU LAURADOLL) only to spend most of the night very ill. i didn't feel well for days. I was crushed I missed Carol on bass :(((((

I spent 2 hours sleeping in my car before the show ended, then drove back to Elynn's for a night (well morning) of rest. Nate rode back to Albany with me and I arrived back in Oneonta at 10pm with no time to study for big history exam the next day. In the end, it was great seeing all my friends, but obviously the food poisoning sucked.

Somewhere during the madness of the Disco Biscuits third set on New Year's Eve - a full-on spontaneous scoring of the Japanese film "Akira" - I was comforted, in an odd way, by the fact that the band would be taken an extended break after the show, to regroup and rebuild. It meant that there wouldn't be shows each weekend that I felt completely obligated to drive to. The reality of that break was brutally enforced a week or so after the show, when it was announced that Marc Brownstein was no longer a member of the band. Nonetheless, I'd sworn to myself that I'd be present the next time the band hit the stage.

So, with the Wild Llama in tow, as well as my friend Minty - who'd never seen the band before - we set out from Ohio for the great, right coast on the afternoon of March 10th for the show the next night. Like most, I had little idea what to expect. Musically, the only thing I was really bracing myself for was a radically reconstructed and repurposed version of the band. And, I suppose, that's exactly what I got. The Biscuits, especially in the fall of the nine-nine, had been transformed into a majestic entity, capable of jams that truly soared. There's no other way to describe them other than to say that they provoked a sense of awe.

This wasn't random wanking. The jams had narrative structure, dammit. This idea culminated with the "Akira" set, during which the band literally provided a soundtrack to the film, moving with the twists and turns of the plot.

On 3/11, a wholly new band took the stage. Or, perhaps more accurately, the seed of an entirely new band took the stage. In the same way that it was tough to find a crack in the musical facade of the fall Biscuits, this show was like a lesson in magic -- how a master of deceit might learn to turn a trick. There were new songs, there were guests, and there were drastic rearrangements of older tunes. Overall, though, there was no thread that seemed to tie the music together other than the collective muse of the group. This is a very broad thread to follow, and a valid one, but also one that might sometimes be hard to pick up on.

The drive to the show was characterized, as one might have predicted, with uneasy wonderings about what the thread might resemble without Brownstein. Would it still be as strong? By the time we reached New York, though, all questions seemed to melt temporarily. Arriving in Tarrytown, where we spent the night, we joined a gathering brought together to celebrate not just the return of the Biscuits to the stage, but of an excuse for everybody to see each other.

We drove back to Ohio the evening after the show. Musically, perhaps, we weren't satisfied. I feel, though, that we witnessed the beginning of what will eventually be a five-part progression, for each of the Biscuits shows this spring. The next time the band plays, who knows what kinda of sweater they might sew.