|
Midwest Report
Edited by Natalie Guinsler - dagny_esque@yahoo.com
- Phish In My Backyard
- Easy to Swallow - The Disco Biscuits Take a Bite Out of the Hype
by Natalie Guinsler
Cleveland Convocation Center
Cleveland, OH
Nov. 13,1998Friday the 13th and my friend's little brother, a show virgin, needs a ticket to get into this sold-out show, I consider my odds slim to nil as I step out onto the cold pavement, finger flyin' along with a couple hundred other phreezing phans. Hmmmm..someone is offering clean socks for an extra. Whaaaaa, did I just hear 'Cash or my girlfriend for the night for your extra'? I've got fierce competition. Lo and be-golden, I am blessed by a young chap who taps me on the shoulder and says, "I almost gave this to the guy offering a piece of string cheese, but you seem less scary." Good to know, I am less intimidating than a guy with a piece of processed dairy products.
This is my friend's first show, physically and aurally. He has no idea what is in store. His brother, a seasoned phan and taper, has not clued in him really on what to expect. I decide not to ruin the surprise, and after making sure he makes it to his seat, I head down to the floor.
Lights out, opening riff of Chalkdust, I know my newbie friend has to be awestruck. First set billows through with Wolfman's, Roggae, a lyrically challenged Ginseng, Page layin' on thick on It's Ice, Mike's turn with CTB, Farmhouse, Water in the Sky, Sloth, and a full-force Antelope. I meet up with my friend at set break, grinning from ear to ear.
Second set, again, energy high: DWD, Sample, Dirt, BOAF, Meat, and Harry Hood, complete with glowstick war, during which some guy behind me muttered, "My reaction time is too slow for this, man. Help me out if I lose my eye." Encore: GTBT
Phish's Cleveland show was a solid, clean performance. I remember after my first show how amazed I was that all of that sound was coming out of just four guys. When I saw my friend walking around the promenade, I knew, he too, had been hooked.
Easy to Swallow
The Disco Biscuits Take a Bite Out of the Hypeby Natalie Guinsler
The Roost, Denison University
Granville, OH
Dec. 9,1998For at least six months, I've been hearing all about this great band from Pennsylvania. People I meet at shows, friends from all over, "Oh, you haven't seen the Biscuits? You really need to see the Biscuits." Yeah, yeah, and I need to balance my checkbook, pay the rent, wash my hair, blah, blah, blah, see another band. So the Biscuits pop out of the oven in my neck of the woods and I decide it's time to venture out and see what's causing all of this hoopla.
My cynicism, I apologize, was ranting 'Disco Biscuits, sounds like the end result of a night with the Bee Gees and Betty Crocker.' This cynicism quickly vanished as the Biscuits started their show. They are not the best band I've seen, they are not the best songs I've heard or lyrics I've listened to. They are however, the band with the most potential I have seen to someday be those things. For the first time, in a long time, I was impressed not so much by what was on the plate, but what was still in the oven.
With a good mix of new songs thrown in with the old, I was honestly impressed with how much growth was apparent. I was also impressed with how many different influences in style I was able to detect. My largest gripe with many of today's jam-bands is their seemingly formulized improvisation, contradicting the whole concept of a jam-band. The Disco Biscuits have the recipe for blending and mixing, kneading and rolling, and then letting it sit and rise.
Dec/Jan Issue: Home | Editors | Features | Columns | Photos | Regional | New Groove
Road Trip | Tour Journal | Venue | Levels | Ghosts | Homegrown | Inaudible | CDs | Charts
JamBands.Com is published on the 15th of every month. Submissions are due ten days earlier on the fifth of each month. Please contact the specific editor for the section you are interested in contributing to. For general content comments, please e-mail jambands@jambands.com. For all technical web site related issues, please contact Andy Gadiel