Above: Jon Gutwillig, The Disco Biscuits, Nokia Theatre, 12/26/2008. Photo by Jeremy Gordon.

The Disco Biscuits played a surprise show last night under its instrumental alias Tractorbeam. A night off from the band’s multi-night run at New York’s Nokia Theater, the members of the band were scheduled to play New York’s more intimate Highline Ballroom with their individual side-projects: M-80 Dubstep (guitarist Jon Gutwillig), DrFameus (drummer Allen Aucoin) and Conspirator (bassist Marc Brownstein and keyboardist Aron Magner). Gutwillig kicked off the night and brought out Magner for the latter portion of his set. Brownstein and Aucoin then emerged for a surprise Tractorbeam set of instrumental music.

The musicians opened their set with a freeform jam that teased a number of Disco Biscuits songs like “Basis for a Day,” “I-Man,” “Mr. Don” and “Gangster,” among others. The jam lasted approximately 45-minutes before coming to a head as “Boom Shaker.” Gutwillig and Aucoin then left the stage as Conspirator began its portion of the evening. Aucoin returned a bit later to play drums with the duo and later brought the night to a close with his DrFameus project.

The Biscuits will return to the Nokia theater tonight. Please click here for a recent site interview with Marc Brownstein