Photos by Mitch Kline
The Scene: After a show of bust outs and rarities, night two at The Ogden found a lot of people focused on what was happening outside of the theater. With Denver’s unpredictable springtime weather delivering a nasty mix of sleet, snow, and rain, many were more worried about Friday’s Red Rocks show with Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann of The Grateful Dead being cancelled, moved, or unbearable to attend.
Disco Biscuits: Thankfully for those thinking in the moment, The Disco Biscuits quickly put an end to any outside thoughts, opening the show with the epicly beautiful “Once The Fiddler Paid.” “Fiddler,” a song about lost love from guitarist Jon “The Barber” Gutwillig’s Hot Air Balloon rock opera, provided an excellent opportunity to showcase a side of the Biscuits we did not see the previous night. While most will talk of four on the floor Techho jams when describing The Disco Biscuits, the band has a deep catalog that also demonstrates their ability to build jams in more a swirling, psychedelic, Rock and Roll style. “Fiddler” provided the perfect platform for the band to jump into this mode and was the highlight of the first set.
While the song selection for the rest of the set was good, things never seemed to sync up and felt a bit disjointed at times. “Story of the World” certainly got the crowd moving and the “Trycycle->Lunar Pursuit” brought that aforementioned four on the floor flavor but the jams failed to hit on some of the thematic and soaring heights that the band is capable of. “Svengali” closed the set out on a higher note and set the table nicely for what was to come in set two.
If the first set was a bit out of sync, set two saw the band firing on all cylinders. “Mr. Don” started things off with a flourish and the interplay between Gutwillig on Guitar and Magner on keys drove the jam nicely into another one of Gutwillig’s epic opuses; “Magellan.” “Magellan” is indeed an epic in every sense of the word and this unfinished version saw things depart from its usual Rock driven jam and segued into the raw and pulsing instrumental “Cyclone.” This is where things really seemed to pick up as the band again pushed each other to new heights. I’ve said it numerous times before but it bares repeating, The Disco Biscuits are at their best when the whole is greater than the sum of their parts. When they are truly synced together they cease to be four guys playing instruments and form an eight legged monster that seamlessly moves through themes and melodies as a unit. As they ripped through the sections of “Cyclone” and things pushed into another exhilarating jam, everything seemed to click. The band, the crowd, the lights, hell even the security guards in the room all hit a place of chaotic energy that only The Disco Biscuits are capable of generating. That energy found its way into this huge version of “Munchkin Invasion” which was easily the highlight of the week up to that point. Out of “Munchkin” the band went back into dance party mode then segued flawlessly into the end of “Story of The World” to close out the set.
The encore brought out yet another song we haven’t heard in CO for a while, “On Time,” and featured some serious funky playing on a song that usually has more of a dancey feel. The slower pace gave drummer Allen Aucoin a chance to bust out some funkier grooves and Aron Magner laid heavy on the deep, clavy tones that he had been delighting the crowd with all night. If anyone earned MVP honors for the night, and honestly the weekend as a whole, it was Magner, and the encore, along with most of set two really showed why he is one of the premier keyboard players out there today. As the sold-out crowd took to the streets and braved the cold rain and snow our focus shifted to the next night’s festivities. With whispers of the show being moved to The 1st Bank Center, or even being cancelled, one thing was for sure: Friday morning was going to be an interesting one.
Energy: B+
Musicianship: A-
Sound: B
Stage Presence: B
Set/Lights: A+
Overall: B+
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