The Disco Biscuits – June 3rd – Ogden Theatre

Photos by Dave Vann

The Scene: With two impressive performances under their belts, The Disco Biscuits were ready to close out their three night run at The Ogden Theater and shift focus to Red Rocks.  After the previous night saw some birthday shenanigans for drummer Allen Aucoin and an amazing second set (the “Digital Buddha”> “And The Ladies Were The Rest of The Night (Inverted)” was a monster) the sold-out crowd was amped-up and, by the looks of things, the band was ready to throw down.  Despite the sweatbox conditions in The Ogden, the energy in the room was electric and the band did not disappoint turning in what many believed was the best night of their four in Colorado for Bisco Inferno.  

The Disco Biscuits: After two mundane first sets from the previous two nights, the band wasted no time showing the sold out crowd that there would be no easing into things and dropped into “House Dog Party Favor,” a layered and complex composition penned by guitarist Jon “The Barber” Gutwillig.  The band nailed the composed sections and had the entire crowd singing along with the chorus.  “House Dog” is one of many TDB songs that gives the band a ton of room for improv and its two jam sections were utilized in full on Friday night.  The second jam really  got the crowd moving as the band wasted no time dropping into  dark and sexy territory.  It never ceases to amaze me how the band, the crowd, the lights, and the energy in the room seem to melt as one as they drop into these moments.  I used to joke The Disco Biscuits were what Han and Chewie would put on in the Millennium Falcon as they made the jump to hyperspace, but as the years have gone by that feeling of blasting off into the unknown has never changed.  When the band is really clicking, the music has a driving force to it and given the futuristic sleekness to their sound, and the laser beams flying just inches over head, the feeling of space travel isn’t hard to imagine.  After what had to be almost 30 minutes, the band landed things on the “House Dog” and gave the crowd a chance to catch our collective breath.  That would be the last chance until set break.  

With a huge “House Dog,” that in previous years would have been the highlight of the run, already in the books, the dance party kept going as the band dropped into the fan favorite “Caterpillar.”  “Caterpillar” is a song that can take many forms: It can be a launch pad for deep and heavy techno, take the turn to the ethereal and deliver what some fans like to call “blisco” jams, but on this night, and like so many other jams from this run, things got super funky.  It seemed like all week long bassist Marc Brownstein and Aucoin were effortlessly locking into some super deep pockets.  While the last thing the Biscuits are known for is being a Funk band, they seemed to be in lock-step every time they dropped into one of these funky jams.  This “Caterpillar” jam was no different and the deep pocket gave room for some seething synth lines from keyboardist Aron Magner as Barber drove things back into more traditional Bisco land and the bouncey themed jam landed into an inverted “Story of the World.”  “Story” is about as happy sounding a song as there is in the Biscuit’s catalog but don’t let the upbeat composition fool you.  The jams out of “Story” can get dark and dirty and that’s exactly where this one went.  While things didn’t get quite as intense as the “House Dog” from earlier in the night, or the aforementioned  “Digital Buddha>Ladies” from the previous night, the band layered and crafted a heavy jam.  Magner was doing especially hard work on this one before seamlessly transitioning back into Caterpillar to close out the set.  After the two previous first night’s sets saw the band struggling a bit to click, a three song (or four  depending on how you look at it) first set was just what the doctor ordered and a sign of things to come.

With news of Muhammed Ali passing away making its way through the venue at set break, it was not hard to figure out what the band was going to open with to start second set.  “King of The World” (or “Float Like A Butterfly” as it was originally named) is a tribute to The Greatest and contains some great Ali quotes like “I’m so mean I make medicine sick.”  It’s a fan favorite and was a fitting tribute.  After “KOTW,” the band stopped for the last time before the encore and things quickly took a turn to the psychedelic.  As the pulsing intro of  “Mindless Dribble” intensified, it seem to whip the now soaking wet crowd into a frenzy and the band fed off of that energy.  “Dribble” is another insanely complex song that twists and turns around themes that go from Heavy Metal to Calypso Funk and just about everything in between.  Unlike like the monster “House Dog Party Favor” to start the night, it was the 1st jam in “Dribble” that took things to another level.  At this point it needs to be mentioned that Lighting Director Johnny R Goode has absolutely mastered lighting up The Ogden. If the insanely trippy music oozing off the stage wasn’t enough to make you question reality, the mind melting lights surely were.  At one point Goode had my brain maxed out and I am pretty sure my eyes just stopped working for a minute or two from being completely over stimulated.  When my eyes finally started to work again, two disco balls on either side of the stage added yet another level of insanity to the lights and all I could do at that point was laugh at the beauty of it all.  

After regaining my vision, and honestly my sanity, the band was still in “Dribble” and doing some seriously evil work.  It doesn’t take much for one of them, usually Barber or Magner, to come up with a cool theme or melody and have the whole band latch on. This kind of thematic jamming is probably my favorite thing the band does and when they are firing on all cylinders it leads to pure magic.  About 20 or 25 minutes into the “Dribble” madness, Magner did exactly this playing on what sounded like a Rick James-esque melody that the rest of the band instantly locked into.  From there things went from Disco to “Dribble” more times than I can remember before slamming back into the song’s chorus and going out into yet another huge jam.

From the second  “Dribble” jam, things segued smoothly into “Shem Ra Boo” with Brownstein showing off his slap chops.  The “Shem Ra” jam started out with another happy, blissful jam, then headed into more a more driven and furious direction before heading  into the songs rarely played ending.  At some point in the mid 00’s the band abandoned this part of the song but in the last few years the “man of the hour” ending has emerged from the abyss a few times to the delight of those who thought they’d missed the boat and would never get to hear it.  After ending “Shem Ra Boo” the band gave no respite to the now drenched and exhausted crowd and slammed right into “Down To The Bottom.”  “DTTB” seemed to fit right into the night’s theme as another uplifting and soaring jam showcased Barber’s ability to whimsically bounce around on guitar and shift things from one song to another.  As those in the crowd tried to pinpoint where the jam was headed, seemingly out of nowhere things launched into “Sound One.”  I don’t think anyone in the crowd heard that coming but, as someone who hasn’t heard that tune in a very long time, I couldn’t have been happier.  You can do your own research as to what is about but the playful lyrics had most in the crowd grinning from ear to ear and it was the perfect way to close out a monster set.  For a weekend marked by several standout segments and highlights, the “Dribble>Shem Ra>DTTB>Sound One” was arguably my favorite and the crowd seemed to agree.  I can’t remember many bands getting the kind of ovation on that stage that The Disco Biscuits received and it was obvious by the look on their faces that the band had let it all hang out.

At this point things had gone well past the normal 1:30am curfew at The Ogden and a short encore was expected by most, but the band had other plans.  From the first few notes of Brownie’s bass it was obvious things were headed back to dark and dirty territory and, after flirting with things for a few minutes, the band dropped into one of their most time tested covers, Pink Floyd’s “Run Like Hell.”  “RLH” is the perfect song for the band to cover.  The song’s driving beat and evil lyrics fit like a glove and while this wasn’t the most epic version they have ever played, it was a perfect way to close out the night.  After about a 10 minute jam, “Tricycle” started to rear its head and after a huge peak and chorus the band dropped back into “Run Like Hell” to close out the evening.  

It’s pretty easy to tell how well The Disco Biscuits played by looking at the reactions of their fans leaving the building.  If the band plays a clunker they are not afraid to let their displeasure be heard but as we left The Ogden it was all hi fives, smiles, and looks of utter disbelief as to what we had all just been treated to.  With just one night left on this four night Bisco Inferno run it was hard to imagine the band topping that but with Red Rocks now firmly in our sights it was time to do just that.

Energy: A
Musicianship: A
Sound: A
Stage Presence: B
Set/Light Show: A+

Overall: A