Are the Disco Biscuits in their renaissance era? Old school fans might kvetch that you had to be there during the early aughts when the so-called "transfusion" scene was thriving and the Biscuits were doing more experimental shows like live scores and their elusive Hot Air Balloon rock opera. But it was also during those years that the band and their fans often had to defend themselves as being too druggy, too noodly, too silly, and any other degrading critiques. Now, as the band enters their third decade, they are in one of their finest eras as they seem more invigorated and dialed in than ever before, reigning as perhaps the best dance rock band on the scene. They've also caught on with loyal fans well beyond their Northeast stronghold, as evidenced by selling out shows on the West Coast. Such was the case when the Biscuits landed in Portland, Oregon on January 17-18 for a two-night run at Revolution Hall that marked the second stop on their Bubble Tour.
Kicking off the festivities of set one night one, the band immediately set the tone out of the gate with a tubular and spooky 80s-style synth groove of "We Like To Party." This evolved into a dark trance jam before Allen Aucoin laid down a thick dark drum beat backed by Aron Magner's menacing synths. There were murmurs of Barber having guitar issues throughout night one, but if that was the case, then his bandmates compensated. As the band worked their way into "Freeze" he layered in little spunky bursts before the band would contrast one of the funkiest moments of the set with more moody and atmospheric instrumentals, with Barber teasing bits of "2001" that would pop up again later in the night. The first set was defined by dark stretched jams and sneaky little flourishes that escalated into more of a hopeful euphoria towards the DJ L stretch. This culminated with "The Deal" done with New Wave fervor that was complemented by the onstage orbs glowing like tesla coils and switched into full dark rave mode before the band exploded into the ending section of the"Save The Robots," attacking the jam with an almost frenetic psychosis to close the first set on a high.
If set one was about building rich sonic soundscapes and atmospherics, set two was about keeping a constant dance party going. Barber threw the band into rock and roll gear and got the party started with "7-11" before dropping into a hip-hop dance beat that gave way to deeper house sounds. Throughout this set, the band continued ramping up energy as they careened through "Country Royale" and "Ring The Doorbell Twice" before an especially potent combo of "The Deal" and a twisted up version of the old favorite "Digital Buddha" that would reappear during the encore blended up with a cover of "Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001)" to bring it on home. Between the dark and psyched-out synth work of set one and the more freewheeling party of set two, the Biscuits set the bar high for their next night.
I: We Like To Party[1] → Freeze[1] → Kamaole Sands (inverted) → The Deal → Save The Robots[2]
II: 7-11 → Country Royale → Ring The Doorbell Twice (inverted) → The Deal → Digital Buddha[3] → 7-11
On Saturday night, the band made a triumphant return to Revolution Hall before a crowd that was buzzing after the previous Friday's show. Firing off with a sinister spy jam on "The Wormhole," it was immediately clear they would be pushing even more into outer space on night two. Dropping into "Spacebirdmatingcall" turned saw the band and Magner specifically playing with almost aquatic synth sounds before exploding into a massive industrial, laser-drench rave party that allowed Barber to step into the spotlight with a dopamine-blasting guitar solo. It was at this point that the fans started grinning with delight as they realized Barber would be spending much more time front and center with his guitar playing for this show. Compared to the focused drive of night one, Saturday saw the band darting through an array of different sounds, even sandwiching a new song called "Under Ur Spell" between the sensory blowout house jams of "Confrontation" that would close the first set on a super high point.
Continuing with the theme of steering their songs into uncharted territory, set two started with a punky take on "Save The Robots" that felt like deviated from the dance music sounds into more classic jam band territory before morphing into a thick funk groove. As Magner layered in sharp crystal textures, Barber offered a nod to the Pacific Northwest with a subtle grungy tease of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" before the band drifted into darker goth-wave sounds. One of the highlights of the entire two-night run came during the stretched out build into "Voices Insane" that saw some of Barber's prettiest guitar flourishes as him and Magner kept pushing one another to greater heights. By the time they veered into "Risky Business," the band was reaching into the grimy depths in a way that was beautifully disjointed and left the dancing crowd hanging on their next move. They would take it back to more throwback sounds with a version of "Helicopters" that was finished in the encore and sent the fans dancing into the night with the rambunctious dance vehicle "We Like To Party."
As the Disco Biscuits enter their third decade as a band, they've only continued to evolve and refine their sound. Over the course of two nights in Portland, they gave the sold-out crowd a taste of this new era as well as plenty of old-school goodness. This stands in contrast to their peers in the scene - groups like Sound Tribe Sector Nine, Lotus, and Umphrey's McGee - who may have taken themselves too seriously without pushing into new territory. In Portland, each show offered a full spectrum of their supreme tightness and ability to take sensory overload into new psychedelic realms. Instead of aging like a fine wine and resting on their laurels, the Biscuits pushed boundaries and gave their loyal fans more than enough reason to keep chasing that next show.
I: The Wormhole → Spacebirdmatingcall (inverted) → Confrontation → Under Ur Spell[1] → Confrontation
II: Save The Robots[2] → Voices Insane[3] → Risky Business → Dino Baby → Helicopters[4]