Countdown Rewind: Celebrating the 2004 NYE Run - 12/27/2004 Albany

In December of 2004, the Palace Theatre in Albany, New York, rose like a sentimental cathedral, its halls ready to echo with the electric sermons of the Disco Biscuits. This wasn’t just a concert; it was a communion. A four-headed beast of improvisation, the band was embarking on what would become their final New Year’s Eve run with drummer Sam Altman, affectionately known as Sammy. The air crackled with the weight of transition, a story on the edge of its final chapter.

Monday, December 27th, felt like a portal to something extraordinary. Opening with “Hope,” the band offered more than a song—it was an invocation. As the notes of “Sister Judy’s Soul Shack” roared through the theater, the crowd erupted, their collective energy surging into the rafters. Listening to Scott Schneider’s audience recording, it’s almost possible to feel the walls pulse in time with the music—a shared heartbeat among the faithful.

“Sweating Bullets” appeared next, youthful and unapologetic in only its 4th version, standing alone like a monolith in the desert. Then came “Digital Buddha,” a brooding epic that served as the dark heart of the first set. The edrum-laden opening cast shadowy shapes across the stage, Magner and Barber conjuring a scene that felt cinematic in its depth. Sammy’s kick drum thundered with a primal intensity, shaking the room to its core.

“Triumph” into “Voices Insane” closed the set, in still its only occurrence, a transition so rare it now feels almost mythological. Over 19 minutes, the “Triumph” jam unfolded like a long-forgotten epic, deliberate and full of discovery. It was the kind of storytelling that carried listeners to uncharted territories, tethering them only loosely to reality.

Set two began with “7-11” crashing explosively into “King of the World.” The jam from ‘KOTW’ into ‘Rock Candy’ breathed and shimmered with a thunderous fusion of brilliance. The following “Rock Candy” was a lysergic-coated revelation, a reminder of how effortlessly the band could weave defiant ecstasy into their labyrinthine jams – a beacon for those looking to lose themselves in the moment on the dance floor. The entire ‘KOTW-> Candy’ segment was the shining gem of the second set, a moment where time seemed to fold in on itself.

The encore brought forth a burst of nostalgia. “Haleakala Crater,” resurrected for the first time since 4/11/2003 in Ithaca, stood as a testament to the band’s ability to surprise even its most fervent fan. ‘Crater’ wouldn’t see the stage again until the 2018 New Year’s extravaganza in Philadelphia. What followed was a three-part odyssey: “Astronaut” into “Run Like Hell” and back again. The interplay among the band members reached its zenith here, each note a dialogue, each rhythm an argument resolved in harmony. “Run Like Hell,” long the leader in encore appearances, hadn’t been in this position since April of 2003 in Nola when it capped off ‘The Very Moon.’ Its return felt like the closing of a circle, a perfect conclusion to an unforgettable night.

One additional highlight of the evening—this version of “Voices Insane “would later find its way onto the 2006 live album “The Wind at Four to Fly.” An album whose patchwork highlight makeup seems fitting; this run wasn’t just a series of shows, but a tapestry of moments stitched together by the band and their devoted audience. Listening back, there’s a bittersweetness that lingers—a farewell to Sammy, a step into the unknown, and a reminder of music’s power to capture both time and timelessness.

This wasn’t merely a night at the Palace Theatre; it was a celebration of what makes life electric and fleeting. As the final notes hung in the air, there was a sense of something both ending and beginning, a ghost of a memory that would echo long after the band had left the stage. Twenty years later, those echoes still reverberate, a testament to the Disco Biscuits’ enduring magic.

12/27/04 Palace Theater - Albany, NY

S1 Hope, Sister Judy's Soul Shack, Sweating Bullets, Digital Buddha, Triumph > Voices Insane

S2 7-11* > King of the World > Rock Candy

E1 Haleakala Crater^, Astronaut > Run Like Hell* > Astronaut

* unfinished

^ LTP 4/11/03 (94 shows)

https://archive.org/details/db2004-12-27dpa4022.flac16