Notes From The Dropzone - 10/19/20

Photo credit: Andrew Blackstein Photography

Well, well, well, what have we got here? Could the Biscuits have just surpassed their incredibly explosive Saturday night show on a Monday evening? As Mr. Zan pondered at the end of his review from that evening, maybe I am just starved for new music, or maybe this year that has been so ridiculously hard on all of us has sparked a new optimism in my ears and soul, but I will be damned if that show wasn't as good (if not better) than 10/17?!?! The transitions were smooth but not telegraphed, the song choice was stellar, and the playing was of a level I would guess most of us were not expecting from a band that had had so much time off due to Covid-19 during the year.

The first set started with a patient, ethereal intro jam into Home Again, definitely the tamest portion of the evening. The jam stayed type-I but had a wonderfully pleasant mid-tempo ride and acted as a perfect warm up for what was to come. Quickly the much-beloved slap bass intro to Shem Rah Boo began and we were off to the races with the song picking up speed as it made its way to the jam. Circular guitar licks cradled chirping synth and rock-steady pocket work as the music began to breathe on its own and figure out the course it would chart. Even as drummer Allen Aucoin slid pulsating beats under the jam, the melody remained chill and patient(a theme of most jams throughout the evening). As we were treated to the first e-drums of the night keyboardist Aron Magner began layering multiple ideas over themselves again and again creating an otherworldly effect. Magner would begin to use the "Shpongle" type xylophone patch as the rest of the band went deeper. This jam felt like a small visit to "Tractorbeam" territory, a welcome addition to the catalog as the band has figured out how to slide in and out seamlessly as Barber began morphing his guitars sound into an unrecognizable tone one might not expect from a Fender. The jam began to build in tempo and aggression with nods to what easily could have been any number of more electronic based Biscuit songs, but in the end the band slyly maneuvered their way into the Brownstein classic Rock Candy. Sadly, the music on most folks' stream cut out just as the band was about to get to the lyrics and sent most scrambling for their phones, ipads, Rokus, or whatever platform one was using for the inaugural weekend of www.couchtour.tv - a fantastic job was done in terms of sound and picture all weekend, even if there are still some bugs to work out. When the stream came back in my house the band had settled into a throbbing jam with Barber riffing repetitive licks, morphing a note here and there as the band deftly moved around the melody. Slowly a theme began to take form and we found ourselves listening to a few bars of Chris Isaacs' Wicked Game. Magner used this key to hop on the virus and take this jam to its zenith. There was some commotion in the chat during this jam as the band slid into a theme very similar to the song Rocket Science(already played this weekend) on their way back to the MOTH MOTY denouement of Shem Rah, but this has been done before and most definitely is not the same as the actual song. My cohort Mr. Zan had a list ready for the moment and pointed out these other appearances of the same theme: 2/1/19 - Boop & KOTW, 2/2/19 - Shem, 5/24/19 - Shem, 11/17/19 both into and out of Shem, 12/13/19 Down to the Bottom, and most recently on 1/3/20 - Shem in Chicago. (Thanks for the list brother!). This is not the first time the band has latched onto a theme that they would use to slide in and out of a particular song and probably won't be the last(think "Bionic Helix"). After the MOTH MOTY finish complete with a brief lyrical faux pas and a gorgeous piano solo the band took a quick breather before dropping into Strobelights & Martinis, also a jam/theme that worked its way from being the "9/1 Dribble Jam" into its own beast. After a strong reading of the song proper the band jumped up to a brighter key for the jam and took us to a land of pure, unadulterated BLISSCO! This had me smiling more than I have all year and is truly something to behold. So energetic, so happy, and enough synths to wash away anyone's "case of the Mondays." I cannot wait to listen to the themes and melodies Magner tossed around as this jam built and built until it splashed down into the bone jarring ending of Bernstein & Chasnoff!

For the last set of the opening weekend of the "October Drive-In Run" I made the call in the chat for a dyslexic completion of the Bernstein from the end of set one(not THAT surprising, but still) and once again the band was back in the saddle and slaying the crowd both on the Cape and in their homes. The jam that developed out of B&C was at first plaintive and yet hopeful in both feel and tempo, once again expressing the band's uncanny ability to build thematic improvisation and one I felt fit the year we have been having wonderfully. Slowly this jam began to get darker and more synth driven. From the darkness arose the specter of the Orch Theme, oft frighteningly large, this version skillfully moved its way through the crowd slashing and clawing without a soul noticing how menacing this all had become. The first jam, although staying within the theme of the song itself, featured some intricately played off-kilter drumming from Allen that gave the jam an uneasy and unsettling feel. After crushing the monster middle theme of Orch the outro jam began once again as a Magner led dance party featuring more toppling, off-kilter pocket work from Allen and Brownie. This jam became demented and angular, bouncing and ricocheting off the insides of my brain as I tried to remember what song they had even come out of prior to this jam. Again Magner utilized the xylophone-like synth patch and took the band and all the fans deep into the unknown. I LOVE when the band takes chances such as this, leaving the dance party behind for a bit to explore the deeper, lesser known pockets of one's psyche. Slowly Barber, Brownie, and Allen began to pick up the tempo yet Magner wasn't ready to leave the space he had created, the shimmering echo chamber still smothering the slightly more upbeat course the rest had chartered. Again the band began to drop hints at other segments from the weekend as they all seemed to coalesce around the "SITA Jam" from the middle of Astronaut, all signs pointed to yes albeit briefly as the band turned on a dime into the beginning of the much loved Story of the World...call it a fakeout, call it a tease, or just call it Bisco, we were all had once again by our favorite band. The song sounded great and easily found its way to the jam in a funky, upbeat manner complete with Magner on clavinet and Barber in lockstep with Brownie and Allen. This was a solid, dancey jam that had me up off my couch and had my cat looking at me strange, but I didn't care because first off, she's a cat and can't tell anybody what I looked like and second, this jam was just too damn good to be sitting still. As this jam began to veer into a new direction it seemed like Brownie had hopped on the Orch bass line as a nice way to change the tempo and head into the wonderfully emotional middle section of The Great Abyss. The inversion was smooth as silk and after all the beeps and the boops we were left staring into the inverted Abyss without any idea where the band was going to venture. For the second time in the night the tone and register of instruments began to shapeshift mid-jam and we found ourselves back in the Tractorbeam without having paused or even taken a breath. This is a ridiculously good addition to a sound that has always prided itself on originality and I cannot wait to see where these four can take this idea in the future. Dark, brooding dance music produced live on a stage for wild-eyed fans of a jamband - this is the essence of what the band named "Trancefusion" so long ago. Sure the sound itself had to change and adapt to new technologies and tastes, but the idea of recreating the feel and sound of a DJ set with traditional musical instruments has never changed. Eventually one was able to make out the "normal" guitar tone of Barber as he began to take his solo to a masterful peak before the band splashed back down into the ending of Story. The band quickly regrouped and closed out the weekend with what just might eventually be their best encore song of all-time, the new tune Station. While there hasn't been a ton of variety to the jams so far, this version felt as though it had a little something extra to it and sent the band off in style. While I definitely wish I could have been there I was able to enjoy the whole weekend and got in on the OG discount for the entire run so I cannot complain. It's great to see the band happy and healthy while being able to give the organization some cashflow after such a crazy year. On to Montage Mountain!