BAND HISTORY

The four original members, Jon Gutwillig (guitar), Marc Brownstein (bass), Ben Hayflick (keys), and Sam Altman (drums) met in the early 90's as students at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Originally calling themselves by various names such as "Party Tent" and "Zex Sea", they played at fraternities and house parties in West Philadelphia, doing mostly covers of the Grateful Dead and Phish with some early originals mixed in. Setlists from this time would often feature segments like "Basis For a Day > Help On the Way > Slipknot > Basis For a Day" or "Antelope > Morning Dew > Antelope"

In 1995, Aron Magner replaced Hayflick on keys and the band changed their name to The Disco Biscuits. In an interview with Spin, Marc says:

"...we were headed out to the Jersey Shore one weekend for this huge party. We were sitting in our car and one of our friends... totally out of the blue... says, 'Hey, you guys wanna go find some Disco Biscuits?' We were like 'Boom! That's the name.' At the time I didn't know what Disco Biscuits even meant... the dude was looking for Quaaludes. That shows how old we are because nowadays Disco Biscuits is slang for ecstasy. Part of the reason I never told that story before is because there was a time when we didn't necessarily want to be associated with the drug reference. But that didn't hurt the Rolling Stones, so I think we'll be okay!"

1995 into 1996 saw them move away from house parties and into the Philadelphia bar/club scene with shows at Sam Adam's Brewhouse, The Middle East, J.C. Dobb's, and the Blarney Stone, among others.

The first heavily circulated show of the Disco Biscuits career was played on 1/30/97 at the Wetlands Preserve, in New York, featuring a masterful, segue-laden setlist. On 2/13/97, the band played Peaches en Regalia for the final time, marking the beginning of a new era focused on originals and leaving their Phish aping styles in the past. The move away from Phish's shadow was solidified with a performance on 10/31/97 in which Magner incorporated the JP8000 synthesizer for the first time. The show, featuring an extremely jammed out Run Like Hell, marked the beginning of the "Trance-Fusion Era."

1998 saw an explosion in the band's scope and popularity. Prior to that year they had played exclusively in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions, but beginning in the summer of 98, the band embarked on a tour that took them down the East coast, out West via the Midwest, along the West coast, and back East via the South. The band made their triumphant return to the Northeast on 8/28/98 where they debuted three new songs, two of which, Helicopters and Once the Fiddler Paid, entered regular rotation. The band played almost entirely on the East coast for the rest of the year, debuting the songs that would make up the Hot Air Balloon rock opera. On 12/29/98 and 12/30/98 the band played two legendary Phish afterparties at the Wetlands Preserve, and on 12/31/98 the band debuted Barber's Hot Air Balloon rock opera at Silk City.

The Biscuits saw a huge expansion in popularity and skill in 1999. They played two national tours in the winter and fall, as well as an East coast and Midwest tour in the spring/summer. They continued to cultivate their following throughout the year, playing 1000+ capacity venues in New York, Worcester and (of all places) Phoenix, Arizona. On 5/22/99, the band was scheduled to play a set at All Good Music Festival that was ultimately canceled. A group of dedicated Biscuits fans camped out, dubbing their site "Camp Bisco." In August, the band held the first Camp Bisco Music Festival, an annual event that happens to this day.

In January 2000 Marc announced via an Internet message board post that he had been asked to leave the band. Luckily, this hiatus was short-lived, and he rejoined the band in July of that same year.

During this 6-month period, the remaining three members (Jon, Aron, and Sammy) played several shows as a trio, referred to as The Disco Triscuits (or just Triscuits). Each member would take turns playing the bassline - sometimes Aron on keys, other times Sammy would pick up a bass guitar while friend and local musician DJ Mauricio would take over on e-drums. During this time, they also auditioned/jammed with other bass players at shows including Carol Wade, Clay Belknap, Bill Stites, Anthony Rogers-Wright, Rob Derhak, and Jordan Crisman. Crisman played multiple shows with the band and was widely believed to be Marc's replacement for a time.

Meanwhile, Marc channeled his energy into writing a ton of new songs, and formed his own band, The Maui Project, which played one show on his birthday - 4/8/2000 - at the Wetlands in New York City. The Maui Project featured Marc on bass, Jamie Shields on keys, Max Delaney on guitar, Dave Hoffman on drums, Paulie Herron on percussion and DJ Stitch on the turntables. Maui Project songs are now staples of the Biscuits current repertoire, and include such fan favorites as Triumph, Home Again, Humuhumunukunukuapua'a, Grass is Green, and Kamaole Sands.

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In 2005, after more than 10 years, Sam Altman left the band to pursue his dream of becoming a doctor. His last official shows were 8/26/05 and 8/27/05 at Camp Bisco IV. To find a replacement, the band held a series of auditions culminating in a two-night, sold-out "drum off" at the Borgata in Atlantic City, won by Skydog Gypsy drummer, Allen Aucoin. In December of 2005, Allen was announced as the band's new drummer.

Allen attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, and began his musical career in education and composition, including teaching and writing for award-winning percussion ensembles. In 1999 he formed Skydog Gypsy.

In December of 2010, Allen was hospitalized after a serious asthma attack and was unable to perform at the first 3 shows of the band's New Year's Eve run. In his place, Lotus drummer Mike Greenfield, Johnny Rabb from BioDiesel, Pretty Lights drummer Adam Deitch, New Deal drummer Darren Shearer, and even original drummer Sam Altman took turns sitting in.

2006 marked a new chapter for the Disco Biscuits, as they took their new drummer Allen on the road. While performances may have been a little uneven at first, it was clear that Allen had the chops and chemistry within the band improved with each show. A change in the band's sound was immediately evident. The jams produced during these early Allen days could be described as hard-driving and more electronic sounding than ever before. While the sound wasn't fully actualized yet, they were playing with a raw energy that gave fans reason to be optimistic.

Winter Tour started in February and included stops in Chicago, Denver, Baltimore and three nights in Sayreville. These first few shows featured a lot of standalones in the setlists as Allen was still getting comfortable with the band's catalog. A mixture of old classics, Conspirator tracks Commercial Amen and Liquid Handcuffs, and new originals The Great Abyss and Cyclone (originally debuted by JM2) were common songs to see in early 2006.

March consisted of two shows and a festival set at Langerado in Florida and three shows in Amsterdam at weekend getaway Jam in the Dam. In April they went on tour in support of their live album The Wind at Four to Fly. The tour consisted of three nights in Burlington, one night in Charlottesville, VA and five nights in North Carolina. Wilmington, two nights in Raleigh, and nights in Charlotte and Asheville were all stops along the way. The southern leg of the tour wrapped up with a show in Atlanta, two in Athens, GA and Nashville, TN. As they played more shows the catalog gradually opened up a bit more and multiple transitions between songs became more common.

By May, things were starting to sound more cohesive by the night as they made stops in Milwaukee/Madison, WI, Chicago, IL, Memphis, TN, Washington D.C. Wilkes-Barre, PA and Albany. At the end of the month they played two nights at Summer Camp in Chillicothe, IL and then came home to Philadelphia for shows at Jam on the RIver and the Electric Factory. (Recommended listening:05/28 Astronaut and 42).

Early June included two nights Wakarusa in Lawrence, KS, a co-bill with Umphrey's McGee in Indianapolis, IN and late-night and sonic stage sets at Bonnaroo. Two shows at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ again indicated that the band was building momentum and refining their sound. (Recommended listening:06/23 I-Man) Shows in Norfolk, VA and at Starscape in Baltimore, MD wrapped up the month.

Shows in July consisted of two nights at High Sierra Music Festival and one set at All Good Music Festival. (Recommended listening:7/2 I-Man/Helicopters mashup). August another light month of shows with only three tour dates. The first was8/5 8/5 at Lollapalooza and the second and third were8/25 and8/26 Camp Bisco V at Hunter Mountain in Hunter, NY. This was Allen's first Camp and proved to be an important weekend. At the time, these shows, 8/25 in particular, contained some of the most cohesive playing to date.

Fans were thrown for a bit of a loop as the first show of the fall tour featured Shawn Hennessy on percussion and occasionally guitar. He joined the band again on10/31 , as well as the next four shows after that. Some fans thought it seemed odd to add another new member into the mix just as Allen was really starting to find his footing. The experiment, however, was short lived as11/4 was the last show Shawn played with the band. Check out11/3 for some of the better playing with this lineup.

With The Disco Biscuits performing once again as a quartet, Tour rolled on in Pittsburgh. The next night in Buffalo would prove to be eventful as the band performed their first ever palindrome with Allen, in the first set. Seamlessly moving from Spraypaint into Cyclone and then into Voices, back into Cyclone and finally finding a landing spot in the end of Spraypaint, this segment indicated just how in sync the band was. From Buffalo they traveled across the Midwest with stops in Cincinnati, Columbus, and Cleveland, OH, Bloomington, IN, Columbia, MO, Urbana, IL and Lawrence, KS. Two nights in Colorado had fans abuzz, with shows in Denver and Boulder. The Astronaut > Ladies (inverted) > Astronaut was heavily praised and represented a new high watermark with Allen behind the kit. After making two stops in Memphis and Atlanta, they headed back north and wrapped the Fall Tour up with two nights in New York at the Hammerstein Ballroom. (Recommended listening:11/24 Robots)

The end of Fall tour and the California run in December showcased a band that was feeling more confident by the day. By the time they closed out the year at The Tweeter Center (Susquehanna Bank Center) in Camden NJ, they had resoundingly quashed any fears fans had felt about the switch in drummers. The show featured DJ Switches (Bazaar > Munchkin) as well as the debut of Orch Theme (Conspirator) a song that would ultimately become a fan favorite and heavy hitter.

While it could be said that much of 2006 felt like a period of adjustment, 2007 found the Biscuits extremely comfortable with their new drummer and could be described as a time of high level experimentation and creativity. Setlists became more diverse and the band took more risks on stage as their confidence grew. On 02/15/07 the band brought back Spin the Wheel as a select group of fans got to come on stage, spin the wheel, and the band played whatever song it landed on. A whole slew of new originals (Air Song, Minions, Shadow, Rockafella, Sweatbox and Glastonbury) were debuted and to the delight of fans they dusted off Down to Bottom, Onamae Wa, and Pat and Dex (all first time played with Allen). Another exciting development of the weekend was the reintroduction of Strobelights and Martinis and Gangster. Both were reworked versions of 1.0 jams (Strobelights appearing in 09/01/01 Dribble and Gangster as the intro jam > I-Man on 12/29/02), now being presented as full-fledged songs. Both songs would go on to become staples in the band's live repertoire and are used as jam vehicles to this day. These Starland shows would be a harbinger of good things to come in 2007 as the Disco Biscuits were ready to remind everyone that they can be the best band on the planet on any given night.

Spring Tour yielded more quality shows as they played Chicago and an extensive run in the northeast and Mid-Atlantic. 05/21/07 is required listening for all fans and for good reason. The band expertly wove in and out of their songs with precision, dropping stunning improv along the way, as they blew the roof off of Mr. Smalls, just outside Pittsburgh, PA. Excitement within the scene grew as word spread that The Disco Biscuits had not only returned to form, but were breaking new ground on a nightly basis. June would be another important month for the band as they headlined Starscape in Baltimore, MD, played a legendary Tractorbeam show on 06/26, and played a six show run co-headlining shows with Umphrey's McGee (dubbed D.U.M.B. tour). Their hot streak continued into July as they zigzagged across the country playing High Sierra Music Festival, two shows in Southern California, co-headlined festival Trancegression (with Umphrey's) in Copper Mountain, Colorado, played Missouri, Wisconsin, and 10,000 Lakes Festival in Detroit Lakes, MN, and then finally back out to San Francisco and Berkeley, CA. You really cannot go wrong with any of these shows, but 07/19/07 epitomizes the creative setlist writing and inspired playing of 2007.

In August, Camp Bisco found a new home in Mariaville, NY at Indian Lookout Country Club. This would prove to be a huge moment in Disco Biscuits history as ILCC would become the first venue to allow the Disco Biscuits back after holding the festival (and continued to so through 2013). Fall tour began in Florida and continued to bring the heat as they headed north through Georgia and Tennessee. Momentum built as they moved through the Midwest, back to North Carolina and then up through the Mid-Atlantic and then the northeast. Halloween in Boston was a special occasion as Jon Gutwillig's rock opera The Hot Air Balloon was performed in full for the 8th time. After Boston it was off to Albany, Columbus, Cleveland, and then finally to the tour closer in Buffalo, NY. Looking back, this tour is undoubtedly one of their finest. There are noteworthy jams and segues in virtually every show, although it could be argued that 10/10, 10/23, 10/26, 11/1 and 11/3 stand above the rest.

In mid-December the band and fans headed off to Runaway Bay, Jamaica for Caribbean Holidaze, a jamband destination vacation. Co-headlined by Umphrey's McGee, this event gave fans an opportunity to watch the band from the beach and even take excursions with band members. 2007 wrapped with a New Year's run split between New York and Philadelphia, culminating with New Year's Eve at the Tweeter Center (now the Susquehanna Bank Center). Fans still look back on this time period as a golden age of The Disco Biscuits and with good reason, the band was at the top of their game and the future looked bright.

Fresh off an incredibly successful 2007, four nights in Colorado started 2008 off on the right foot. Extended sections of improv were prevalent throughout this run, the 54 minute I-Man from 01/19 in Vail being one of the many highlights. Three nights back at the Starland Ballroom and a set at the final Langerado served as somewhat of a warm up, before heading off to Europe for Jam in the Dam, with an additional three shows before and after the festival. Two major highlights of this European Tour occurred on 3/21 and 3/22. Channeling the spirit of Berlin and the techno music that's revered there, 03/21 featured relentless, hard hitting jams that reflected this German city splendidly. The following night in Copenhagen, Denmark delivered a performance that could not have been more different, instead showing off gorgeous soundscapes and gooey transitions (both Crickets > Voices and Voices > Rainbow song are master level segues).

When comparing 2008 to the previous and following years, it might be easy to say that it was a down year, but if you go just by the shows in April it would be hard to tell. Playing fifteen shows over the course of the month, the Biscuits continued to polish and fine-tune their sound. 04/11 produced one of the top highlights of 2.0 with the blissed out, buttery segue from Vassillios > Spaga. A run through the south was punctuated by two highly praised shows at the Georgia Theater in Athens on 04/18 and 04/19, before heading down to New Orleans for late nights at JazzFest. May was a very quiet month, with only two shows; Jam on the River and a late night at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia. June was also somewhat light on tour dates, with only 7 performances. However, the music they played was anything but light. 06/06 and 06/07 featured dark, heavy, danceable improv, while 06/13 undoubtedly turned on a whole new group of fans, as they delivered a jaw dropping late night set at Bonnaroo (check out the opening sequence of M.E.M.P.H.I.S. > Ladies > Helicopters).

The rest of the year was relatively quiet as the band spent a lot of time in the studio, working on an album that would never be officially released. Tour dates for the second half of 2008 were very sparse and almost all exclusively one-off festival dates. Camp Bisco VII, now in its second year at ILCC in Mariaville, NY continued to grow in popularity and performances by mainstream artists like Snoop Dogg and 311... err, hold on. Was 311 there? No. Snoop seemed to think so though. Despite the lack of shows, the Biscuits came out swinging at Camp, delivering sets that tapped into the energy and cohesiveness they had found earlier in the year.

The year ended strong as the band returned to Jamaica for Caribbean Holidaze. Not only was the playing extremely high level, but the band debuted four new songs (Uber Glue, High Speed Racer, and M80) foreshadowing the inspiration and creativity that would be displayed the following year. While the improv was especially good all weekend, it is the jam out of Vassillios on 12/14 that could be considered the crown jewel of Holidaze. The exquisite, cascading melody that developed out of this classic song was nothing short of breathtaking.

2008 ended with a five night run at the Nokia Theater in New York. The shows certainly had their moments, especially 12/28 and 12/30, but 12/31, set three in particular (which included almost all new material and a Matisyahu sit-in) left fans wanting more. Luckily for them, the band would be back on the road in a few weeks, breaking new ground and eviscerating everything that stood in their path.

When the band hit the road in early January, excitement was palpable. While they had played at a high level in the first half of 2008, there was no tour in the second half, and fans were ready to go out and jam when things kicked off with two nights in Northampton. The shows served as notice that the Biscuits would be taking no prisoners in '09. The improv was dark and aggressive and often synthesized into melodic, thematic peaks. Triumph > Basis from 1/16 exemplifies how locked in they were right out of the gate and things would only grow from there.

Audiences were delighted in Buffalo, NY, Columbus, OH and Madison, WI as the band showed off their new, seemingly deliberate sound. 1/23 in Minneapolis, MN featured a 30 minute Confrontation > Gangster, which covered a lot of ground, and the band continued to build on the momentum of the early tour successes as they moved on to Chicago and Urbana. Tour rolled on from the midwest to the south, with stops in Nashville, Knoxville and Atlanta. Pygmy > Abraxas from 1/31 in Atlanta again demonstrated the heavy, ominous spaces they could often find themselves in in 2009. Shows in Tuscaloosa, AL, Oxford, MS, and Tulsa, OK, as well as three dates opening up for Government Mule in Austin, Houston, and Dallas, TX rounded out this southern leg of the tour.

The next three nights of tour— 2/13 and 2/14 in Denver, CO and 2/15 in Lawrence, KS respectively—again found the band pushing boundaries and tapping into a creative energy that felt new and refreshing. There are numerous highlights, but 02/13 Shem-Rah > Lunar Pursuit, and 2/15 42 > Spacebird (as well as the majority of the 2nd set) stand out as required listening.

After a ten day break, it was back to the northeast and back to producing aural gold on a nightly basis. Dynamic jamming wowed crowds in Portland, ME, Burlington, VT (2 nights), and Boston. 2/27 The Very Moon > Vassilios and 2/28 Cyclone > Basis are representative of the peaks they were able to reach on this run. Winter tour wrapped up with March dates in Baltimore, MD and Richmond, Norfolk, and Charleston, VA. (Recommended listening: 3/05 Abyss > Spacebird) This leg of tour was supposed to end with a set at Langerado, but the festival was canceled in February "due to sluggish ticket sales."

Spring tour began in April on the west coast with shows in San Francisco, CA, Crystal Bay, NV, and Eureka, CA. Voices > Air Song > Voices from 4/04 is massive. Unfortunately just as things started to get cooking out west, a family emergency back home necessitated the rest of the run to be canceled.

Shortly before Spring Tour started, it was announced that the opening two nights at the Electric Factory would be three sets apiece. Anticipation grew within the community as the band got ready to throw down in their hometown. These two shows did not disappoint with standout segments of Caves > Dribble > Shem-Rah and Spraypaint > Cyclone > Spraypaint on 4/17 and The Very Moon > Orch Theme and Hot Air Balloon > Great Abyss > Hot Air Balloon on 4/18.

The rest of the spring tour included stops in Bridgeport, CT, Washington, D.C, Louisville/Covington, KY, and the tour closer in Asheville, NC. Fans were again delighted as top notch jams were dropped at nearly every stop. 4/20 Crickets would become one of the most talked about and revered jams of the year. Finding themselves in dark and haunting, yet beautiful territory, the band's communication on stage, some thought, could only be explained by telepathy. 4/23 Run Like Hell > Humu (inverted) was monstrous and exhibited a stark juxtaposition in jamming styles (when compared to 4/20 Crickets), with the jamming and transition being silky smooth and bubbly.

After taking most of May off, Summer Tour launched in Colorado as fans were reintroduced to the annual event Bisco Inferno for the first time since 2003. After playing a night at the Ogden on 5/29 (Recommended listening: Spacebird > Cyclone > Spacebird and Morph > Caves), they headlined their first show at Red Rocks on 5/30 with support from Paul Oakenfold, Z-Trip, RJD2, The New Deal, Orchard Lounge and Lotus.

June was a month that found the band reaching for the stars on a nightly basis. Starting things off with a full performance of Chemical Warfare Brigade in Providence, RI on 6/3, the band then traveled to Buffalo for a free outdoors show in Lafayette Square. 6/05 in Cleveland, OH might be one of the most complete shows of this banner year start to finish, but it would be criminal to not at least mention the Vassillios > HAB and the Basis from this storied evening. 6/06 at Starscape provided one of the crazier backdrops for a show (and in our scene that's really saying something). Anyone who was there probably remembers the marathon second set, the cop twirling glowsticks and the Robots encore with the sun fully up.

After an 18 day break from the road, 6/24 gave fans an intimate experience at the Bottle & Cork in Dewey Beach, DE and 6/25 through 6/28 represent peak 2009 Biscuits. Some fans passionately argue that the creative energy that they brought to these shows is unparalleled. This type of sentiment is backed up by blistering segments like Hope > Digital Buddha > I-Man on 6/25, Strobelights > Minions on 6/26, Story > Pilin' and Astronaut > Helicopters from 6/27. 06/28 was a psychedelic experience at the Universal Church of Love and Music in Acme, PA where a number of fans camped on site. Many remember the mammoth Run Like Hell that opened the show (complete w/ samples from the speech given earlier that day by the venue owner). The run finished up with shows in Columbus, OH, Indianapolis, IN and two nights at Rothbury Music Festival in Michigan (recommended listening: Caterpillar > Crickets > Aceetobee > Caterpillar and Hope from 7/1). Two nights at High Sierra Music Festival in Quincy, CA, an extremely soggy weekend at their own Camp Bisco in Mariaville and an appearance at Fuji Rock Festival in Naeba, Japan wrapped up Summer Tour.

Over the summer, You and I started showing up on setlists. First debuted on the radio in April, it garnered lukewarm reception from fans. The first song to be released from their latest (extensive) studio sessions it signaled a somewhat obvious shift in songwriting. It relied heavily on pop elements and was very different from the complex musical arrangements the band was known for early in their career. As the year progressed, the song started to fit better into the live setting and it became a tongue-in-cheek favorite for some fans.

Fall tour commenced in September in Baltimore and continued for a month through the south, finally trekking back up to the Mid-Atlantic by early October. Fresh off of a month and a half break, the band sounded fresh as things got under way. 9/11 Vassillios > You and I from Baltimore and 9/13 Orch Theme from Starland Ballroom provide clear illustrations of focused and confident playing. As they went South, experimentation on stage came to the forefront again. Quite polarizing at the time, 9/17 Shimmy saw the band dip their proverbial toes into the dubstep waters in Arkansas. 9/18 at the Palladium Ballroom in Dallas was another highly regarded show with standout segments Sound One > Tempest > Sound One and Shem-Rah > HAB, the latter producing one of the most beautiful, blissful jams of the year. 9/19 at Stubbs in Dallas, TX electrified the band and fans alike prompting Jon to say "It was like we were throwing touchdown passes the whole show." (Recommended listening: Mirrors > Basis)

Tour marched on through Tuscaloosa, AL, Oxford, MS and then Nashville,TN. 9/24 in Nashville is famous for the Shimmy > Boom Shanker > Shimmy, but don't sleep on the second set. Atlanta, GA, Knoxville, TN, Charlotte/Boone, NC, and Richmond, VA concluded the Southern run of fall tour. After two nights at the 9:30 Club in D.C. (Recommended listening: 10/03 Floodlights) they continued north to State College, PA and Burlington, VT. The monster opener of MEMPHIS > Rock Candy on 10/07 is a journey through electronic soundscapes and is representative of this fruitful fall tour. Things on the east coast wrapped up with shows in Hampton Beach, NH, two shows in Northampton, MA and their first appearance at the Brooklyn Bowl in Brooklyn, NY (How did that tank get in there?)

The second midwest run of the year led up to and followed their Halloween show at the Auditorium Theater in Chicago, IL, with stops in Kalamazoo, MI, Madison, WI, Minneapolis, MN, and Urbana, IL. By mid-November it was back to the west coast and California to make up shows (from April) in San Diego, West Hollywood, San Francisco, and Santa Cruz. 11/20 Grass is Green > Minions > Grass is Green is one of the hidden gems of the year. It was during the fall that more new songs like Flash Mob, Widgets, Loose Change, and Fish out of Water started appearing in setlists, eliciting mixed reviews from fans. Catalyst, first apearing as an instrumental, received slightly higher praise. Two highly anticipated post-thanksgiving shows at the Electric Factory wrapped up fall tour, but fell slightly short of the high level playing fans had come to expect in this exceptional year. Carribean Holidaze in mid-December again provided fans an opportunity to relax in Jamaica and see their favorite band in paradise.

In a year that provided highlight upon highlight, it was natural that they were slightly fatigued as the year came to a close. When New Years Run opened up at the Nokia in Times Square, however, it was clear they were ready to end the year with a bang. Everything that made 2009 great was on display. Creative setlists and ferocious, focused, thematic jamming were common over the 5 night run. The opening set of Strobelights > Shem Rah > Rock Candy > Abraxas > Spaga and the debut of Portal to an Empty Head on 12/26 got the ball rolling. Koncrete from 12/27 showed the potential that the new songs could bring and those in attendance will never forget the fire alarm Floes on 12/28. 12/30 is another fan favorite with a massive Crickets in the first set and fully segued, masterful second set. Gangster > Waves > Shem Rah Boo from 12/31 gave fans a reason to celebrate, playing Shem Rah Boo's ending for the first time in over a year. The Second set is highlighted by the new years countdown medley (Consisting of Orch Theme > Morph Dusseldorf > Run Like Hell > Aceetobee > Vassillios > Mr. Don > Above The Waves > Munchkin Invasion > Crickets) which kept fans guessing right down to the Basis countdown. The third set does not let up as Down To the Bottom > Naeba > Humu delivers the goods.

The year was over and everyone's hearts were full. The Disco Biscuits had conquered the world in 2009 and with a new album on the horizon, fans were optimistic that there was nothing that could stand in the band's way. While sometimes it feels like there's always something lurking around the corner in Biscuits land, no one could have predicted what the following months would have in store.

During the 8 years from 2011 - 2019, the band did not tour - instead just performing periodic series of limited engagement runs (4 nights in Colorado, NYE Run, Camp Bisco, etc).

In September of 2019 in a series of social media posts, the Disco Biscuits announced "Setbreak is over. Gas tank's refilled. We are back." Shortly thereafter, they announced their 2019-2020 Winter Tour, playing 23 shows in a 2 month period, including 3-night runs in Florida and Chicago and a 4-night New Year's Eve run at the Playstation Theater in New York City.

In January of 2020 the band announced "Act 1" - a 19-show tour starting with a 3-night run in March at the Fillmore in Philadelphia and culminating in the band's annual Camp Bisco festival in July.