October 23, 2007

This was my very first disco biscuits show and let's just say I've been hooked ever since ladies>gangster is one of the best performances I've ever seen by this band and anyone who hasn't listened to this show do yourself a favor and stop reading this and put it on ASAP. You will not regret it.

This is Allen's best played show as a member of tDB. Diversity (rarely used patches etc), robot like rhythm while in the mood of funk, improv or electronica, consistency and originality. He never ceases to surprise you.

I-Man section should/could be "I-Man > Minions jam > Magellan" just a detail but it's definitely there and it is very nice :)

Post "Chemical", you have the most cohesive and inspired 2nd sets of the year IMO. "Ladies" outro, "Gangster" with Brownie's desert rock bass themes and Barber alongside Mags offering the utter magic at every turn during the 2 inverted songs "Munchkin" > "Abraxas" before finishing the show with a fist pumping "Ladies" ending. It must be said how excellent Barber's vocals are this night...relaxed yet emotional.

The following tunes are A / A+, not just good or interesting but straight up mid-atlantic filth:: Magellan (1,2); Hope; Ladies(1); Gangster; Munchkin; Abraxas. This show started a 2 week venture to be printed in the novel of the Biscuits history. One of their best runs. And the sound? Tops.

I'll never forgive myself for missing this show but had a religious experience for the four tour closing shows a week later. The best 4 shows in a row I ever saw in the close to 120 shows I saw since '97.

"Ever Since I Figured Out That My God Given Male Member Was Not Going To Give Me Peace, I Decided Not To Give It Rest In Return" - Hitchens.

Just those numbers “10/23/07” mean so much to so many Biscuits fans. I think there’s a tendency to look back on this show as some legendary feat, when in reality most of what people are remembering is the long, drawn out jam out of Ladies. Trucker’s Choice begins the show with what was largely a forgettable jam for me. This wasn’t awful by any means, but not something I’d throw on and listen to on its own. The first Magellan jam is short and mostly forgettable. However, the second is very, very good. Allen is a maniac on the toms for most of this jam. A fan is heard screaming, “Yeah Allen!” Indeed sir, indeed. The I-Man jam is basically replaced with a Minions jam (no vocals). Eh. Hope has a "Gentle Nature" jam, which is pretty much always welcome by me. Even though this one is not particularly amazing, I still think they hit on some really nice themes, and they build a decent peak back into the composition. The second Hope jam has some really great parts -- largely from Magner. There is a point where Barber switches to the MIDI keyboard, and it's painfully obvious this is not his primary instrument. There are parts which made me cringe a little bit while he tried to play faster melodies and failed to do so in time. However, this jam is again, largely solid.

The CWB to open the second set has nothing going on here. However, what follows is one of the best jams the band has ever played.

Ladies opens with Marc vamping on the “Ladies jam” bassline. Barber comes up with a phenomenal lick right out of the gate, and Magner plays a gated arp patch which provides amazing texturing effects to the entire sound. After a minute or two of this, the entire band makes slight variations on what they’re playing, and it has become apparent after just 60-90 seconds of jamming that the band is completely locked in, and that the crowd in North Carolina is in for something truly special. Around the 5:40 mark, Magner drops in some great little swelling synths that give the feel of a “bridge” within the jam. At this point, as a listener you think, “Wow, what a great jam they’re crafting.” Then you realize that there are 30 minutes of jamming left. It’s just truly unreal. At the 10 minute mark, they begin the next “segment” of this jam, which is somehow wholly different but also related to the section that preceded it. Allen starts incorporating some e-drums, and the overtly digital feel of the jam is completely settled. It’s hard to call anybody the “standout” here, because all four band members contribute in such wonderfully unique ways. Brownstein keeps coming up with new simple-but-effective basslines to drive things forward. Allen is deep in his bag of tricks with different fills and effects. Magner provides the brains of this smart, thoughtful jamming, and Barber provides the heart and soul with great textural, rhythmic playing. This is just so, so, so good and for anybody who has never heard it and is reading this – what in the fuck are you doing? Stop it, and go listen to this. The section that begins at 21:30 is my personal favorite. Barber has his effected guitar tone and does some great stuff with very few notes. When Brownstein finally drops the I-VII-VI-VII progression, it feels so natural, like you’ve been begging to hear it forever. Literally all of this is amazing right up until the moment they start playing Gangster.

The jam out of Gangster is very obviously a Munchkin ending jam from the very start. This is not necessarily the worst thing in the world, and as far as Munchkin endings go, this one is extremely well-played probably one of my favorite Munckin peaks. Given that, I’ll note this as a highlight, but this is nowhere near the insanity that preceded it – not even in the same arena. The Munchkin jam taps into more of the digital brilliance that came from the Ladies jam. The first several minutes feature Magner with a heavily distorted, abrasive lead. This is to say that’s it’s great. There’s some wonderful interplay here with Barber, and Brownstein knows well enough to simply lie in the background, driving the jam forward. Allen’s array of e-drums are on full display once again as well. At the 11:21 mark, Barber drops out and switches to MIDI keyboard. This is dark, ominous, and Barber’s little arp patches actually provide an insanely cool textural effect for the rest of the jam. This is remembered nearly as fondly as the Ladies jam, and I think for good reason. Barber here is wonderfully interesting, even if he doesn’t fully know what he’s doing on the MIDI keyboard. The jam out of Abraxas and back into Ladies is a solid jam, but this is closer to the Gangster jam than the Munchkin or Ladies jams. There are some great moments in this (Magner with more heavy, distorted lead, Allen with thirst quenchers), and this closes out one of the single greatest segments the band has ever played. Marvelous. Rainbow Song to end the show is a solid encore considering the insanity which preceded it.

Highlights: Magellan (2), Hope (1, 2), Ladies**, Gangster, Munchkin**, Abraxas*