Review: Camp Bisco 9 @ ILCC

Friday, July 16

While a bit of rain fell on Friday morning, luckily no sets were affected as this day was just jam packed with almost 40 different acts. RAQ, recently off a 20 month hiatus, played a great set sounding as tight as ever. Later, guitarist Chris Michetti, who stayed to enjoy the festival, jammed with the Biscuits on the main stage and Conspirator in the VIP lounge – along with David Murphy (STS9), Dom Lalli (Big Gigantic) and Colby Buckler (Two Fresh). Big Gigantic came on next and blended saxophone and drum beats, making for some serious dancing and drawing a huge crowd at the Second Stage.

Meanwhile on the Hill Stage, which was now packed to the gills with campers who had arrived overnight, Timbre Coup’s drummer was explosive leading the band with a pounding, infectious rhythm. Unfortunately things were not running as smoothly on the main stage with Wu Massacre rolling into the venue almost 30 minutes after their scheduled start time. Luckily, they didn’t waste any time in getting into some of their biggest hits off of the 36 Chambers album including METHOD MAN because at 6PM sharp the plug was pulled, leaving the band singing into silent microphones. Thievery Corporation and their rotating cast of lead singers got the entire field – which was filled with numerous scantily-clad hoopers showing off their talents – up and dancing to their entrancing world beat music. As if that wasn’t enough eye candy for the night, Major Lazer took it to a whole other level by getting down and dirty onstage with their dancers…leaving little to the imagination.

Saturday, July 17

Saturday morning started out hot and sunny just like the rest of the days but it was easy to tell that changes were brewing. Things began going wrong when there was a schedule push after Telepath that left the Main Stage silent for 30 minutes or so as Soja scrambled to get set up in place of Break Science, who ended up following them. On the Hill Stage, Steez, who also played at Camp last year, kept the crowd going with Blondie’s oft-sampled Rapture chorus. Talib Kweli finally arrived in style as he flowed on to the stage – with David Murphy – during the Break Science set.

Ween didn’t disappoint and played many fan favorites including Take Me Away, David Bowie’s Let’s Dance and Roses are Free – which left more than one confused fan marveling at their Phish “cover.”After the Ween set, as Brothers Past was getting started with Enjoy the Silence by Depeche Mode, came the first stage closure because of an active lighting storm in the area. However, if you were lucky enough to be backstage, Tommy Hamilton and Tom McKee kept it going with an acoustic set that finished with a sing along to the Grateful Dead’s Ripple. Later that night after the rain had passed through the Dance tent, the schedule was revised to allow Girl Talk to do his thing. While there are many out there who think that Girl Talk might not be a true musician because many of his mixes are pre-arranged, the energy in the tent said differently. Aeroplane finally brought the Dance Tent to a close around 6AM on Saturday morning but as always fans still wanted more.

With the exception of the first set on Thursday, all of the Disco Biscuits’ setlists featured songs that had been requested by fans on Brownie’s Facebook page.  Of course this meant that there were quite a few bust outs over the weekend including Pat and Dex which hadn’t been played in over three years. Basis for a Day, which was one of the most requested songs by the fans, was played as an extended sandwich to close out Saturday night. Overallm the five sets were exceptional, with Friday’s first set and the closing set on Saturday fighting for first place at the festival.

For anyone doubting the Disco Biscuits’ love for their fans, the fact that they demanded to take the stage on Saturday night – against security’s wishes – and pulled together a two-hour set that pushed right up until curfew should say it all.  For those that were there, it is hard to separate the energy of the closing set and Johnny R. Goode’s incredible laser light show which was magnified into diamonds by the rain and the lighting strikes that flashed all around. However, Friday’s first set had all four members of the band firing together which made for a tighter set all around especially the beginning and end which was book-ended by Morph > Spaga and Spaga> Morph. Reactor was a highlight from Thursday night’s set while On Time was a perfect opener for a day set on Saturday that also included Wet. Set Two on Friday included a new song, Bombs, which was hinted at on Brownie’s Facebook post earlier last week as well as an inverted Little Betty Boop.

Overall this year’s Camp Bisco had everyone wanting for more after an excellent weekend. While the rain might have caused a few disruptions, the Biscuits showed that they could handle it all. From the piles of hay and wood ready to go piled in the corner (just in case) to taking fan requests for their setlists, tDB’s attention to the fans’ experience shows. With the big 10th anniversary of Camp Bisco coming up next year – along with a huge increase in attendance this year and mainstream media attention by way of the NY Times and Lefsetz Letter – one can only imagine what the Disco Biscuits will dream up next.

Setlists courtesy of PT Bisco

07/15/10 Indian Lookout Country Club, Mariaville, NY
Camp Bisco 9
Other acts include Ween, LCD Soundsystem, Girl Talk, Aeroplane, Brothers Past and Future Rock
Set I: House Dog Party Favor, Crickets> The Great Abyss1> Crystal Ball, The Tunnel> Reactor1> Crickets2> On Time3

1 inverted
2 middle section
3 ending only

07/16/10 Indian Lookout Country Club, Mariaville, NY
Camp Bisco 9
Other acts include Ween, LCD Soundsystem, Girl Talk, Aeroplane, Brothers Past and Future Rock
Set I: Morph Dusseldorf> Spaga> Abraxas1> Voices Insane> Spaga> Morph Dusseldorf
Set II: 7-11> Little Betty Boop1> Tricycle> Orch Theme> Bombs2> Sweating Bullets, Naeba 1 inverted
2 1st time played

07/17/10 Indian Lookout Country Club, Mariaville, NY
Camp Bisco 9
Other acts include Ween, LCD Soundsystem, Girl Talk, Aeroplane, Brothers Past and Future Rock
Set I: On Time1> Aceetobee> Mr. Don> Pat And Dex, Wet
Set II: Portal To An Empty Head2, Mindless Dribble> Shem-Rah Boo> Knight Rider Theme> Basis For A Day> Above The Waves3> Munchkin Invasion> Lunar Pursuit> Munchkin Invasion> Basis For A Day

1 dyslexic completion of 7/15 version
2 with Chris Michetti (Raq)
3 inverted

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2 Responses

  1. Great article! It’s cool to read about all the other experiences, Bisco was such an adventure. Can’t wait for next year.

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