Picture Show: Camp Bisco VII

To say that this wasn’t your usual northeast festival line-up would be a serious understatement. In fact, the biggest surprise on Thursday night was Snoop Dogg. The west coast rap godfather treated Bisco fans to a full set of favorites (even if he wasn’t really sure what stop he was on). Accompanied by a full entourage of pimped out tour buses, Snoop straight from Keyspan Park in Brooklyn on 311 tour, made sure that everyone knew, “What’s my Motherfucking Name?”

With temps in the 90s the Main Stage heated up, hosting such acts as Fiction Plane (even if no one was there to hear it), Tea Leaf Green now fully integrated with new bassist Reed Mathis, Grimace Federation, and and the DJ that everyone loves to hate, Bassnectar, who has become somewhat of a lightning rod on Bisco Tour.

Younger Brother & Simon Posford treated the faithful to an All-Star set including special guests Joe Russo, Tom Hamilton and Marc Brownstein. While DJ Shadow and Cut Chemists spun over 150 45 records, which gave him the unique, signature on his impressive eight turntable set up. Covers songs and samplings were aplenty as DJs and bands alike kept the crowd guessing, sampling random bits of songs ranging from Gilligan’s Island (DJ Shadow) and Zelda (Lotus) to Radiohead (Amplive) and Rage Against the Machine (Disco Biscuits). Even Snoop Dogg joined in the fun with his take on House of Pain’s Jump Around.

But it was truly the late night where Camp Bisco came alive. With smoke rising from the stage, The New Deal, Lotus, Telepath, Pnuma Trio and The Egg never disappointed, turning the evening into a sweaty gyrating mass of people and fist pumps. While some air would have been nice, the enclosed circus tent allowed the music to continue ’till first light, though sun-up still didn’t signal the end of the party for most.

Never a band to be put to shame, the Disco Biscuits reminded everyone whose festival it truly was on Saturday night. Pulling out all the stops and laying down one of the final memories of an extraordinary weekend, tDB performed possibly their best Camp set in recent memory with many remarking, that if you didn’t like what you heard, then you didn’t know what it meant to be a Bisco fan. Set lists included everything from old seldom played favorites like Tricycle to a brand new one called Chilled Briefly. With the main stage completely decked out in colorful lights and even mother nature adding to the festivities with wind, lighting flashes and thunder, Bisco’s impressive presence packed them in and the only thing left was for Brownie to boldly announce the five night New Year’s Eve run at NYC’s Nokia Theater to the roars of the crowd.

This trip to ILCC, which is no stranger to festivals big and small, was an enjoyable one if a little messy. Bisco fans sure know how to party and make the clean-up crew work for their tickets, and yet you can see the love and interest the Biscuits have for the scene and their desire to push the band forward. They do this by taking the best of their genre as well as branching out and introducing other bands that fans may not know but are sure to enjoy. This eclectic mix of rap, rock, electronica, international DJs and up and coming jambands, keeps people coming back to Camp year after year.