NYS Music 20​15

Tag: The Disco Bicsuits

  • Photo Gallery: Dominican Holidaze 2015

    The “Holidaze” series of festivals has become an annual event that is coveted by both the artists and fans alike. Hosted by the Disco Biscuits and Umphrey’s McGee, Dominican Holidaze 2015 took place in the Dominican Republic at the Breathless Resort and Spa in Punta Cana.  For those uninitiated, this is THE premier luxury festival, treating attendees to baller rooms with private jacuzzis, all inclusive food and drinks across multiple restaurants and bars, and an ocean front stage that rages from sunset to 3am for four nights proper. Supporting tDB and UM this year were STS9, Lettuce, Nightmares on Wax, Break Science, Papadosio, Gigamesh, and Lee Foss. In one’s “downtime,” there is still plenty to do: excursions, pool parties, late night dj’s, the sand, sun, and surf.  Resort staff genuinely seemed happy to have us there, and as a result, the overall experience was definitely “MAGNIFICO.”

    Dominican Holidaze 2015This was my second time attending Holidaze, the last being in 2012 when it was in Cancun and considered “Mayan.”  Both were excellent experiences, but it is clear that as time goes on, the Cloud 9 team continues to refine the series.  Check-in/out was a breeze, customer service was excellent, and you can tell they want you to get safely from and to your home base.  It’s an easy recommendation to make that if the lineup falls within your musical tastes and you don’t hate luxury beach vacations, you have to go at least once.  Should these humble words fail to convince, perhaps this photo gallery will do the trick. Enjoy!

  • Camp Bisco to get Wet at Montage Mountain

    After a year’s hiatus and a change in venue, Camp Bisco is back and moving to a site that offers fans a better experience at Montage Mountain in beautiful Scranton, Pennsylvania on July 16-18th. Campers will be treated to a water park, as well as many other amenities not offered at other festivals, such as full restaurant and bar.

    http://campbisco.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/vending-1000x200.jpg

    The festival will feature many Camp Bisco regulars, such as Pretty Lights who is performing Thursday night as one of the festival’s headliners. Derek Vincent Smith took the moniker Pretty Lights in the summer of 2004. He had played electronic music with other groups but chose to go on his own and make his own music, starting out as a late night act for other major groups — one of them being the Disco Biscuits. He has since made a name for himself and has earned the coveted spot he’s playing. Thursday night also features STS9, otherwise known as Sound Tribe Sector Nine, pioneers along with the Biscuits with the livetronica genre. Mixing beats from hip hop to funk and jazz, this is a perfect addiction to the experience that is Camp Bisco.

    STS9 2015.jpg

    Thursday also welcomes newcomers to the festival Twiddle, a rocking band hailing from Burlington, Vermont and featuring wailing guitar solos as well a tad of dub to it as well. Whatever the mixture they use, they found a good one because Twiddle is not an act to miss at this years festivities.

    Big Gigantic plays on headlines Friday night bringing their own version of electronic jazz to the main stage. In a world where electronica seems to have peaked, bands keep coming up with new ways to make the sound their own. Gigantic does this by incorporating horns to the mix, leaving the crowd in pure awe. As with Twiddle, the festival is not only electronic music. For example, Tom Hamilton of The American Babies [Electron, Joe Russos Almost Dead, Brothers Past] shows his Americana side with this project. He covers tunes by Bob Dylan as well as reworking Brothers Past songs to have them fit this genre.

    Saturday is the day that many campers will be looking forward to.  With Tipper, Basssnectar, and yes, of course — the Disco Biscuits. Bassnectar has worked hard to get where he is on the Camp Bisco stage. Starting off as a side attraction over the years, he became more and more popular making his way to the main stage as a  headliner. This is where a lot of hard work and determination has paid off, and Lorin Ahston, otherwise know as Bassnectar, is not an act to sleep on.

    This leaves us with the festival’s namesake, The Disco Biscuits.  Closing out all three nights,  they definitely leave the crowd wanting more each time. Having been together for 20 years, The Biscuits have come as far as any band can dream and they keep getting better.  Having sold out shows across the country and playing with members of the Grateful Dead, there is no time like now to see them play.

    There are many different travel packages which all can be found here.  Between all the great bands (the complete list can be found here) and the beautiful scenery, there is no reason not to get down to this year’s Camp Bisco.

  • NYSMuse: A Conversational Review of Dear Jerry

    A few of us from NYS Music made it to the Dear Jerry show at Merriweather Post Pavilion on May 14, mostly for the fun of attending an outdoor show early in the season and celebrate the music of the Grateful Dead. Afterward we couldn’t help but discuss the show and found we had several similar and differing thoughts. Even though we went without intending to review the show, we thought it would be a different twist to bring you some of our back-and-forth thoughts.

    Set 1: The Wheel, Uncle John’s Band, Standing On The Moon, Liberty (Communion featuring Phil Lesh), Get Out My Life Woman (Allen Toussaint with Bill Kreutzmann), Shady Grove (David Grisman & Sam Bush), I’m a Roadrunner (Peter Frampton with Bill Kreutzmann), Deal (Buddy Miller), Sugaree (Jorma Kaukonen with Barry Mitterhoff), The Harder They Come (Jimmy Cliff), Attics Of My Life (Jimmy Cliff with Bob Weir and Mickey Hart *One verse, acapella), Fire On The Mountain (Jimmy Cliff with Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, and Dave Schools)

    Set 2: Help On The Way> Slipknot!> Franklin’s Tower (Billy & The Kids), Scarlet Begonias> I Know You Rider (Disco Biscuits with Bill Kreutzmann & Tom Hamilton), Loser (moe. Chuck on vox), St. Stephen (O.A.R), Not Fade Away > Bertha (Los Lobos with Bob Weir), Brown Eyed Women (Trampled By Turtles), Shakedown St (YMSB), Days Between (Bob Weir), Friend of the Devil (Grace Potter with Bob Weir, and Matt Burr), Tennessee Jed (Eric Church with Bill Kreutzmann, and Mickey Hart), Morning Dew (Widespread), Touch of Grey (Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann & Mickey Hart), Ripple (almost all of the evening’s performers & the crowd)

    Steve Malinski: Mickey and Bill were part of the last few songs too, right?

    Graig Adler: Yeah. Bill was also in the house band as well as Dave Schools.

    SM: I didn’t have the greatest of starts to the show — thanks to DC traffic I was delayed getting there from Alexandria and didn’t arrive until “Shady Grove.” I didn’t know who was on because I couldn’t see more than some of the crowd from the gate but knew pretty quick from the mandolin that it was Grisman. It was a good first song to hear after the hassle of getting to Merriweather. I’ve always loved the Garcia/Grisman collaborations.

    SM:  There were several times I was pleased with the performances and interpretations; obviously there were some better than others and one in particular that ranked lowest. But overall I wasn’t as impressed, as my expectations were high for the show. Some groups did a couple of Dead tunes and others did just one, which was cool, no big deal. The flow of the show was a bit jagged and staggered logistically, so there was a bit of down time which for me dampened the vibes a little bit. More continuity would have made the experience better, in my opinion.

    GA: Yes, it was impossible to get in a groove. But will make for one fine $29.99 DVD, lots of professional recording equipment on stage. Biggest surprise of the night was how good O.A.R. was and how good The Disco Biscuits would be if they stopped playing that crappy jamtronica.

    SM: I thought Disco Biscuits had a pretty good groove going, especially with adding their own style jam in the middle. Billy and the Kids too. I think what made their sets stand out is they did more than one song and had the opportunity to loosen up and bloom a bit on the Dead tunes.

    GA: Also, Bill Kreutzmann on drums and Tommy Hamilton on stage — two guys who play dead tunes for a living.

    SM:  O.A.R.: It was cool to hear the island vibes from the song but they had a shaky start with the opening riffs and that set the tone for me. It wasn’t bad, but not my favorite of the night. I did enjoy the one O.A.R. show I had seen before outside of that though. I really enjoyed the refreshing arrangements by Trampled by Turtles and Yonder Mountain String Band playing stripped-down Dead. YMSB’s version of “Shakedown Street” had everyone’s attention.

    GA: O.A.R., I thought they sounded great. His mic wasn’t turned on to start the song.

    SM:  It was tough to notice that in the wash of the crowd where I was. I don’t recall seeing Phil Lesh on stage throughout the night. Was he there at all? It would’ve been awesome to see them all play together, especially since I just missed getting a Dead 50 ticket.

    GA: Communion (Phil Lesh, Stu Allen, Grahame Lesh, Ross James, Alex Koford and Jason Crosby) played the first four songs.

    SM:  I’m sad I missed Phil. I heard people mention him in passing and I hadn’t realized he was on the bill.

    GA: It seems he still doesn’t want to play with these guys. Which is concerning for Dead 50. He really only seems to play Terrapin and Shapiro events these days.

    SM: I do hope Phil settles his differences or whatever is going on for Chicago. I’m sure no one — the fans or the band — want to see the farewell shows dampened by differences.

    GA: Audley Freed and Buddy Miller were also in the house band.

    SM: The house band was pretty solid. Unfortunately, I couldn’t see the stage well so it was tough from the projector to keep track of who was up there except for the announcements of the guest artist for a particular song.

    SM: For me, the end of the show made up for what I missed at the start. It was a bit emotional and a tear-jerker. “Ripple” is one of those pretty songs to begin with. Now add a slide show with images of Jerry along with the song’s lyrics to encourage a 19,000-Dead Head sing-along. This was probably the best way to end the show, with something that rings out.

    GA: I’m surprised that nobody mentioned that the house band drummer for the show was Raymond Weber, the legendary funky NOLA drummer and former member of Dumpstaphunk. He’s SOLID! There was a very funny exchange involving him in an episode of Treme that went like this: Bass player Cornell Williams asks with surprise, “I know you didn’t just tell Raymond Weber that he dropped the beat, did you?” “Yeah, I did,” Antoine replies. “Ray, when was the last fucking time you dropped the beat?” Williams asks. “Me? ’83,” Weber responds.