Fresh off of Holidaze in the Dominican Republic, the Disco Biscuits returned to New York City for their 2016 New Years Eve run at The Playstation Theater.
You could tell that the band was excited for the run, as they had many tricks up their sleeves. They started the run off in style with a setlist constructed by two fans, Sean Gruchik wrote the first set, and Rich Steele the second. The second set featured a brilliant “Basis for a Day”/”Spacebirdmatingcall” pairing that took up most of the set and let everyone know that they hadn’t missed a beat since Holidaze.
New Years Eve featured a “Hot Air Balloon” countdown, along with a mix of some old and new sounds. After “Helicopters” > “Feeling Twisted” > “Pimp Blue Rikkis”, the band ended the set with a “Spaga” that included a “Final Countdown” by Europe intro. The Biscuits went all out for the third set which was almost entirely improv. The band played along as the 1982 Disney film Tron was projected onto a see through screen before dropping back into “Helicopters.” The set was incredible and was up there among the best things the Biscuits have done production-wise.
The show on the 1st was a wheel show, the second if it’s kind, which featured a wheel with songs and a few prizes. Fans, friends and even a band member spun it throughout the night to determine the set list. When it was spun while they weren’t in the middle of a jam, they fell back into the same “Mario Star Jam” which they played at the last wheel show in 2007, which gave you the feeling like you were watching some demented T.V. game show. The wheel added a few interesting kinks to the show as the band had to work their way through some uncommon segues and also had to play some rarities. No time for New Years hangover rust, the band stepped up to the challenge and delivered.
After the “Voices Insane” opener, the band played a robot porn soundtrack of “Moshi Fameus” > “Orch Theme” before the wheel delivered a one-two punch of “Mindless Dribble” and “Spraypaint Victory” to end the Set.
Showing their drummer Allen some love after 10 years with the band, they let him spin the wheel to open the second set. Coincidentally, it landed on “Floes,” a song penned by their previous drummer Sammy. That led into the highlight of the night, “Lunar Pursuit” > “Sweating Bullets.” Everyone was completely locked in but Allen and Barber really played off each other well for the segment, which was a nice reminder of just how far the two have come along in the last 10 the years since Allen joined.
Next up was the rarity, “The Unspoken Rhyme,” which the band had not played since 2001. The next person to spin cheated and stopped the wheel on “Munchkin Invasion” but the band decided to mess with her a bit, playing a rare standalone Waves instead, which wasn’t inverted, dyslexic, or chopped up like usual. The band then gave her what she wanted and played a “Munchkin Invasion” encore.
The last night of the run brought the heat and the horns. The Philly Stray Horns came out for the first set along with some Blues Brothers impersonators who sat in for some fun covers of
“Soul Man” and “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love”. The Biscuits finished up their run doing what they do best. The last set was heavy on the improv, starting off with an almost hour long version of “I-Man” before slipping into “Svenghali” > “Astronaut” > “Reactor.”
The Disco Biscuits next run will be at the Fillmore in Philadelphia at the end of February, their first time playing the new venue. Tickets are on sale now.
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A quick return to Star Wars brought the lively “Cantina Theme” Garvey employed some dexterous finger-picking, while Derkak employed some effects pedals to mimic the familiar theme from Star Wars – A New Hope. Loughlin’s malletkat added to the feel of the song, giving the feel of being in the cantina itself.
Schnier’s coming-of-age song, “Mexico” came next. The teases into it from “Captain America” had the crowd warming up its vocal chords, ready to join in at the first word. This one turned into a chill-inducing, whole-crowd sing along. Garvey’s solo take during this song had Rob Derhak sitting back smiling with pride in his bandmates. While “Mexico” isn’t one of the big jam vehicles die-hards yearn for, as witnessed Friday night at the Palace, it is certainly a crowd-pleaser, and one that deserves a spot among the great narrative songs.
When I got into MSG around 8:15 P.M., I heard the opening notes to “AC/DC Bag,” and it seemed like the classic opener had returned to blast us off into the night, but having wrapped things up at the 
With Fishman gently brushing his drums, a balancing “Train Song” arose, bringing tears to the eyes of those chasing the soft Billy Breathes tune, a rarity these days, but a beautiful one at that. Julius reinvigorated the crowd to close the set, one that started strong and finished out the same. Fans then awaited the final of nine sets that Phish would play this run, ventured around the concourse one last time and saw friends they may not see until Summer Tour or beyond, or perhaps resting their legs and reflecting on a crazy, music-filled weekend in the 
As the lights dropped and Trey softly played the opening notes to “Tweezer”, the second set jam vehicle of legend, the audience exulted. The jam slowly built and never let up, and had some back and forth between Trey and Page for a bit, but the final two minutes of Tweezer really shone in an accelerated “What’s the Use?” jam that brought the 22 minute tour de force to a close before pouring into “Sand.” Even still, after “Tweezer”, there was no let up on this “Sand,” which garnered cheers from the “Flowing through the hourglass” line, now forever intwined with the ‘Hourglass Jam’ that rang in 2016 two nights prior.
Returning to the stage, the buzz was centered on “Fluffhead,” which hadn’t been played since August 2014. What feels like years of waiting will feel a little longer as Phish opted for a combo of “The Lizards” and “Tweezer Reprise,” one that constitutes a single “Fluffhead,” which is one part rarity (The Lizards) and one part energy builder with a huge payoff (Tweezer Reprise). There were no complaints with this set, let alone the entire show. While January 2, 2016 marked the best show of the run, with the Mayan Riviera shows coming up in a week, the bar for the year is set high with this final performance from the New Years run.
The band has been celebrating its 25th anniversary throughout 2015 and sound as cohesive as they ever have. A relationship this long, no matter what the scenario, is difficult to maintain at any level, yet it seems as if moe. has found new life in this trip around the sun. Onstage smiles were continuous during this run; it’s obvious that this is a band still having fun playing together.
Busting out with a rare “
Following a half-hour break, the band opened the second set with a tribute to the 
This led to the surprise of the night as Loughlin left the confines of his kit at the back of the stage to drop some mad rhymes to 
As the band members took a brief break, microphone stands were brought to the front of the stage for the encore. Schnier played his acoustic, while Garvey plucked on his electric. Amico played the tambourine and Loughlin the maraca, as Derhak, with the assistance of a lyric sheet, sang the Talking Heads’ “This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)” with help from the crowd on such lyrics as “Home is where I want to be.” As moe.’s adopted hometown, the collaboration was a fitting end to the show capping off the band’s silver anniversary year.
The live recording of Aqueous’ 
David Loss not only handles guitar and vocal duties but also keys and synth. In listening to this release, it’s his nuances that bring out the best of the Dark Side recording but also the best of Aqueous’s original material. He seems to always know where he is in regards to complementing his fellow musicians. It’s a mind-numbing skill to have as a musician to be able to understand that sometimes less is more, or that layers are built on levels, but that in order to build a deep sound, the levels can’t all be the same.