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Camp Bisco

Headstash's CAMP BISCO Review Guide

: By Alan VanToai; Published on July 12, 2011

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Headstash's CAMP BISCO Review Guide

July 7-9 – Mariaville, NY
10th year – Estimated attendance: 25,000

2011 Lineup: The Disco Biscuits, Cut Copy, Wiz Khalifa, Bassnectar, Pretty Lights, Death From Above 1979, MSTRKRFT, Ghostland Observatory, Yeasayer, Shpongle (Live band set), Ratatat, Special Disco Version DJ Set featuring James Murphy and Pat Mahoney, The New Deal, Four Tet, Conspirator, The Japanese Popstars, Orchard Lounge, Alex English, JDH and Dave P., Borgore, Lotus, Wolfgang Gartner, Skrillex, Neon Indian, Nero, Break Science with RJD2 and Redman, Holy Ghost!, Lettuce, Easy Star All Stars, Beats Antique, DFA Records Tent, Damon Dash's DD 172, Das Racist, Mad Decent Tropical Tent, 12th Planet, Up Until Now feat. David Murphy of STS9, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Treasure Fingers, The Hood Internet, Nadastrom, Emancipator, Araabmuzik, The Magician, Paper Diamond, Bluetech, Two Fresh, Tobacco, Savoy, Nickodemus, Opiuo, Papadosio, MartyParty, SBTRKT, Archnemesis, Pimps of Joytime, Tokimonsta, Mr. Lif, KrAZ, Auto Body, Harvard Bass, Run DMT, Munch, Dillon Francis, Jillionaire, Indobox, Freekbass and Tobotius, Afrobeta, Keys and Krates, Sonic Spank, Zoogma, The Pex Village

Festival Website: http://www.campbisco.net/

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Weather

It ain't Camp Bisco if it ain't Camp Bisco, and it ain't Camp Bisco without a little bit of rain. We rolled up on a bright, humid and sunny Thursday, which turned into a cool, clear Thursday night.

But on Friday, we woke up to an overcast sky and with around an 80 percent chance of thunderstorms forecasted, we braced for the obvious.

And rain it did. What started as a light drizzle during Magician's Dance Tent set turned into consistent drops during Shpongle Live Band.

The rain cleared up for a nice cool night and Saturday was absolutely beautiful, sunny and best of all, clear-skied.

The mud still made walking around slightly tricky, and some campsites were sunk, but as a whole, the weather wasn't so bad considering the three-day downpour in 2009.

Five Highlights

The Biscuits' Friday night palindrome. Friday's second set was incredible. Just look at the palindrome: “Astronaut > I-Man > Ladies > Bombs > Ladies > I-Man > Astronaut.” There was fist-bumpin' four-on-the-floor (Bombs). There was melodic, thematic development (Astronaut). There were anthemic sing-alongs (I-Man). There was beautiful Blissco...

And then there was the “I-Man > Astronaut” segue. I'm picking this as the highlight of the whole set, not because it was better than the rest, but because it was an instance very representative of how on point the boys were the whole day.

When these boards come out, put on this set. As they near the end of “I-Man,” listen closely for the moment they transition. It's there, and it's buttery smooth. You can only smile.

Shpongle . . . again. Earlier this month, another Headstash staff writer covering Electric Forest put Shpongle as a highlight for her weekend. Well, Simon Posford and crew descended upon Camp Bisco this weekend and earned a top-five highlight once again.

Their first-ever performance as a live band in the U.S. was unbelievably good. If there was any question that Posford's psychedelic-trance productions would transition well into a more organic format, this weekend definitely answered them with a resounding, “hell yeah.”

A Magician Pulling a rabbit out of his hat. Smooth as silk space-disco in its finest from Stephen Fasano – half of the electronic pioneering group Aeroplane – under the moniker of The Magician

At every electronic festival, there's usually at least one song-of-the-moment that finds its remixed-way into several sets throughout the weekend.

In 2008 it was Justice's “D.A.N.C.E.” In 2009 there was a lot of MGMT’s "Kids" in the air. This year, it was Lykke Li's "I Follow Rivers" remixed by The Magician.

The second to last bite of Biscuits. Especially the inverted “Above The Waves > Reactor” section. I really enjoyed this set because it was well rounded. They started off slow and mellow with "Spectacle" and eventually came full circle to end with two of the most intense peaks they have in “Waves" and" Reactor."

The lights were also top-notch and “M.E.M.P.H.I.S.” seemed extremely long and had some amazing jams. It was an old-school Bisco party

Disco without the biscuits. James Murphy and Pat Mahoney's Special Disco Version set was smooth and effortless. Just impossible not to get down to. I don't know too much about DFA, so I can't speak too much about it, except to say that it really had us all going Friday night.

One Lowlight

The line. It's just gotten worse and worse over the course of the last three years. I thought we had it bad showing up at 8:00 a.m. and waiting six hours to get in. Turns out we were relatively lucky.

Some people abandoned cars on the street and walked upwards of five miles into the venue. Camp Bisco sold out and was bigger than ever. Someone’s got to widen those Mariaville roads and get us in a lot quicker.

Three Surprises

Surprise Orchard Lounge Set. If you've been to any Disco Biscuits festival sets, or any Biscuits/Conspirator Colorado dates in the last two years, you've seen the beautiful sparkling "Biscorado" flag. It's a sequin-fashioned hybrid of a Colorado flag with the Biscuit's circle-logo replacing the C-circle, and it's brought to you courtesy of the massive costume-raging Colorado/Bisco party posse.

Every year they roll deep to camp and set up a monster party spot. This year they showed up with a huge set-up, complete with a PA, which OL raged late into the night Thursday night. It was unexpected, unforgettable and downright fun.

The Hood Internet. No doubt some of you knew about The Hood Internet going into this weekend. I didn't and was pleasantly surprised turning the corner to the Main Stage on Saturday afternoon to hear these two guys popping off with some seriously fun bouncy electro-house.

The Hood Internet is ABX and STV SLV ("Steve Sleeve") from Chicago, who according to their Facebook have churned out over 400 mix-tapes and millions of downloads. (Of which I’ve been listening to “Hood Internet Mixtape Volume 5 since I got back. It’s hot. Download it here.)

Couldn't pick just one. Here are the Disco Biscuits related surprises:

CD released via throwing into the crowd. Who knew? We didn't.
LED Cubes. First day – helicopters during "Helicopters." Graffiti artists during "Spraypaint." And friendly Bisco-family montage during "Home Again." I overheard some people say they thought it was tacky. I thought it was emotional and perfect.
Lasers. There was some speculation as to whether or not they'd be at Camp this year. They were tastefully held back during the “Plan B” intro and “Helicopters.” And then “Spacebirdmatingcall” – boom. Out of nowhere. We went nuts.

Atmosphere

For the most part, vibes were extremely positive and friendly throughout the weekend.

When you put together the kind of diverse-yet-niche-focused lineup Camp Bisco does, you're going to get a lot of like-minded kids who love the same things and have similar passions. You're going to meet a lot of awesome people having the time of their lives, and make a lot of friends.

There's so many amazing people (not to mention beautiful girls) to meet that it's impossible to not have an amazing time when you’re on the grounds at Camp Bisco.

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