Headstash

Headstash On The Road: Camp Bisco Day 3

The Disco Biscuits - Photo Credit: Holly O'Connor

On day three of Camp Bisco X, I woke up to gorgeous weather filled with sunshine and some impending fun. The unforgiving heat helped dry up a lot of the mud that built up on Friday. Most importantly, the showers started working again!

After cleaning all the mud off of us, fellow Headstasher Alan VanToai and I met up with Freekbass and Tobotius just before catching The Biscuits’ day set. Video interview is forthcoming.

The Disco Biscuits - Photo Credit: Holly O'Connor

After leaving the Grooveshark Tent, we wandered over to the Main Stage to wait for The Disco Biscuits to come out to a not-so-packed house.

Their day set at Camp is sometimes a snoozer for those who were at the Silent Disco until 7:00 a.m. or just couldn’t hang in the sun anymore. Once they started playing, though, more and more people came stumbling out of their tents for the daytime rager.

[READ Coverage of Day 1 at Camp Bisco here.]

“Rockafella” was a perfect opener for this sunny afternoon and was followed by “Neck Romancer,” which jammed out extremely smoothly into a huge “Great Abyss” – reminiscent of the studio version just released off their newest album “Otherwise Law Abiding Citizens”.

The “beep-boops” continued to make everyone in the crowd jump up and down like there was no tomorrow until out of nowhere came a huge inverted “Confrontation.” Eventually the jam slowly morphed into “Air Song,” which was a literal breath of fresh air and a chance to slow things down a bit. I loved how all weekend, The Biscuits’ sets seemed to match the weather perfectly.

Yeasayer - Photo Credit: Holly O'Connor

“World is Spinning” closed out the day performance, but we stayed down at the Main Stage for electro-funk band Lettuce. Their set was a definite change of pace and was super fun.

Yeasayer came on after  and absolutely blew me away. This was the one set besides The Disco Biscuits’ that I was most excited for at Camp and it did not disappoint. I had just caught them in Boston a few weeks ago and their daytime set at Camp seemed aimed more toward the “psychedelic” audience.

They opened with “Madder Red” and built up the catchy drumbeats so slowly it was almost orgasmic. Yet, it seemed as if they were starting off the set a little too slow and I wondered if they would wake up and be the more energetic band I just saw a few weeks ago.

Just as that thought raced through my head, front-man Chris Keating seemed to be harnessing some telepathic power saying, “This is something you guys can dance to” and dropping into “One” from their album “Odd Blood.”

The Disco Biscuits - Photo Credit: Holly O'Connor

From then on out it was a nonstop psychedelic indie-funk party on the Main Stage.

[READ Coverage of Day 2 at Camp Bisco here.]

It was sad to see Yeasayer finish as soon as they did, but Neon Indian – whose style is pretty similar –  weaned us off nicely and further satiated our need for some indie rock.

The Biscuit’s next set started off with another slow, refreshing song for the daytime in “Spectacle,” which was followed up by a 20-minute “M.E.M.P.H.I.S.” that featured a lot of spacey key work from Aron Magner. Finally, when it seemed like “M.E.M.P.H.I.S.” was never going to end, they dropped into the “Cyclone” that was being teased all weekend long.

As the sun started to set and the day transitioned into night, so did The Biscuits’ style of playing – things started to get dark and dirty.

Camp Bisco 80s Night - Photo Credit: Holly O'Connor

An inverted “Above The Waves” featured some of the best light work I had seen all weekend. Johnny R Goode used the new lasers and LED cubes to their full potential during this song to create what seemed like actual waves in the sky.

The end of “Reactor” followed “Waves” and had the entire crowd of Biscuits fans screaming along at the top of their lungs. “Chemical Warfare Brigade” to close out the set was a huge surprise and a great way to end one of my favorite sets from them this weekend.

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We walked back to the campsite to listen to Bassnectar where we could rest our feet for a while and regroup for our last set of Biscuits.

The last Biscuits set of Camp X opened up with “On Time” and showcased Magner at his best. Perhaps the MVP of the weekend, Magner displayed all his talents during this song and showcased why he is so vital to the band.

The Disco Biscuits - Photo Credit: Holly O'Connor

“Strobelights and Martinis” came next and eventually segued into a beautiful inverted “Shimmy” that was so good it forced people to set off fireworks in the crowd.

Another huge inversion came next, “Digital Buddha,” that eventually jammed out into an old-school style “Gangster” that had everyone getting low.

“Tricycle” peaked out of “Gangster” and I think the kid I saw carrying a tricycle in the front row was probably pretty happy about that. A raging “Save The Robots” ended The Biscuits’ time at Camp Bisco and oh, how bittersweet it was.

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Set I: Rockafella, Neck Romancer > The Great Abyss > Confrontation¹ > Air Song > World Is Spinning
Set II: Spectacle, M.E.M.P.H.I.S. > Cyclone > Above The Waves¹ > Reactor², Chemical Warfare Brigade, Highwire
Set III: On Time, Strobelights and Martinis > Little Shimmy In A Conga Line¹ > Digital Buddha¹ > Gangster > TricycleSave The Robots >
1 = inverted
2 = ending only

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Camp has been calling ILCC home now for five years and it seemed as though with this year’s first-ever sell-out, they may just have outgrown the place. Who knows where Camp Bisco may be next year?

For that reason we savored every last minute of their time on stage before heading out to Wolfgang Gartner and then Pretty Lights at the Grooveshark Tent.

Camp Bisco - Photo Credit: Holly O'Connor

This year Camp Bisco grew into something much larger than it ever was before. Pulling out of ILCC today, I saw people with tents set up for miles around the property and they even had people camped up on the hill where the Silent Disco/Showcase Stage area is located.

[READ History Lesson: Camp Bisco Through The Years to see attendance figures, full lineups and logos from each of the past events.]

Vibes were amazing as always. I think I got more high-fives from random people this weekend than I ever have before. The weather stayed pretty calm for the most part and Saturday was especially beautiful.

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Stay tuned for more coverage from Camp Bisco X including our photo gallery and an interview with Freekbass.

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For more information including on the festival check out Camp Bisco's official website.