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Disco Biscuits Bring City Bisco To Atlanta's Tabernacle For NYE Run January 3, 2017 13:51

Words by Jacob Richards: Live & Listen

Photos by Adam Winokur

What more could you possibly want out of the Disco Biscuits than the onslaught of jams they delivered to the hungry fans waiting inside the Tabernacle in Atlanta?  Did everyone just want 2016 to be over? Probably.  Does everyone in Atlanta know how to get down on a normal day, and especially for a New Year's run? Absolutely.  What better setting than the Tabernacle to send off the old, bring in the new, dance until it hurts; and who better than Allen, Aron, Barber, and Brownie driving the train to get us there?   I will give an emphatic and resounding ‘NOWHERE’ and ‘NO ONE’. This was the spot to be for New Year’s.

Whether you’ve been a fan since their inception, or this was your first show, the Biscuits had something in store for you. They delved into a large swath of their catalogue, and found new places to explore in familiar songs.  The band was feeding off each other, talking with their facial expressions and bodies, their energy was permeating through the entire venue, and by the end of the first night it was clear that this was going to be an electric way to get rid of 2016.

Showing up Friday, there was a lot of buzz outside in the cold mist about what the night would hold.  The band rolled onto the stage and the words “slurpy start” were murmured somewhere behind me.  For the first minute or so, “slurpy” was a good assessment, but then, whoa.  “Mindless Dribble > "Shem-Rah Boo" > "¿Donde?” opened the first set of the second night, and by the end of that sequence there wasn’t an ass in a seat, or anyone without sweat on their brow.  Bouncing around the Tabernacle, it didn’t matter if you were in the balconies or the floor, everyone was in such a great mood making new friends and you could watch people's eyes light up as their favorite song was being teased or finally driven into by the band.  

The second set ended with “Svenghali” with Barber sliding into supple teases that made the place explode between the set closer and the encore. Brownie was glowing and seemed to be on the verge of giggling as they came back on the stage.  The set closing teases of “Home Again” were answered for the encore, causing the guy in front of me to squeal, wrap his arms around me, and give me the biggest hug I probably got in 2016.  We were on a runaway train called 2016, and NYE couldn’t get here soon enough.  

Watch video footage of "Svengali" here:

New Year’s Eve was rainy and cold, but who cared?  Everyone was there to dance and was looking fly.  We had three sets to look forward to and knew it was going to be a long night!  The first set was a personal favorite.  The band was tight and on fire from the first note of “Save the Robots” and you could tell Brownie was feeling himself tonight.  The set found its way all around "Save The Robots" > "Mindless Dribble" > "The Champions" > "Tempest" > "Spraypaint."  Barber and Aron were locking eyes, bobbing in synch, and gave everyone in the Tabernacle no way to stop moving.  "Mindless Dribble" and "Spraypaint" were both unfinished from the previous nights, and picking those jams off sent people on the floor into an uproar.  The night was still early though.

The second set opened with a pounding “7/11” and found its way back into “Save the Robots.”  Unlike a lot of other jam bands, Bisco will revisit and explore their songs a lot during a run or a show, and this Robots just wouldn’t quit.  Some mild technical problem with Barber’s board gave us a nice raw version of "Moshi Fameus" with minimal effects.  After some tweaking, throwing of sunglasses, and moving around we were taken to one of the most intense inverted versions of “Reactor” that I have heard.  Brownie was dropping bass riffs like bombs and the crowd was losing their collective minds as the band threw us right back into “Save the Robots!”  Could it be? ... “House Dog Party Favor?” It is! I hope everyone brought clean underwear because we still have another set.  

Blinking was difficult during set break. I knew I had to be deeper in the fray, as midnight was fast approaching.  Just before we kicked 2016 to the curb, the band came back, the lights dropped, they opened up into “Wizards in Winter,” the highly technical, extremely fast and intense Tran-Siberian Orchetera song.  Apparently, a face blasting is how The Disco Biscuits wanted to bring us into 2017.  The new year was upon us, and lots of hugging and sighs of ‘we made it’ collectively muttered around the corner of the pit, as the band tipped up individual bottles of champagne.  When “Helicopters” took off, I dare say I was not looking out below.  Everything about the tightness of the band; the lights bouncing and flooding the Tabernacle, and the sweat flying from person to person made the inverted “And the Ladies Were the Rest of the Night” explode throughout the entire venue.  

Now 3 sets is amazing.  We all knew we signed up for that, and good chances for an encore.  It is hard to argue the encore of this show wasn’t a set onto itself clocking in close to 40 minutes.  Not to pick favorites, but “M.E.M.P.H.I.S.” is way up there.  If this had been the only song during the encore, no one would have been disappointed.  All of the band seemed so thrilled to be in the Tabernacle the past few days, that the pounding of “Frog Legs” to “Kitchen Mitts” back into “Helicopters,” seemed like a thank you from them to us for such a great run.  

Since last New Year’s Eve Tron set, I have been telling everyone I know The Disco Biscuits are absolutely on fire, and if you are sleeping on them, than you are missing out.  The New Year’s Show of 2016 changes none of that.  A handful of shows in 2017 are already on their website.  Do yourself a favor and get to see Bisco this year, and if it can be at the Tabernacle, all the better!      

Watch video footage of "Basis For A Day" here:

     

The Disco Biscuits - The Tabernacle - Atlanta, GA - 12/29/2016 - 12/31/2016

12/29/2016 Setlist:

Set 1: Above The Waves> Rainbow Song, Morph Dusseldorf> Dance Of The Sugarplum Fairies> Minions> Morph Dusseldorf
Set 2: Uber Glue, Pygmy Twylyte> Orch Theme> Spraypaint> Above The Waves, Mr. Don
Encore: Rock Candy

12/30/2016 Setlist:

Set 1: Mindless Dribble> Shem-Rah Boo, ¿Donde?, Nughuffer> Mulberry's Dream> Nughuffer
Set 2: Caterpillar> Spacebirdmatingcall, The Safety Dance, Resurrection> Air Song> Caterpillar, Svenghali
Encore: Home Again

12/31/2016 Setlist:

Set 1: Save The Robots> Mindless Dribble1> The Champions> Tempest> Spraypaint2
Set 2: 7-113> Save The Robots> Moshi Fameus> Reactor4> Save The Robots, House Dog Party Favor
Set 3: Wizards in Winter5, Helicopters> And The Ladies Were The Rest Of The Night4> Abraxas4> Basis For A Day
Encore: M.E.M.P.H.I.S., Frog Legs, Kitchen Mitts> Helicopters