The Disco Biscuits and friends invaded The Mann Music Center in Philadelphia last weekend and for a two-day festival called City Bisco.

Let’s start with the good. The venue is a great spot to have a concert, plenty of seating, grass seats, and a balcony, so there are so many great spots to see the show, and when the Biscuits play you know they’re going to bring great lights. The weather held up, too. Each day was beautiful and didn’t get too chilly at night. And the sound at the venue is pretty incredible.

As far as music The Disco Biscuits weren’t bad the first night, but then really shined the second. The guys really seemed to enjoy themselves and were happy to be back in Philly. Barber looked like he was having more fun at a smaller show than he has in years. And the guys seemed to take it all in stride when a crazy fan seemed to slip past security and run on stage to try to get a hug. Some of the highlights include a really fun cover of “The Safety Dance” an inverted version of “Humu” into “Helicopters” when they faked out the whole crowd for “King of the World” and ending the night and festival with a quick jam of “I-Man”.

Brownie told the crowd that he and Barber used to chill at the Mann years ago and once Barber lost his wallet there. But luckily later on they were hanging out at some guy’s house and the guy said “Hey man, you look familiar.” Turns out he found Barber’s wallet. Pretty cool story!

A-Trak was great as always. Though I must say a lot of the straight Biscuits fans were not really into his groovy electronic sound. I personally loved it and really enjoyed his mashup/mix of two of his most popular tracks, “Barbara Streisand” into his “Heads will Roll” remix. Sure, two overplayed tracks, but he added some special touches that night. And as always he seamlessly mixed hip-hop into electro.

I caught the end of Paper Diamond’s set and he did a great job, though once again the crowd wasn’t fully into it. He dropped some heavy bass tracks as well as some of his popular tracks including one of my favorites “Can I go Up”.

Now, on to the bad. The scene: It is a little ridiculous that you can’t go a foot in the parking lot without being offered nitrous balloons and the amount of people with access to tanks and selling them is unheard of. (Read up on the “Nitrious Mafia” here.) One of them people I was with accurately called the lot “Crime Alley,” a Batman reference. It had a dark and depressing feel, with kids getting their fix or passed out on the ground. The police and security do nothing. It just left a really dark and negative feel in my mind and really gives the scene a bad name.

continue reading "City Bisco 2012 Review, Photos"

Sometimes three-day music festivals can be so much fun that they seem to go by quicker than one-night concerts. That said, I had an amazing time at Catskill Chill, which took place earlier this month on an Upstate New York camp grounds.

Upon arriving on Friday afternoon with my friend Allie, I realized that I recognized my surroundings. “Holy —-, this is a summer camp grounds, and I know people that went here!” We then did the standard things to do at a camping fest; set up camp, meet the neighbors, and explore the grounds, all before the real fun starts.

The first act we checked out was JGB with Melvin Seals on the main stage. These guys all have a pretty impressive resume, having played alongside Jerry Garcia, Chuck Berry, and various great names in the jam scene. These guys played a fun set which included an extended cover of “Johnny Too Bad” by the Slickers.

Next up on the “B” Stage was Dr. Fameus, which is Allen Aucoin’s (the drummer from the Disco Biscuits) side project. Allen explores a wide range of musical sounds from drum ‘n’ bass to dubstep to techno and house. My favorite was when he dropped Compton Funk. And of course he uses what he has learned playing in front of massive crowds with the Biscuits to cater to the crowd’s vibes and put on a pretty sick show.

Speaking of the Biscuits, we moved on to catch Conspirator, which includes Aron Magner and Marc Brownstein of the Biscuits as well as Chris Michetti, who we caught DJing at Camp Bisco. This was one of my favorite sets of the weekend. It mixes the bass-heavy sounds of dubstep with live experimental sounds of jam bands. It’s a cool trend that various bands are doing, and I really dig it. Some of the highlights include a sick cover of “Scarlet Begonias,” “Feed the Wolf” and “Gypsy Down.”

The rest of the night was filled with some heavy bass and some great jams, including a set from Lettuce that started with the tune “Blast Off” and ended with “5 Am Huff.”

continue reading "Catskill Chill 2012 Photos and Review"

The Disco Biscuits are throwing a pretty sweet party in Philly — well, a two-night party — October 5 and 6.

The Biscuits will be playing both nights of City Bisco with support from an eclectic mix of artists. A-Trak, Diplo, Paper Diamond, Aeroplane, Nadis Warriors, RJD2 and many more plan to throw down for two great nights at the Mann in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia.

Tickets are still on sale and are a great price for all the talent you will see that night! More info and tickets at CityBisco.com.

Also, Bisco’s five-night-run in New York leading up to New Year’s Eve goes on sale tomorrow.

As the weather gets cooler and the fall season takes over the thing I look forward to most is CMJ. The New York institution that is the CMJ Music Marathon is a hectic whirlwind of showcases and bands to catch. That tradition continues as CMJ has just announced its initial lineup.

CMJ Music Marathon 2012 taking place between October 16-20, will feature plenty of familiar and unfamiliar names. Big names like The Walkmen, The Presets, The Mountain Goats, Kimbra, GZA and OFF! will be playing during CMJ but there are plenty of great acts to catch and perhaps a few great discoveries as well.

For the initial lineup I am also excited about Poolside, Com Cruise and King Tuff to name a few. The initial lineup of CMJ acts is below and more acts can be found here.

You can view the panels and see what else CMJ has to offer here. Register for a badge here.

Initial CMJ lineup is after the jump.
continue reading "CMJ Music Marathon 2012 Announces Initial Lineup Featuring The Presets and The Walkmen"

This year marks the third annual Catskill Chill music festival at the picturesque Camp Minglewood campgrounds in Hancock New York. The festival is set for Sep 7-9 and features 30 stages and 40 bands. Not only does the festival offer some great names like Yonder Mountain String Band, Conspirator, Lotus and Zoogma the festival offers free parking, camping and on-site cabin rentals for those not so outdoors types.

Orchids by lotusvibes

Attendees are invited to take part in open mic performances as well as yoga, drum circles and live art. There is even a bonfire every night.

Tickets are on sale now and you can buy them here
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And if you can’t wait to for the festival to start you can check out the warmup events starting Aug 1st at Sullivan Hall. Lineup includes Steve Molitz (keyboards, Particle) & Ben Combe (guitar, Particle) with DJ Logic , FiKus , Derek VanScoten (D.V.S*). This happens every Wednesday until the festival. For more details click here.