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My New Year’s
date with The Disco Biscuits
The pseudo-journal
of a four-man trip across the east coast
Story and photos by STEVE SEAMANDEL
Christmas is usually worth getting excited over, but this year
it was the 26 of December that had me rustling in bed the night
before. The day had been planned out for nearly two months already;
it was the day that I, along with three close friends from college,
would hit the road for a 7-day, 2,000+ mile trip to the east
coast, chasing a band that most people haven’t heard of.
Our itinerary to follow this funny-named group, The Disco Biscuits,
would take us through Albany, Boston, Philadelphia, and then
plunk us smack-dab in the middle of Times Square in New York
City on New Year’s Eve, which would be my 44th time seeing
the band. As my plum-colored Mazda 626, broken moon roof and
all, merged onto I-43 in Milwaukee – Mapquest directions
to Albany in hand – I saw the first of many signs pointing
to Chicago; at this point I realized that I, along with my three
brave friends, Dirty, Mirman and Josh, would be driving for
a long, long time.
Why bother?
Traveling absurd distances to see this band was nothing new
to me and the other passengers in the vehicle; we’d seen
them a combined 85 times. Just one month prior to this trip,
I flew to New Jersey to catch two of their shows. In July, I
made an impromptu 10-hour drive with Josh to West Virginia to
catch their “late-night” show at a festival, then
drove all the way back to Wisconsin the next day. As sad as
it may sound, seeing The Disco Biscuits has become more than
an obsession since my first time in 1999. But when I think back
to all the memories I have from seeing this band, I realize
that I don’t regret one single penny spent, one single
day taken off of work, or one single class skipped to see The
Disco Biscuits.
People often ask if I’m a groupie; if I know the band;
if I think I’m the world’s biggest Disco Biscuits
fan, and perhaps my favorite quip of all-time, “Don’t
they just play the same songs at every show?”
No, I’m not a groupie; I don’t know the band personally
(beyond having said “whaddup” to them on a few occasions),
and I surely am not the world’s biggest Disco Biscuits
fan. In fact, other people whom I’ve met along the way
have run circles around me in total number of shows seen. And
the band’s song repertoire, setlist construction, and,
most importantly, crazy-fast electronica jams are in fact what
draw me, and all of us other wackos, to see the Biscuits so
many times in so many different states.
A whole clan of us, from all parts of the country, attend nearly
every show this band performs. Even while on their home turf
of Philadelphia, the band won’t draw more than a crowd
of roughly 2,000. However, I think it’s safe to say that
nearly every one of the fans in attendance at a Biscuits show
is more devoted to the Biscuits than most music fans are to
their favorite band. “Hardcore” is a word frequently
used to describe the fans’ obsession with the Biscuits.
I’ve met all kinds of people through seeing the Disco
Biscuits, from all across the country. There’s Nick from
Chicago, an 80+ show veteran since 1998. There’s Scott
from Colorado, who just eclipsed the coveted 100-show mark last
September, and would be sharing a hotel room with us on this
trip. Seeing the Biscuits always goes way beyond a simple concert;
after you’ve been around for a while, a Biscuits show
begins to feel like a giant party with all of your closest friends
with your favorite house band throwing down some evil dance
music.
Are we there yet?
The trip, much like Christmas, came up way too fast, and before
I knew it we were already crossing the very boring states of
Indiana and Ohio. Having learned from previous trips, we left
a day earlier on this tour and stayed in a roach-trap motel
once we got out of Ohio – the general consensus of the
car was to give as little of our money as possible to “red
states,” especially the ones that may have been deemed
as such by shady voting tactics. With a good night of rest in
our system, we hit the road by 10 a.m. on December 27, no more
than six hours away from Albany, NY. Everyone in the car still
seemed fresh and generally excited for the shows.
Day 1: Albany. We’re in…Albany.
The Ramada Inn served as home once we arrived in Albany; we
met up with Scott, who had flown from Colorado and already checked
in for us. As pre-show hunger set in, we ordered Chinese takeout,
which, when you’re on the road for a concert, is semi-daring
to consume. The risk paid off though, and we packed up and drove
to the Palace Theater for the first of five Disco Biscuits shows.
That very routine – travel, check-in, food, relax, then
show – would be our schedule for the next five days. Boston,
Philadelphia, New York City…it’s certainly a different
way to travel; not really seeing the normal tourist traps, almost
living nocturnally (we’d usually hit the sack by 4 a.m.
only to rise by checkout times of 10 or 11 a.m.), and revolving
our entire itinerary around what time the nights show started
and how long it took to get to the concert.
The venue in Albany was almost too nice for a Biscuits show;
velvet seats and no mixed liquor at the makeshift bars –
only beer and wine. However, the show was enough to get us intoxicated;
with a nonstop second set consisting of only three songs that
clocked in at just under an hour, we all knew it was time to
buckle our safety belts and enjoy the ride.
Pros: Great show, cool venue, and it felt nice
to finally be “on the run.” We re-met up with tons
of familiar faces, and feeling the buzz of Disco Biscuits excitement
in the air made me glad to be aboard.
Cons: Weird hotel, cooooold weather, lots of
snow and overall, there isn’t a whole lot worth seeing
in Albany.
Day 2: Beantown.
The drive to Boston was smooth sailing and very scenic as we
shot straight through the Berkshire Mountains in western Massachusetts.
Our hotel, a Howard Johnson this time around, overlooked the
opposite side of Fenway’s legendary Green Monster. With
a quick trip around the perimeter of the ballpark and a stop
at a souvenir store and brewery for a beer and dinner, we returned
to the hotel for pre-show rituals before walking over.
Our sightseeing in Boston was extremely limited, but since our
hotel was on the same block as Fenway, we got to see at least
one cool landmark in Boston. Touring is all about catching what
you can – the more effort you exert in seeing the city’s
sights, the less energy you have later to enjoy the concert.
The Boston show, for me, was a bit of a letdown. The venue,
called The Avalon, greeted us with unfriendly security guards
and a long line to get in. The inside was packed to the gills,
not allowing much room for dancing, or even comfortable standing.
When the 2 a.m. curfew rolled around, I was happy to hightail
it back to our hotel and call it a night. Philadelphia, after
all, would be our playground for the next two days.
Pros: My first time in Boston…and first
non-fast food, sit-down meal in three days! We had to smile
when our waiter asked us if we wanted more “watahs,”
and it sure was cool walking around Fenway, especially after
the Sox’ miraculous World Series trip this year.
Cons: I’m from Wisconsin and still thought
it was cold in Boston. Does any food place stay open after 2:00
a.m. on the east coast? The venue was cramped, drinks were righteously
expensive, and we had a really, really long drive to Philly
the next day, which would take us right through New York City
and onto the famous Jersey Turnpike. We also got lost on the
way out of town. Ever hear of street signs and arrows, Boston?
Day 3/Day 4: Illadelph.
As feared, the drive from Boston to Philadelphia was horrendous.
With construction in Connecticut, vehicle gridlock in Queens
and inexplicable backups on the Jersey Turnpike, it took us
nearly seven hours to catch a glimpse of the Philly skyline.
(“But it looks so close in the atlas!”) Philadelphia
always felt like home on a Biscuits trip, and we were now only
a few miles from our home base for the next two days.
Our hotel, The Wyndham, was located downtown amidst the Philly
city life, and within walking distance of China Town, Reading
Terminal Market, and the Philadelphia Art Museum, also known
as “The Rocky Steps.” Rest was crucial in Philly,
so we didn’t get to see as much as we wanted to. We were
halfway into the tour and certainly didn’t want to get
burnt out at this point. After a walk here and a cheesesteak
there, we settled back into our hotel room for our traditional
episode of The Simpsons before catching a cab to the Electric
Factory, where the Biscuits would be playing.
The two Philadelphia shows were nothing short of spectacular,
with crowd energy through the roof, and the band replying to
the energy through their instruments.
Pros: I love Philadelphia. We finally encountered
a heat wave, 30s and 40s! I could never eat too many cheesesteaks
(with onions and pepper jack cheese). And, most importantly,
some wickedly fun shows with all of the usual suspects in the
house – and the band played a few rarities like “Pat
& Dex,” “Eulogy” and “Mr. Don”
alongside a few staples like “Mindless Dribble,”
“Above the Waves” and “Basis For a Day”.
Cons: The all-night after party at Emerald
City after the first night’s show was kind of a bust…although
the hip-hop room was bumpin’. We missed out on seeing
a few places around town (uh, Real World house on Arch St. anyone?),
but that’s how it goes when traveling with this band.
Day 5: N-Y-C.
I awoke the morning of New Year’s Eve anxious as all hell.
I had never driven in the big city before, and today was not
the day I wanted to give it my first try. However, with a fully
competent sidekick riding shotgun, we emerged from the Lincoln
Tunnel into to horizon of skyscrapers, and a sea of cars, people
and electricity in New York City on Dick Clark’s favorite
holiday.
Very surprisingly, we flawlessly navigated to our hotel, “The
W,” which happened to be a few blocks from NBC Studios
and the illustrious Radio City Music Hall. With nary a snag,
we rolled up to our hotel and were immediately greeted by valet
parking.
With my sad car (at least compared to the Escalades and Limos
surrounding the block) taken care of, we checked in and routed
our bags up to our room courtesy of the bellhop. We settled
into our luxurious hotel room with nine, count ‘em, nine
others. It would definitely be a tight fit, but with hotel rooms
in the city approaching $400 and a limited budget, the tight
squeeze was necessary. Plus, this gave us more incentive to
get out and see the city.
We walked around with rubbernecks like the tourists that we
were, peering up to the top of skyscrapers and monumental buildings
that, prior to this, we had only seen on television. With what
was certain to be a long night ahead of us, we grabbed a bite
to eat, along with a few cocktails at a T.G.I. Friday’s
in Manhattan, and then returned back to our hotel to prepare
for the walk to the show. We attempted to gain entry to Times
Square, but as the night sky grew darker, oodles of people crowded
the area, and we decided to call it quits before getting trapped
in the tsunami of people heading toward the silly little green
crystal ball that was to drop at midnight.
This show was intense and certainly the best of the five; a
sequence of the Biscuits’ heavy-hitting songs, “Crickets”
which morphed the end of “Save the Robots” played
as a countdown to the end of 2004, and the ending of Philadelphia’s
“Mindless Dribble” into “Helicopters,”
complete with “Happy New Year!” lyrics served as
the Biscuits’ first tunes in 2005. The show let out at
3:00 a.m. and we wandered the fifteen or twenty-five blocks
back to our pimp-ass hotel.
Pros: You haven’t felt a city breathe
until you’ve been to New York City on New Year’s
Eve. Finally, a city with a restaurant open after the show lets
out! Sbarro pizza never tasted so good. Our hotel, that cool
valet parking guy, meeting up with tons of friends on New Year’s
Eve, this was surely a fun night.
Cons: Everything is expensive and crazy, and
there were people everywhere, which was all to be expected.
Some of us began to appear a bit worn out and tired of the trip,
and one of the lows of the trip is always waking up the day
after the last show with 1,200 miles to drive to your own bed
with normal life and work looming a few days in the future.
The trip totaled nearly 2,500 miles and four major cities, featured
zero fender benders, zero reports of car sickness, zero fights
(at least serious ones), zero lost credit cards, zero maxed-out
credit cards, only two emergency pit-stops, and four content
individuals at the end of it all; that’s what I’d
call another successful encounter with The Disco Biscuits. |
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