Phishing for Biscuits: A Live Experience

As The Disco Biscuits continue adding dates to their immense fall tour and Phish continues to prepare for their first multi-day festival in a half decade, it seems like a good opportunity to briefly shift the focus away from the current events surrounding these two groups in order to describe some of the unique performance tactics the groups utilize when playing live.

            Referencing historic events like rock and roll originator Little Richard swinging from an 100 foot rope over a Memphis stage to The Who’s Keith Moon exploding his drum set on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, Phish and The Disco Biscuits have adopted the concept that their music is as much about the stage show as the music proper. Accordingly, while skeptics may question why fans would go to such trouble to see the same group play similar material night after night, it is because the groups have set a precedent of creating one-of-a-kind live experiences rather than just concerts.

            For example, during the final late-night set of Phish’s third multi-day festival called Lemonwheel, guitarist Trey Anastasio lit a fuse that traveled from the stage to the fence bordering the festival, and ignited an enormous model elephant into an array of fire and water works while the group played a cover of 20^th century composer, Henry Mancini’s “Baby Elephant Walk.” At another Phish event, the It festival, the group awoke the festival goers with an unannounced, spacey, ambient set atop an air traffic control tower that began at 2:30 am. Phish is also well known for their tendency to switch instruments mid-performance, and using seemingly non-musical household items like Jon Fishman’s vacuum cleaner in a select few of their live shows. Such unique performance methods drew a massive crowd of 85,000 eager fans to the 5^th Phish festival, Big Cypress, held in Southern Florida on the eve of the new millennium.

            Following the example of their predecessors, The Disco Biscuits have also integrated theatrical means into their shows to create an experience for their audience. For example, at this past summer’s Camp Bisco, a multi-day festival organized by The Disco Biscuits, the group entered the stage as alter ego “The Perfume,” a side project in which the members perform Disco Biscuits songs in non-traditional ways. The resulting performance included a hip-hop version of their song “M.E.M.P.H.I.S” and a calypso version of song “Once the Fiddler Paid.” In addition, at a performance at New Jersey’s Starland Ballroom in February 2008, guitarist Jon Gutwillig paid homage to the destructive tendencies of ‘60s rockers like Pete Townshend and Jimi Hendrix when he demolished his guitar in front of the sold out crowd.

            As you can see, the two groups see their job as not only playing their instruments, but also creating an environment of fun and surprise throughout the performance. Consequently, Phish and The Disco Biscuits have cemented a reputation of crowd-pleasing shows that not only illustrate great musical virtuosity but also constantly keep audiences wondering what’s to come next.