Review: Camp Bisco VIII @ ILCC

With the main stage running behind Flying Lotus’s time seemed to be cut short but he did get out a MJ shout out with Love of my Life. Thursday night’s Bisco set was definitely a great start to the weekend and with the weather that had just rolled through Cyclone seemed entirely appropriate. There was also the first half Above the Waves in the Morph Dusseldorf sandwich. The music continued in the Tent however with Twisted Records taking over – including a rare live Shpongle set with both Simon Posford and Raja Ram appearing.

Friday morning started out beautifully with the classic psychedelic rock sounds of Dr.Dog, who – once they got the band’s official sixth member through security (the band’s gentle golden retriever) – started the main stage back up. Next up was K’naan whose mixture of rap and spoken word was extremely touching. He spoke about his life growing up in Somalia and his struggles to live among poverty and war.

Dr. Dog and K’naan

Younger Brother’s set was a slow start with technical difficulties and rain that just wouldn’t stay away. However, Brownie is always one to point out the positives: ”It gave everyone time to reach the stage” continuing that he was so excited to be part of Younger Brother as its “exactly what I want to hear”. The rain didn’t keep Nas down though yelling from the stage “F%CK IT, I call this good weather”. He started off with a few solo hits showing off his impeccable rhyming style before Damien Marley came out accompanied by the Rasta flag to show off some new tracks from their upcoming album Distant Relatives. The set mixed reggae beats with rap flows and included a sit in by K’naan.

If there is one word to sum up the Bisco’s sets on Friday it is WET. The night started off with some amazing 3D projections and continued to build into dark ominous jams as the rain came down harder and harder. The first set also included some surprise samples from the ’80s when the Biscuits worked elements of Simple Minds’ Don’t You (Forget About Me) in Minions. Chromeo came out for set break to play his mixed up tracks for those who were waiting it out in the field.

After some time (and a lot of action on stage wrapping equipment in plastic and trying to keep things dry) Brownie started the second set by rallying the dedicated fanbase, “you guys are the only people we would stand out here in the rain for” and then treated the assembled crowd to a new track from their much talked about new album (word is fall/ winter at the latest with a heavy tour to follow) and finished up the Above the Waves from the night before. As on Thursday night the night was far from over and with the rain slowed to a drizzle those who could bear the ankle deep mud in the Tent were treated to a hot set from STS9 until the sunrise.

As Brownie prophetized the sun finally shone through on Saturday. Telepath gave camp a worldly spin, with Indian, Afrobeat and Middle-eastern grooves which complemented the electronic sounds. But all eyes were on the main stage for the anticipated Tractorbeam vs The Perfume set, which started off with a tongue in cheek M.E.M.P.H.I.S free style rap ala ’80s rap videos.

Former Biscuits drummer Sammy Altman came out to play on Sound One – a tune he wrote for the Biscuits during his tenure in the band. The fun set gave a new spin on some old tDB songs including a calypso version of Once The Fiddler Played and a honky tonk take on Sound One. The boys seemed to really be having a lot of fun with this set and were all over the stage while the crowd went bezerk.

Saturday afternoon held plenty of great options, from the dueling drummers during Biodiesel with KJ Sawka, to a great sit in during the Break Science set. Brothers Past looked like they were having a lot of fun with their crew watching from side stage, smiling, and dancing along. Rick Lowenburg even had time to show off his head stand while Johnny Rabb (of BioDiesel) sat in.

With night falling and the final Bisco sets of the festival upon us, Frank Potter, ILCC owner, came onstage with his two sons thanking fans for coming back for yet another year and promised there would be more to come. The Disco Biscuits started out the evening sets with Sister Judy’s Soul Shack, a song which hasn’t been heard in over three years, as well as a Caterpillar that seemed to be missing the end jam high point. Even the omnipresent mud couldn’t keep spirits down with a set list filled with songs like Sabre Dance and Basis. The band finished their performance off in style with the kicking “doncore” The Very Moon > Mr. Don.

Later that night in the tent, DFA, i.e. James Murphy and the LCD Soundsystem crew, kicked off an amazing line up that Murphy curated. However, it was the secret word of mouth RV tent that kept it going until sunlight with sets by BioDiesel and Orchard Lounge.

Unfortunately what Camp adds in fun and excitement they seemed to lack in infrastructure. From the security guys walking around on Thursday during a serious lightning storm asking us to not touch the large poles holding up the tent, to the enormous mud pit in front of the main stage, and the river running through the tent stage, it seems that someone needs to take a closer look at what to do when things don’t go as planned. No one wants to think about all the “what ifs” but it seems that having a few bales of hay and a couple sheets of plywood on hand never hurt anyone and sometimes it can add the right touch to a wonderful weekend.

Setlists [via PT-Bisco]:

07/18/09 Indian Lookout Country Club, Mariaville, NY
Camp Bisco 8
other acts include STS9, Nas & Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley, Chromeo and Orchard Lounge
Set I: M.E.M.P.H.I.S.¹> Little Lai¹> M.E.M.P.H.I.S.¹> Rock Candy², Frog Legs³, Run Like Hell²> News From Nowhere⁴> Run Like Hell^{2 5}, Once The Fiddler Paid⁶, Sound One⁷
Set II: Sister Judy’s Soul Shack, Caves of the East> Park Avenue> Caterpillar> And The Ladies Were The Rest Of The Night⁸> Save The Robots⁹
Set III: Save The Robots⁹> Hope¹⁰> Pilin’ It High¹¹> Sabre Dance, Basis For A Day, Meditation> Hot Air Balloon¹²
Encore: The Very Moon> Mr. Don

¹ Perfume version (Hip-Hop style)
² Tractorbeam version
³ Perfume version (Devo style)
⁴ Perfume version (Techno style)
⁵ with “Technologic” (Daft Punk) jam
⁶ Perfume version (Calypso style)
⁷ Perfume version (Honky Tonk style); with Sam Altman on drums
⁸ inverted
⁹ dyslexic
¹⁰ unfinished; with KJ Sawka on drums
¹¹ Perfume version
¹² completes 7/17 version