Review: the Disco Biscuits @ HOB – Boston
The Disco Biscuits @ House of Blues – Boston March 19
Disco Biscuits fans went into last Friday’s show in Boston with mixed feelings: it had been announced earlier that day that Jon Gutwillig (or “The Barber” as he’s commonly called) injured his wrist in an accident after the previous night’s show. Instead of canceling the show, the Biscuits decided to treat fans to a free evening – offering reimbursements for purchased tickets – full of “surprise guests.” After an opening set from The Indobox, an impatient audience chanting “Bisco” brought the band out, minus Barber. Bassist Marc Brownstein confirmed Barber’s absence, and introduced the new three-piece version of the band as The Triscuits. Without any hesitation, the band kicked into a straightforward and unadorned Oname Wa.
The first guest to fill Barber’s position came in after the first song – Chris Michetti, Burlington guitarist for the band RAQ and a friend of the band, got the call earlier that day and spent “seven hours living and breathing Biscuits.” Brownstein even joked that Michetti “knows the songs better than me.” Michetti punctuated a version of Park Avenue with hits from his Whammy pedal, but his playing was decidely low in the mix. Watching keyboardist Aron Magner for cues, Michetti got through the next few songs comfortably. His playing was especially good on a track from the recently released album Planet Anthem called Uber Glue, which evolved out of an upbeat and well-received Tricycle.
Even though it seemed like the band was keeping things a little simpler than usual, there was still some fantastic improvisation, and room for Michetti to explore. As the first set went on, the dancing crowd seemed to have forgotten Barber’s injury. The Indobox’s guitarist Joey Zarick (a local Berklee-grad) also took the challenge of learning a couple Biscuits tunes. He came on for set closing Helicopters, which segued into a subdued Gangster. Zarick was ready to bring the band back into Helicopters for the finale. Not only did he take on guitar duties (along with Michetti, who remained on stage), but he also took care of Barber’s vocals, much to the delight of the crowd. READ ON for more on the Biscuits in Boston…
[Michetti]
A satiating first set foreshadowed good things for the rest of the night, and Michetti and Zarick were doing the best they could to fill in. Though, strangely, an extra-long setbreak left fans anxious and hungry for more music. Perhaps the band was just teaching Michetti and Zarick and song backstage – perhaps the band was preparing for a completely new surprise for the second set – the audience wasn’t really sure what was going on. After what seemed like an eternity, the house lights went on, signaling the end of the show. The Indobox’s drummer announced that the band had been having “technical difficulties” that would prevent them from continuing – the second set was canceled.
Without hesitation, angry fans began to boo and curse. In a matter of seconds, people began to hurl beer and water bottles at the stage, aiming for the instruments and the bearer of bad news. Stagehands rushed to protect the equipment with tarps, but this only encouraged more projectiles.
Glasses, hats, and more bottles were launched on stage. The mass hysteria resulted in a sea of middle fingers, louder booing, and a small minority of accepting fans. At last, Brownstein came out on stage to try and calm the audience down – the second-set-deprived fans even had the nerve to hurl a couple bottles at him. A Boston Herald article details the reason for fire officials shutting down the show as “they found clubgoers clogging exits and trash barrels and beer kegs impeding fire escapes.” According to the article, this is the second time the House of Blues Boston has been cited and closed for these infractions.
While it wasn’t the best night for The Disco Biscuits, we’ll soon see how the band carries on while Barber’s wrist is healing. Though the band has postponed the show the night after Boston in Montclair, they’ve decided to perform at the Ultra Music Festival in Miami and at a Tractorbeam gig the same night, no word yet on who will play guitar at those shows.
Disco Biscuits
March 19, 2010
House of Blues
Boston, MASet 1: Oname Wa, Park Avenue^, Orch Theme^, Tricycle^ > Uber Glue^, Mirrors^, Helicopters^^ > Gangster^^ > Helicopters^^
Set Two: Show Canceled due to “technical difficulties”
Without Jon Gutwillig
^ – w/ Chris Michetti on guitar, ^^ – w/ Michetti and Joey Zarick
Wow…Bisco fans suck even more than the band do!
the people who suck are those ignorant enough to say another band “sucks”.
But yea, that is pretty pathetic on the part of the fans.