While a quarter of the Washington University student body was watching piano man Ben Folds at the pageant Sunday night, a lesser known but equally phenomenal performance was being put on by the Disco Biscuits across town. On the last night of their six and a half week tour, the Disco Biscuits expelled three hours of nonstop energy before a small but fully charged crowd at the Galaxy.
They trooped onto the stage looking tired and possibly under the influence of drugs, but to cheers all around nevertheless. Sunday night’s show was not on the original tour schedule, but the band added the date because it happened to be the 21st birthday of Lisa, one of their long-time die-hard fans. The Biscuits opened with “Trooper McCue,” and patiently proceeded to build a mild, major-key groove to start the party. It wasn’t long before the band gained their trademark momentum and volume, swelling to a sound of epic proportions.
At the height of their groove, the Biscuits segued perfectly into a rocked out version of Pink Floyd’s “Run Like Hell.” They continued to jam for the next hour without as little as a drum break, limitlessly blending musical genres. Techno dance beats with electric keyboards were played behind rock bass and guitar, effecting endless improvisational bliss. Disco Biscuits’ broad range of musical influences, from hard rock to punk to electronica to techno, made for a potent display of jam-rock at its finest.
The members of the band played excellently and seamlessly together, and created a kind of universal consciousness through their instruments. Guitarist Jon “The Barber” Gutwillig showed a range of tonal styles, standing still for softer solos but often cradling the guitar with a passionate, hard rocking flair. His unkempt hair flopped in his face while his fingers expertly meandered across the neck of the guitar. He clearly made use of his wide range of effects pedals, layering guitar loops behind heavy distortion, and then reversing the course of songs with spacey phaser and synth effects. Gutwillig was best accompanied by the dynamic playing of Aron “Mags” Magner on his five keyboards. Magner’s touch served well to fill out the sound of the band, adding computer-like beeps and airy chords to fit the mix. A gritty figure with endless energy, drummer Sam Altman somehow managed not to drop the beat in three hours of straight sixteenth notes.
Despite his sometimes bombastic bass patterns, Marc Brownstein at times just couldn’t keep up with the rest of the band in both time and creativity. As the powerful force of the rhythm section, Brownstein did little to take new turns or change the tastes of long grooves. It seemed that he stuck too long to simple bass patterns when the song called for variation. He was, however, the best entertainer of the group, playing to the crowd with his energy and antics, innately knowing at just what moment the group should serve up its trademark “Bisco” sound – a musical intensity so resplendent it is almost orgasmic.
Staying too long on grooves did, at times, seem to bore the crowd, especially when the Disco Biscuits ventured into the experimental and weird. Two chord jams and repetitive rhythms overstayed their welcome and hampered the band’s improvisational abilities. However, most songs grew as the beat progressed and their danceable factor increased. The final song of the night completed the earlier jam on “Run Like Hell,” and fit the same model; the noise and tonal frequencies seemed to exceed the threshold of normal humans, and the last ten minutes of the song climaxed in euphoria.
The Disco Biscuits should not be confused with 70s dance pop because of their name. What occurred Sunday night at the Galaxy was an excellent display of why jam bands are among the best musicians of any genre: they manage to commingle musical styles while improvising at a level on par with great jazz talent. There is a reason why The Village Voice calls the Disco Biscuits “the best live band in America.” It’s an arguable laurel, but the Biscuits just might deserve it.

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