8/5/70 Golden Hall Community Concourse, San Diego, CA
check out the intimate recording here
This is one that somehow slipped through the cracks for me. 1970 has reigned for a long time as my favorite year, with the Evening with the Grateful Dead Format shows being my favorite. In these performances, the Dead would come out for an acoustic set, followed by a set from the New Riders of the Purple Sage with Jerry Garcia on pedal steel guitar. The Grateful Dead would then come out for a set or two of electric music. There was cross-pollination within the sets, with the New Rider's sitting in with the Dead and vice versa.
This is a first acoustic set only recording. Someone plays Mandolin sweetly throughout. While Grateful Dead archivist Dick Latvala notes in 1978 its Gracia, its most likely David Nelson, with an outside chance its David Grisman. The Grateful Dead play a few more obscure covers than usual including Tell it to Me, Drink up and Go Home and A Voice from On High. As much as I cherish some of the primitive audience recordings from 1970, this soundboard recording is lovely, with all instruments clearly audible. Dick calls this his favorite of the 1970 acoustic sets in his
handwritten notes for this recording.
Dick Latvala
Iread a bunch of good interviews with Dick on his journey into the Dead and etc. It seems like he did a good amount of press in the infancy of his Dick Pick's series. You get a pretty good sense of the guy in his interviews. A head first and an inside guy only after prolonged hazing and grunt work.
Nicholas Merriweather's extensive post on Dead.net from the Documenting the Dead section gives a nice overview of the Dick Latvala Collection in the Grateful Dead Archive at UC Santa Cruz. Some great insight and some wonderful images, a few of which I'll share below.
For a deeper, extensively researched biography, Dead Essays has an incredible post. Essential Dead history reading in there. His most tangible legacy is the Dick's Picks live release series. The list from Dead sources is very informative with clickable links giving more details for each release. A little less tangible but even more important is the steady stream of dead tapes that found their way into general rotation once he had access to the vault.
I groggily pressed play on a recording labelled 1979 and just superimposed Brent's playing for the first 2-3 songs until I noticed Donna Jean's voice on a cowboy song. I forget how well Kieth plays on he and Donna's final tour with the Dead. The writing is on the wall as to their departure. It feels like they are given a shot at leaving a nice legacy which I think they do quite well. Kieth's playing is the most present in a year and a half and both he and Donna's hearts are clearly in it. The first set is played exceptionally well and gets hotter with every tune. Donna does 'From the Heart of Me', a powerful performance looked at through the lens of legacy building. Ramble on Rose, Jack Straw>Deal is absolute fire. On Jack Straw Bobby sings "We used to play for acid, now we play for Clive" and I almost spit my coffee all over my windshield. I remember reading he did this a few times but didn't know it was coming here. They had recently entered into a recording contract with Arista's Clive Davis.
Set two is quite the rocker with some really nice segues and improv. The Minglewood>Ship of Fools pairing is really interesting and well executed. There's some really priceless banter with everyone announcing it was someone's birthday on stage. You can tell they're having a blast. The rest of the set is a beast of a segue I'll leave up to you to enjoy interpretation free. I love 1979 audience recordings and this one is quite a peach.
Golden Road I've been reading the issues of Blair Jackson and Regan McMahon's Golden Road fanzine on GDAO and have found it really fun and informative. A great look at the fanbase in the 80's>early 90's and some wonderful images that haven't really circulated much online. I pulled a few here from the spring 85 issue:
Gorgeous Stanley Mouse Cover. He sold t shirts of this design
80's Donna is the truth
I alsowanted to once again plug Blair and David Gans beautiful This is all a Dream we Dreamed: An Oral History of the Grateful Dead. Despite thinking I knew the story of the Grateful Dead pretty well, I learned new things and found tons of quotes I'd never read before. The oral history style telling of the history in the participants own voices is a really intimate way to do it. Grab a copy here.
Holly Bowling at the Whisper Dome 3/24/17 recording 10/21/17 recording
This past year I got to watch Holly Bowling perform twice in a really special room. For those who haven't checked her out yet she plays solo piano (no vocals) versions of Phish and Grateful Dead songs. She improvises artfully and has done several meticulous transcriptions/arrangements of specific jams, like Phish's Tahoe Tweezer. The Whisper Dome is the performance moniker for the Schenectady Unitarian Univeralist Church in the GE Realty plot. This is a very unique setting for live music in a very interesting neighborhood.
In a fascinating setting for live music, Holly cast a spell over the attendees at both performances. In March she played without amplification, letting the special acoustics of the room carry the sound to our ears and souls. She flitted effortlessly between Phish and Dead tunes while Jeff Bowling utilized the unique architecture of the room to project a mesmerizing light show. Just thinking of the Sleep opener followed by Crazy Fingers sends shivers down my spine.
For her October Performance Jeff was able to use more of the dome for his projections so the show was even more immersive. I found myself leaning waaaaay back in the padded bench, just sinking into the music. While I loved hearing her version of Divided Sky for the first time, the first set highlight for me was the Holly Bowling original Proxima B. It was captivating and I hope she continues to write original material.
The second set was one massive, fluid 75 minute segue. Prince Caspian>Terrapin Station Suite>Days Between>Terrapin Station Suite>Days Between. For you biscuits fans out there, it was a palindrome set following the format A>B>C>B>A. It was incredible to hear one person carry the entirety of improvisation for a piece of music like this. There is truly no room to fall on your face and she was consistently creative, driving, dynamic and utterly engrossing. I realized at one point that the audience was so quiet, that everyone around me had sort of unconsciously synced up their breathing so that silence could exist more fully in between breaths. To take in the music being performed for us. You don't get a lot of moments like that in the 21st century.
I listened to the recording one morning in early November, dropping Hunter off at daycare. As we walked to his building, we watched the first snows of the winter fall. Hunter was starting to pick up words and concepts on a bigger scale all of a sudden. Talking about and experiencing the snow with him was really beautiful. Hearing him exclaim excitedly "snow!" The set got to the segue between Terrapin Station and Days Between as writhing bands of snowflakes were being shuffled around the surface of Western Ave. It reminded me of watching those same bands of dancing, blowing snow whispering across a snowy mountain side while hiking or snowboarding on joyous winter days. I had to sit in my car until The music had completely morphed from Terrapin into Days before starting my morning. Its a very beautiful moment of music.The close of the set, with themes from throughout the previous hour interwoven, was even more deeply moving, triumphant and captivating.
After both performances Holly was totally accessible, signing merchandise and chatting with the audience until everyone had wandered off. Another relative rarity these days. Special Thanks to Randy Kramer Pierce for the pictures and juice box sips!
This is a hot hot hot show and the other two nights of the run are hot too! This recording is also quite excellent which helps sell the whole package as well. Every individual instrument and voice shine through very clearly on the Jay Ashley remaster. Candyman and Masterpiece are terrific in the first set. The Maggie's Farm>Cumberland Blues is super hot close on the heels of the Dylan and the Dead Summer Tour. There's also plenty of meat to sink your teeth into in the second set sandwich, starting with Terrapin. The Terp itself is quite the beast. Plus there's very high quality video of the first set and more standard 80's footage of the second. Several tracks from the first set are included as the bonus footage on View From the Vault three, along with the Shoreline Ampitheater 6/16/90 show.
Over the course of 2002 I fell in love with the Disco Biscuits and chased their music up and down the eastern seaboard.I had a great crew of friends to adventure with including Ryan, Jen, Michael and Corey (what the Deal). The excitement from each show begat the next adventure. Set against the backdrop of the DC Sniper's active period and territory, we ventured down south for a performance that has gone down in Disco Biscuits history. While 10/04/02 stands out as a phenomenal show, one of the best of the year, 10/05/02 is one of the greatest performances (if not the greatest) the Biscuits ever wrestled from the spheres. The already phenomenal audience recording by John Maddigan got a Rich Steele remaster for the 15th anniversary and is an absolute joy to listen to. Listen here! I sat down with the tape approaching the fifteenth anniversary and was just as floored as that faithful night by every note of this show.
Set 1
The set start times for the weekend were 2:00AM for Friday night and 2:30AM for Saturday. Perfect really for the thing the Biscuits do. Well after Friday night, there was complaints from the community about the whole raging band and light show till sunrise thing. The Saturday sets were moved to a more community friendly midnight and shortened so the band ended up with slightly less than 3 hours. We were all bummed at the time but the time constraint is one of the main factors in why this show ended up being so special. No time to meander. All business. On the way to the wilderness stage, local law enforcement and their German Shepherds formed a gauntlet of paranoia that added another element to the energy that night. To my knowledge they were just there to let their presence be known and no one was hassled.
The sound is marvelous as the band launches into the opening
composition of Hot Air Balloon.
Magner’s sweeping synth part adds just the right amount of ethereal space
around a warm and tight Brownstein bassline. Each musician is crystal clear in
the mix. Whoever was doing the sound that night nailed the mix. The audience recording is
perfection as well.
They play with such taste and heart right from the jump.
Note the transition at 2:45 for chill-inducing perfection. Barber’s singing is
earnest, restrained and completely honest.
“just give me one more try to chase down my dreams before I am done.”
Is there a more perfect line to associate with the ethos
of this band? What it feels like to follow them? Magner’s piano playing is
absolutely masterful throughout the verses. Sammy picks up the pace perfectly
to get things moving for the ‘In a hot air balloon’ section. Barber and Brownstein
interweave some melodic lines that launch us into the jam around 6:30. So
tasteful.
The first jam theme of the night sets the tone: they arrive
at something that seems completely developed without any effort. It just flows
from them. Magner’s synth line defines this first jam and gives the structure
for more contrapuntal interplay from Barber and Brownstein. Barber plays
another fully conceived, gorgeous guitar line at 9:55 that creates inspiration
for movement the rest of the band follow along with.The rising pattern Brownstein develops during
the preceding jam is ready made support for this. Magner starts adding a piano
voice (while maintaining the synth line!) that foreshadows the direction the
jam will head in.
This piano part gradually breaks the rest of the band out of
that second major theme of the jam and really gets the transitional ball
rolling. At 13:11 Barber, out of nowhere once again pulls the most incredible
melody from the heart of the universe. Here to me is proof of musicians as a
conduit for the music. Somehow the stars aligned and the hearts and intentions
of the band were true enough that the signal of the universe is broadcast loud
and clear through these mortals.That we
have at least three distinct, completely improvised, perfectly developed classical
compositions take shape within the first jam of a show is……the reason we're here.
Barber kicks on a dirty effect and the melodic perfection dissolves
like a spider web in a fire. We head down a darker road. Still no less refined, balanced
or directed though, as the rest of the gang follow his lead into Astronaut.
This is some meat right here folks. Magner’s soaring synth
during the verse once again gives us a sweet moment before the darkness of the
chorus. Themes of light and dark always catch my ears and this Astronaut gives the
impression we’re in a hyper-sonic space ship, chasing the line of the setting sun around
the earth. Now we’re in the night, now it’s day time.
The instrumental bridge is perfectly executed. You can
actually default to that summation on any composition from the night. They hit
every composed part out of the park. Don’t dismiss this fact though, it’s critical aspect as to why this night is so special. Incredible jams and flawless execution of
composition is what makes this show stand head and shoulders above so many
others.
“Suspended in the air, don’t you feel better?”
Can you feel that? It’s tangible as they race back into the compositional launching off point for the next jam. Sammy drops into a four on
the floor beat at 5:45 that shows great promise for face melting. Bit by bit
the energy coming from each instrumentalist gets dark. Dark and tight.
Directed. Another critically important factor as to why 10/5/02 is so special
is how every jam has absolute direction. Nothing seems aimless or accidental. I
think if you played this music for an 18th century classical
composer they’d assume it was all composed.
Magner triggers something off at 8:30 that sounds like some
vast mechanical beast coming to life. The jam gets even darker. More menacing.
Barber starts throwing out a distorted riff on the turn-around and Sammy cues
some effortlessly tasteful e-drums. Brownstein’s bass tone is heavily
processed. This jam is over by 10:00 but it’s a definitive moment of the song
and of the night in my opinion. Sammy breaks the jam down and the monster that
arises a bit before 11:00 is enough to terrify any medieval villagers that may
have wandered out of the Spotsylvania County forest. Another Sammy breakdown at
13:00 functions to build the energy and tempo up another level. He’s a critical
element in this jam. They all are really and truly but I don’t want his efforts
to go unrecognized.
Barber and Brownstein slowly start injecting the astronaut
theme back into the jam but Sammy is not ready to give up. His steady rock
drumming is as powerful and potent as any drummer in the history of rock music
at this moment. Absolute Barber touchdown pass on the astronaut reentry.
I have to pause here.
This two-song segment is absolute perfection. Better than perfection.
Transcendent.
Bernstein and
Chasnoff is a welcome downshift in intensity. No dip in quality is evident
though. It's all money right from the first instrumental segment. Magner laces some hot fire
over a super tight band. An upbeat and funky theme is established around 3:00.
I’m going to go ahead and be a cliched biscuits fan and say it: blissco. I
ain’t lying though! Bouncy bass, lovely major key jamming with a tasteful
electric piano tone from Magner and a clean tone from Barber. Magner’s shift
over to what I’d call the ‘Story of the World’ synth tone starts steering the
band in a new direction.At 8:30 some
structure remains but we reach a minimal transitional moment with Brownstein
steering towards a darker space. Barber and Magner begin integrating riffs that
subtly build the tension of the jam. A key change just before 11:00 while still
holding onto the late phase B and C pattern. The tension is developed even
further. With a minute left it’s still unclear where they’re headed next. Effortless
peak>Aceetobee.
Great swagger on this drop as they confidently shuffle into
AC2B.
“One day your all locked up the next day your free”
Commentary? On the challenges of the artist? Tonight they’re
free. Last night too. Another welcomed dip in intensity with the jazzy
composition of this tune. Uh oh. The drop into the jam just shy of 3:00 is
massive, and pregnant with possibility. No rest for the tension-wracked. Barber
plays the lead then charges into yet another fully developed from the drop
segment of improvisation. This jam segment peaks with absolute fire at 7:00.
It’s time we address Barber. When he’s on. It’s everything. On this night, ‘On’
is the understatement of the century. He can truly do no wrong. Lets face it,
it’s a virtuoso performance from every single band member (and hundreds of fans
as well. We can’t forget their part in all of this) but you can’t help but be
floored by Mr. Jon Gutwillig. Especially on 10/5/02.
A new jam quickly rises from the ashes, forming around a
tight Magner synth line. Sammy deftly trounces us with his kick just before
11:00 for a couple bars, leaving us wanting more. Your standard unimaginative
biscuits critique from perhaps a fan of a different jam band is “untz untz
untz”, indicating a repetitive and unimaginative dance beat. On a night like
tonight, Sammy’s drumming is so varied and tasteful, you’d be hard pressed to
see him settle in a four and the floor (untzy)pattern for any amount of time.
Soaring synth
and melodic bass around 12:40 get momentum going towards somewhere else. Sammy
drops it out around 14:00 and Magner finds a lovely space for some atmospheric
scene painting before they all re-form and start building towards the Aceetobee
peak. They hit it with fiery restraint. While they fully play through the
theme, they aren’t done peaking this one at all. They stretch out in the chord
progression and get even more sparks of energy spitting off the machinery.
Barber plays with the line, plays all around the line then gives it to us
straight but not narrow. The resolution of AC2B gives my body a tangible
release as I’m listening at my work desk.
Set 2 A set break but damn is it a quick one! The band comes back on
stage to Barber’s comment “We didn’t cut anything out though, we just did it really
fast. Like a movie on fast forward” and a member of the audience shouts
“Astronaut again!” which I don’t entirely disagree with. Another shouted “Robots!”
To which the band complies.
The opening sectionSave The Robots is a pretty complicated piece of music. It’s very intricate
and not always easy to pull off. They execute it perfectly to start set 2. It has
the potency of Mindless Dribble or 7-11 to instantly electrify the audience to
start a set. It’s a clear gauntlet thrown to the audience to let them know this
is going to be some serious business. They are patient and masterful throughout
all of the written music and seem supremely comfortable and commanding entering
the jam. At around 6:30 Barber and Magner start putting together a nice
conversational riff. Brownstein starts expanded his element of the theme as
Barber throws some jazzy chords that quickly take on more of a rock tone. At
8:45 the momentum and intensity start picking up which brings us back to the
‘save the robots’ segment.
“Antennae haircut
Is really nothing
It frees your hands
For the panic button.
Enslave the robots
Like us in tribes
Build your igloo
In summer time.”
That is some wonderfully weird and biscuitsy material right there.
It’s always been a very compelling lyric to me and a great example of their
unique lyrical approach. John Perry Barlow for the digital era. Things get
noticeably darker as we enter the slingshot section of Robots. This piece of
music builds up a dark dissonant tension that releases oh so satisfyingly with
the Go!. I picture a slingshot at first but also picture the pinball launch
mechanism.
“They all make me daydream
Trade my peace for..
Day old armies save me
Take my piece and..
Go! Go! Go! Go!”
The Disco Biscuits did a series of fully improvised sets to
portions of movies earlier in their career. Their improvised set to Akira on
12/31/99 was the most perfect choice in my opinion. When I hear a biscuits jam
like the one that develops out of this Robots slingshot, I can’t help but
imagine some sort of futuristic anime chase through the neon lit streets of
some sort of Tokyo-like megacity.
At the start of the final Robots peak, I summarized this
version as solid but not particularly sparkly. As they really set to the work
of peaking the song, I completely changed my mind. All the potential energy not
immediately visible previously, manifests in this explosive peak. That Robots
was sick. Only standalone tune of the night. To confirm my impression, someone from the
audience yells “That was Sick!”.
The opening of the classical style prelude of The Very Moonis played so achingly
beautifully, I find myself tearing up a little with goosebumps shooting all over
15 years later listening on my headphones. Magner really sets the mood
beautifully, first with the heavenly choir synth then gorgeous and tasteful
electric piano. It’s a perfect nest for Barber to nurture one of the loveliest
classical-for-electric-guitar melodies ever written. The Very Moon is one of
the Disco Biscuits absolute finest pieces of music. This may well be one
of the definitive readings of it. I must turn it up a bit and simply take it
in.
Through with the songs structural elements, the music drifts
freely into a warm, articulate expansion on the theme. The four-way interaction
happening starting around 7:30 is a breathtaking example of completely open
group-think. Instead of dwelling on the perfection they’d just created, they use this moment of open connection and immediately begin taking things
somewhere else. Brownstein kicks on an effect and starts developing a catchy
bass theme that at first draws in Sammy. As Brownstein more fully commits to
it, the murmuration of birds Barber's part had become is drawn down to the power lines
and bare branches of this theme. Sammy drops the tempo down to a slow 4 on the
floor groove that creates an excellent space for all to improvise.
Musical magic starts at 12:45. Another time when they’re
locked in, rather than sticking with a perfect theme, they launch into space
and find another way to go. Movement and direction define the playing here. The
frailty of the improvisational space makes the key change around 14:00 so
powerful. This f$%king groove (15:00) is incredible. Desk dancing so hard right
now. The
contrast between this musical moment and how this piece started is
unbelievable. Here they lock in and stay put for a moment. Thank god. Powerful,
powerful playing. This is the kind of playing (17:00) that I don’t hear
anywhere else in the jam scene. Yes Magner, you folks are the punk band of the
jam world.
Just when it seems like they couldn’t go any harder they
start peaking the jam. That jam that felt like the most intense peak ever? Nah,
that was just the baseline. At the slightest referencing of the riff from
Barber, The band turns on a dime and drops Helicopters.
“Breathe free, fly high”
Understatement of the century. I had to learn Helicopters on
bass recently and it gives me a newfound appreciation for this song. It’s the most
complicated simple playing I’ve ever taken on. I honestly never got that close
to nailing it. Enough to get by but man it's some tricky playing. Ripping
through the composition at 200 mph, a dirty e-drum anchored jam quickly
develops and we’re back on the animated-future-city-motorcycle-chase. The
balance of moving towards developing new themes and committing fully to the
existing theme developed is such a crucial element in why this performance is
so incredible. They seem to do so effortlessly, with neither element suffering.
Intensity and momentum once again and we are clearly heading
somewhere else. But where? No signs yet with less than a minute left on tape.
Hints and whispers enter the musical conversation. Barber changes key and
Brownstein follows suit. The triumphant return of The Very Moon theme has me throwing an invisible hat in the air as
they calmly steer into the Very Moon funk. They don’t linger long before
starting to improvise. It almost seems as if improvising is compulsive on
10/5/02. Like they can’t help but create. I'm not complaining. I love the
space they find around 4:30. The sustained bass from Brownie. It gives a lovely
breath-catching opportunity for all before a savage drop into Shem-Rah Boo.
The actual song part again offers us a brief respite from
intensity while keeping it super tight and interesting. At 4:50 we hit another
one of those perfectly hatched improvisational themes that’s the hallmark of
this show. This is one of my favorites. The part Magner plays to lead it is so
infectious. Brownstein and Barber do a wonderful job supporting and
embellishing it. Sammy always knows how to steer the bus. He’s the Neil
Cassady of the organization. By 6:45 we are fully ‘in’ this theme. All 4 parts
are intricate, have little pieces we can take off the shelf and examine, and
drives the larger unit. There’s a little moment of shakiness at about 8:20 that
is so endearing in this performance. Its maybe the only time all weekend they
stutter or lose a step.Sure enough they
all double down their efforts and rage it even harder. More powerfully and with
total command of their instruments. This is the true beauty of improvisational
music on display. At 10:30 hid ya kids, hide ya wife, this peak is face-melting
everybody. After the peak they have infinite momentum and latch on to the theme
one more time but use it as a segue device to return to the completion of Helicopters.
The tension and release of that jam and the return of this
piece is monumental. So much energy built and released. I wish there was some
sort of gauge to measure something like that. Like study the pupil dilation
patterns of the audience or something. Hoots, hollers, a request for Run like
Hell, then a request for Basis.
They play Kitchen Mittsinstead. I
unabashedly love Kitchen Mitts. A Barber ballad, a real and honest to goodness
love song from a band that doesn’t do love songs. I suspect much of the reason
I love this song is its placement and performance on this particular night. Cementing it deep in my soul for all eternity.
“So sweet Georgia,
Why must I try?
When you like to rob and steal.
and all these people tell me to go find someone else,
when you never cut me a good deal.
So might I have to mention that we should blow them off ?
18 wheels and air ride .
Miles of paranoia, lunatics and jail,
And still we're having a good time.”
What could be more perfect after all that? After all those
nights with this band leading up to this night?They play a stunning and poignant version of this song. Even before
they reach the jam, an eerie tension colors the playing during the ‘just like
mine’ section. There’s a mournful yet driving quality to the instrumental build
towards the ‘na na’ section. The dark haunting beauty that exemplifies the
feeling of bisco. They peak nicely into the na’s and I think anyone would’ve
walked away after this Kitchen Mitts glowing and telling stories of this night for the rest of their lives. This is the
moment that this performance moves beyond legendary to become mythical. Barber
starts a spooky arpeggio that Brownstein finds a unique counter point to.
Magner has their backs with some warm synth sweeps.
Barber starts chugging a little bit but Sammy (channeling
Ron Tutt now) is holding back. Playing with tasteful restraint. Subtle kick
placement. A synth sweep ends at 1:40 just as Barber plays a choice lick. It’s
a perfect moment. Until Sammy drops the Kick at 2:20. Then we see what
perfection really is. The mood Magner sets is so special, so comforting. It
flavors the jam to its core. Barber starts leading the groove in an upward
gyre.
Now it suddenly becomes clear. The fog lifts and we can see all
the mountains around us in morning-sun-soaked splendor. They’re going to play Run Like Hell. THEY’RE GOING TO PLAY
RUN LIKE HELL!!!!! Not too quickly though boys. We all know where this is going but
let’s just savor it for a minute ok? Our night will soon be done but I don’t
want to let go. They comply and we all get to dance and high five and bang our
heads in the car for just a little bit longer. Pure triumphant touchdown Barber, unrelenting drive from Brownstein. It’s dirty, its spitting sparks
like a runaway train. It’s everything. With all their power, they actually
manage to do a big energy release at the end of the first chorus. Good. I need
to breathe. Being able to downshift like that without losing steam is pretty
incredible. Back into high gear verse 2. Another release as we enter some
improv.
More subtle perfection at 10:10. Every note of this show
demands your attention again and again. I don’t want to make this a Barton Hall 5/8/77 comparison but its goddamn Barton Hall 5/8/77. Or Veneta 8/27/72 or whatever is
THE Dead show for you. Directed and effortless ensemble jamming around 11:50
like this is the beginning of the show and not the end. Barber and Brownie
start pushing and pulling on a piece of the jam that quickly catches the full
band’s attention and starts to alter the
progress in a new direction. Expert Sammy drop at 14:15 that shifts the jam
into higher gear. Barber hints at a theme, Brownstein joins him, while Magner
holds down a rhythmic synth line that locks in with Sammy. Peak Peak Peak. One
more level up, till we can’t take it, then wooooosh drop back into the
composition. Spine rattling bass
from Brownstein to bid us goodnight.
In the writing of this piece I asked dear friends and fellow lovers of Bisco Jay and Michael to contribute there thoughts. Its interesting to see the themes we pick up on independently without discussing. First Jay Cowit:
My loyal partner in crime for Biscuits shows Michael Ogushwitz also had this to say and I think it wraps this all up perfectly:
I remember Hearing about haymaker during one of the other shows of
spring / summer 2002 and we all said "Spotsylvania? HELL NO!!"
fast forward to a week later and we're on our way to Haymaker.
Specifically
the part that stands out was Astronaut. All day I remember somebody
singing the chorus of astronaut (rather annoyingly, I might add)... Up
until that day, Astronaut was not a song that was on my radar (no pun
intended) but that changed that night... It stands out in my memory as
something magical... something that I had never experienced
musically... I will probably never be able to explain it but it was
like heroin... and I chased that dragon through the remainder of my time
seeing tDB. Never was the thrill of 'bisco' as potent as that night,
in that field, in the middle of Virginia, where we all said we weren't
going to be.
