Last weekend, a small thousand or so diehards of the convened to attend the first ever Biscoland, a two-night festival event hosted by longtime scene luminaries The Disco Biscuits. Held in the lush secluded space in Lafayette area NY known as Wonderland Forest, The Disco Biscuits were joined by a collective of artists such as Emancipator, Opiuo, Maddy O’Neal, and bands like The Floozies, Lotus, Papadosio, and more.
Scroll the comment threads of Disco Biscuits social media fan pages from over the past week, and you’d find a resolute consensus among fans that Wonderland, in terms of locale, logisitics, and layout ranked up as one of the most favorites weekend destinations the band has hosted thus far. This speaks impressively for an event making its debut, and no doubt bodes well for the prospect of future Biscoland and perhaps other related events.
Biscuits also fans have been agreeing over high praise of The Biscuits four headlining sets across the weekend, with a nod towards night two being one of the best the band has performed all year. At the apex of Saturday evening, near the end of the first ever Wonderland, the jamtronica foursome played a celebratory segment of “Home Again” sandwiched around their classic jam “Kitchen Mitts.”
Lotus rocked both nights of Biscoland with two main stage sets, and did so in total pocket, delivering air-tight, groovy jams end to end. Night one was capped off with a breezy, rocking take on “Tip Of The Tongue,” while night two saw saw some cool offerings like a cover on Yeah Yeah Yeah’s “Heads Will Roll.” This was all coronated with a special collaboration Saturday night, when Disco Biscuits father figure Jon Gutwillig joined the band for two Lotus originals. The guitar magic between Gutwillig and Lotus lead Tim Palmieri on “Juggernaut” was worth the price of festival admission alone.
Palmieri himself made some sit-on magic over the weekend when he was inited to jam with his Connecticut contemporaries Eggy. Palmieri and the four-piece burned their way through a jubilant version of Paul Simon’s “You Can Call Me Al,” making for one of the most fun moments of the weekend. On a more quizzical note, Eggy’s second of two performances to open the main stage Saturday afternoon was hampered by a water-soaked field, and a delay to their start time. Yet this was accompanied by an anxiously eager crowd amassing at the gates. The band sound-checked to an empty venue, and the fans danced behind the security gates until they were let in.
The rain was indeed a constant throughout the weekend, yet it never hampered Wonderland’s musical plans. At the storm’s most volatile moment, though, The Disco Biscuits burned their way through an energetic and exciting take on “Space Train,” and with the crowd dancing with abandon in the mud the combined results created a memorable experience for the scene’s history books.
When the rain did clear, a pristine Saturday morning was made extra special with a set from Spaga, the jazz fusion side project of keyboardist Aron Magner. Billed as Spaga Plays Dead, one of the highlights here was a brilliantly, uniquely funky take on “Friend Of The Devil.”
For two quick days, Wonderland on its first ever go around was an all around musical success, presenting a high handful of great sets from jambands and electronic producers alike. The Floozies fed the forest with their immaculate and unapologetic party funk vibes, while late-nighters like Sunsquabi and Papadosio dug deep into the more introspective side of jamtronica.
Check out a gallery of images from the first ever Biscoland below.
