The Disco Biscuits at Irving Plaza

Jon Gutwillig

The Disco Biscuits formed as a jam band at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia in 1995. The band is known for playing long sets in which songs segue into each other and sometimes even playing its songs backwards, in styles referred to as “inverted” and “dyslexic.” The band consists of guitarist Jon Gutwillig, keyboardist Aron Magner, bassist Marc Brownstein and drummer Allen Aucoin. The band's most recent album is 2011's Otherwise Law Abiding Citizens.

Normally a headliner at larger venues and festivals, the Disco Biscuits returned to the more intimate Irving Plaza for the first time in over a decade. The first night of a three-night run tonight, the band performed two sets for a total of more than three hours onstage. From beginning to end, the set was uptempo, borrowing imaginatively from a heritage of experimentation that traces back to the Grateful Dead and Frank Zappa and to free-form electronic jazz improvisations. Amid a laser light show projected into the audience, with song flowing into song and only a small amount of vocals, the grooves were hypnotic and the musicianship of the compositions was stellar.

Visit the Disco Biscuits at www.discobiscuits.com.