(above) Greg Gillis of Girl Talk mashes it up on the second stage
Camp Bisco VI
August 16th, 2007
Mariaville, New York
Indian Lookout Country Club
Please click on photos for enlargements.
All photographs © 2007 Jason Kaczorowski
There was an almost eerie silence to Saturday morning. At first I assumed it was folks still sleeping in from last night's late night (
early morning)
Future Rock set on the second stage that featured the band rocking out in NASA space suits. As I pulled on a fresh pair of socks and braved the crisp morning air outside my tent I was instantly greeted with the devastation that had set in from last night's storms. As I wandered further and got closer to the stage I noticed one of the two stage-flanking banners had been completely ripped from the poles by the mighty gusts. I overheard a crew member commenting how several people were treated for impalements caused by flying debris during the storm. Apparently a tornado had touched down only 10 miles from the concert grounds the night prior and yet thankfully avoided the festival.
Twisted Easy-Up tents sat mangled with their metal legs folded like some strange erector set configuration among the garbage and debris left by late night partiers and the storm. I was hoping today would not bring a final round of bad weather on the last day of the event. Thankfully, aside from mild day temperatures in the 60’s followed by lows that evening in the 40's - even dropping before sunrise to
37 degrees - the weather mostly cooperated to concertgoers' advantage.
The Breakfast opened things up on the main stage from 12:30-1:30pm. Following their set I made my way over the VIP lounge and indulged in a complimentary massage as
Benzos performed the main stage sandwiched between
Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad and
The Afromotive on the side stage.
I snatched my gear back up and headed back to the main stage to catch
Bustle In Your Hedgerow – the supergroup that loves to cover Led Zeppelin comprised of Joe Russo from the
Benevento/Russo Duo,
Rana's Scott Metzger, bassist Dave Dreiwitz from
Ween and Jamie Shields from
The New Deal.
I stuck around to shoot a little bit of
Lyrics Born and
Sound Tribe Sector 9’s sets before bouncing over to the second stage to catch music producer and mash-up D.J. Gregg Gillis’ project,
Girl Talk.
After hearing the folks camped next to us rave about getting down to
Girl Talk wherever they go and having listened to a few choice cuts in their car, I was eager to usher in a live performance. Gillis doesn’t disappoint, giving it his all, from tearing his clothes off to inviting various members of his audience up on stage to dance with him. His party-obsessed cult following started 5 years ago with Gillis ripping apart mainstream music using digital signal processing (DSP) and re-piecing various songs back together into glitchy, avant-garde renditions of pop music. This cut-and-paste train wreck style is what comprises Girl Talk's debut release
Secret Diary (Illegal Art, 2002). He developed the initial incarnation of his self-proclaimed "over the top" live show during this era, complete with synchronized dance squads, outfit changes (or lack thereof), with plenty of crowd interaction and participation.
The sun had started to set by the end of Girl Talk and I had already begun making my way back to shoot the final two sets of the weekend by the Disco Biscuits on the main stage.
Orchard Lounge spun during set break and followed up with a late night, festival closing set which also featured
Psylab and
The Join on the second stage but as an ambulance made its way onto the concert field to cart away an over-indulging fan, I decided to make my way onto the midway, find some coffee and start preparing to pack up for our early morning departure back to reality.
The Disco Biscuits final two sets featured:
Set I: 10 Ton Foot, Astronaut > Munchkin Invasion* > Astronaut, Story Of The World**, Take A Bow***
Set II: Caterpillar > Cyclone > Caterpillar, Pilin' It High****, Papercut***** > Sound One
Encore: I Wanna Be Sedated****** > Digital Buddha
* inverted
** preceded by "Strawberry Girl" fake-out
*** 1st time played (Muse); with Tom Hamilton (Brothers Past) on vocals
**** Perfume version; with Johnny Rabb (BioDiesel) on drums
***** 1st time played
****** Ramones cover; 2nd time played
My old friend from catching Phish shows,Jim Pollock helps the U.S.T.O.R.M. foundation by
Shout outs to my friends at www.MIDWESTpeeps.com
"Doing it all for the kids!"
Kids from the Chicago Neighborhood Boys and Girls Club
