The Disco Biscuits Open Port Chester Finale With Grateful Dead’s ‘Help/Slip/Franklin’s’

The Disco Biscuits brought their three-night run at The Capitol Theatre to a close on Saturday. The jamtronica act honored the venue’s long-standing history and ties to the Grateful Dead by opening their finale with the triumphant of “Help On The Way,” “Slipknot!” and “Franklin’s Tower.”

With guitarist Jon Gutwillig donning a Grateful Dead tie-dye shirt the Philadelphia-born band immediately dropped into the opening notes of “Help On The Way.” Over the course of the next half hour, the four-piece would work their way through the opening cuts from Blues For Allah putting their distinctive stamp on the classic trio, while never straying too far away from its structure.

The band’s last attempt on the entire suite of songs came back in 2015 when they teamed with Grateful Dead percussionists Mickey Hart and Bill Kruetzmann and Ghost Light’s Tom Hamilton, who sang lead at Bisco Inferno. The Disco Biscuits teamed with Hamilton again later that year at Camp Bisco XIII for just “Help On The Way” and “Slipknot!” Prior to those performances, you’d have to look all the way back to the foursome’s earliest days when “Help/Slip” was performed a handful of times in 1995.

The unfinished version of “Franklin’s Tower” worked its way into “Spraypaint” and the rarity “Sound One,” which played for just the eighth time since 2013. Setlist staple “Shem-Rah Boo” kicked off the final stretch of the opening frame with “Cyclone” and a return back to “Spraypaint” closing it out.

The Disco Biscuits second stanza was highlighted by a pair of lengthy seamless runs. A “Voices Insane” sandwich was tapped to open things up with an inverted “Shelby Rose” drop in the middle. “Little Shimmy In A Conga Line” kicked off the back half of the set. The old-school favorite would work its way into “Humuhumunukunukuapua’a” and the fifth ever version of “Miracles” before finishing off “Little Shimmy In A Conga Line.” The band offered up “Helicopters” as the encore to bring their Capitol Theatre stand to a close. Watch full show pro-shot video below:

Setlist (via Phantasy Tour)

Set I: Help On The Way> Slipknot!> Franklin’s Tower(1)> Spraypaint> Sound One, Shem-Rah Boo(1)> Cyclone> Spraypaint

Set II: Voices Insane> Shelby Rose(2)> Voices Insane, Little Shimmy In A Conga Line> Humuhumunukunukuapua’a(2)> Miracles(1)> Little Shimmy In A Conga Line

Encore: Helicopters

1 – unfinished, 2 – inverted version