The Disco Biscuits Wrap Ardmore Music Hall Series with Tom Hamilton, Track Revivals and More
The Disco Biscuits, photo by Bahram Foroughi
On Sunday, Aug. 24, The Disco Biscuits concluded their highly anticipated residency at the Ardmore Music Hall in Ardmore, Pa., with a fittingly grand finale. Just outside their Philadelphia home base, the quartet’s series celebrating their 30th anniversary brought six shows packed with the sorts of surprises that have made them an essential fixture in jam and electronica since their humble beginnings. Night six built on the momentum of the run’s steady stream of debuts and rarities by welcoming the week’s first and only special guest, revered guitarist Tom Hamilton.
After two jaw-dropping opening performances on Tuesday and Wednesday, which included revivals of “Rivers,” “Park Ave” and inverted “7-11,” The Disco Biscuits continued to bring on the thrills with their sets from Aug. 21-23. Among the many highlights of the residency’s later days were the band’s first “You and I” since Dec. 2011, dyslexic completions of unfinished versions of “Basis for a Day” and “Run Like Hell,” the reemergence of “I Remember When,” last played in Aug. 2023, and a brand new original composition titled “Dream Journal.” On Sunday night, the band built from this strong foundation immediately by opening with a dyslexic completion of the previous night’s “Little Shimmy In A Conga Line.”
The Disco Biscuits dug deeper into their catalog with the relative rarity “Bombs,” dating back to 2010, then ripped into their first “Tamarin Alley” since April 2024. Given the depth of the band’s meticulous setlist storytelling, the fact that the latter track’s 2008 debut was presented with support from Hamilton might be read as an allusion to the Joe Russo’s Almost Dead guitarist’s appearance later in the show. The group raced through the end of their first frame with a dyslexic version of “We Like to Party,” then kicked off their second set from the same track.
During their first performance of “Caves of the East” of 2025, the enduring quartet of bassist Marc Brownstein, guitarist Jon Gutwillig, drummer Allen Aucoin and keyboardist Aron Magner veered off into an extended homage to the theme from Cheers, as Magner spoke candidly to the audience about how hometown shows like this feel like “everybody knows your name.” Following their heartfelt thank-you, the band demonstrated their gratitude for their fans by welcoming Hamilton, their fellow City of Brotherly Love native.
Sunday’s special guest led his frequent collaborators through an inverted “Shelby Rose” and “Freeze” before leaving the core ensemble to complete an unfinished “Spraypaint” and finish off the set with the ending passage of “Morph Dusseldorf.” Finally, after a long week of outstanding performances, the band took their bow with an encore of “Kitten Mitts” and the fan favorite “Helicopters.”
The Disco Biscuits will wrap up their summer with their Between the Trees concert series in Montana and Colorado. Find tickets and The Disco Biscuits’ full tour itinerary here.
Read on for the full setlist from Sunday night.
The Disco Biscuits
Ardmore Music Hall – Ardmore, Pa.
8/24/25
Set I: Little Shimmy In A Conga Line[1] > Bombs > Tamarin Alley[2] > Stars in the Sky > Scars Of The Brave[3] > We Like To Party[4]
Set II: We Like To Party[4] > Caves of the East[5][6][7] > Shelby Rose[8] > Freeze[6] > Spraypaint[9] > Morph Dusseldorf[10]
Encore: Kitchen Mitts > Helicopters[11]
Notes:
1 dyslexic completion of 8/23 version
2 LTP 4/12/24 (108 shows)
3 inverted
4 dyslexic (ending first then beginning); FTP dyslexic
5 LTP 12/30/24 (58 shows); unfinished
6 with Tom Hamilton on guitar
7 with ‘Cheers Theme’ (Gary Portnoy) samples & jam
8 inverted; with Tom Hamilton on guitar
9 dyslexic completion of 8/22 version
10 ending only
11 completes 8/19 version
