Photo via Disco Biscuits’ Facebook page
The Disco Biscuits closed out a three-night stand at the Mishawaka Amphitheater in Bellvue, Colo., on Sunday. In advance of the run, the Biscuits asked fans to vote on a special themed Sunday show, with options including the band performing an all-improv set, a studio album in full or one of their three rock operas. Fans opted for Marc Brownstein’s “Chemical Warfare Brigade,” the rock opera he finished and debuted in 2000 with his Electron project during a brief hiatus from the band, with a fully improvised set coming in second. The Disco Biscuits then decided to perform both of their audience’s top picks, playing a fully improvised sequence as their first set and “Chemical Warfare Brigade” as their second set.
The quartet’s rendition of the “Chemical Warfare Brigade” marked their first full performance of the rock opera since a June 3, 2009, stop in Providence, R.I., long before current drummer Marlon Lewis joined the band this past fall. It also marked the first time the drummer had performed several selections from the suite, which were busted out as part of the show—“Plan B,” which was last performed on January 25, 2025, “Floodlights,” which was last played September 8, 2024, the opera’s title track, which was last dusted off on March 31, 2022, and “Three Wishes,” which had been on the shelf since June 2, 2017…