The Disco Biscuits ushered in a new chapter in their three-decade journey with the band’s first live appearance featuring drummer Marlon Lewis at Suwannee Hulaween in Live Oak, FL, followed by a late-night set from band’s electronic alterego TRACTORBEAM.

In a mini-doc released prior to the Halloween performance, Lewis—who is known for his work with Ms. Lauryn Hill, Keshi, French Montana, and others in addition to playeing alongside Biscuits bassist Marc Brownstein in Star Kitchen—described his excitement about joining the band:

“I started out working with Marc back in I think 2016 with Star Kitchen. … Then I got a chance to meet Barber and Magner [and] did a side project with Barber as well, [The Very Moon: A Steampunk Musical]. … But to actually get the call to be with them regularly, [I was] kind of mind blown. I was very surprised. It was just kind of like, ‘Oh these guys really love me.’ [I was] like let’s do it, let’s tour the world together [and] have a great time. It was like life-changing for me.”

Aron Magner expressed enthusiasm for the fresh energy Lewis brings to the band, saying, “He’s a drummer that understands the form and the structure and is helping us get to where we need to be. A band is about being one entity and we’re bringing in a new energy, an exciting energy. There’s those moments where it kind of all comes together and we’re finding that those moments are happening with frequency as we’re practicing. [The rehearsals have] been exciting and inspiring. They have been fun and childish and experimental and all the things that we try and be as a band.”

“It sounds a a little bit more like the first iteration of the disco biscuits um than the second,” Brownstein added. “It has like a little bit more swing in the beats and a little bit more beat variation and all kinds of like creative stuff because we’ve asked Marlin to come in with a clean slate. … I said last week in a podcast that I was hoping in this next iteration of biscuits we could go back a little bit to being more jam band and let TRACTORBEAM be more electronic.

“Little by little the band has gotten more and more and more electronic. We’ve done things with technology that have taken us into a place where almost every jam could be considered TRACTORBEAM style. Click is on, arps are on, keyboards are playing, everybody’s like tied up. But there’s a beauty to turning the click off and letting the beat breathe and playing all of the notes, not letting having computers play loops and just no samples. There’s a beauty to letting these musicians flex their skill as live musicians. … We’ve been doing that a lot in practice. And it’s been just incredible. It’s so beautiful what has been happening here. And I’m excited to explore that because that is what the Disco Biscuits are all about.”

The debut setlist highlighted a balance of classic jams and exploratory improvisation, opening with “Rock Candy” > “Country Royale” > “Rock Candy” and flowing through “Helicopters” > “Dino Baby” > “Orch Theme” > “Helicopters”. The second set featured “Neck Romancer” > “The Deal” > and inverted “Portal to an Empty Head”, all sandwiched within “Caterpillar”.

Check out fan-shot footage from the Disco Biscuits first show with drummer Marlon Lewis below.

Looking ahead, the band will embark on a 19-date fall tour, culminating in a three-night New Year’s run in Boston. Find tickets for upcoming Disco Biscuits tour dates here.

The Disco Biscuits – Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park – Live Oak, FL – 10/31/25

[Video: Blake Jefferson]

Setlist: The Disco Biscuits | Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park | Live Oak, FL | 10/31/25
Set 1: Rock Candy > Country Royale > Rock Candy, Helicopters > Dino Baby > Orch Theme > Helicopters
Set 2: Caterpillar > Neck Romancer [1] > The Deal > Portal To An Empty Head [2] > Caterpillar
1 LTP 11/14/24 (80 shows)
2 inverted