Friday night at the Orpheum proved to be an evening of dancing and joy, with thanks going to the most addictive band on the jamband circuit, The Disco Biscuits. All I have to say about Moonraker, their opener, is that the vocalist sang and looked like Gwen Stefani. Her backup kept a steady undertone that supported her high vocals quite nicely. Now, onto the boys.These Philly natives really know how to put on a fun show. Their followers are the epitome of youth, consisting mainly of high school and college-age heads looking to dance and feel the good vibes. Their unique style of trance fusion blends aspects of Phish's below surface grooves, intricate hard rocking of the likes of Les Claypool and his Flying Frog Brigade and the most ecstatic of trance beats, which turned the Orpheum into a rave on multiple occasions that evening.

Their phenomenally-talented bassist Marc "Brownie" Brownstein, who has the greatest facial expressions while playing, and their steady out of spotlight drummer, Sam Altman, held the flow together. Embellishing these tunes with keyboard effects ranging from Floyd-style synth to piano to electronic techno was Aron Magner. Finally, providing speed of light solos, explosive riffs, sub par vocals and an afro that made like flapping head wings when he bopped was Jon "The Barber" Gutwillig.

The pre-show buzz was that this tour was the best yet, and that since tonight was the CD release party of their new album, Senior Boombox, then they'd be pulling out all the stops. As high as an expectation this made for me, they easily met and surpassed it. "M.E.M.P.H.I.S.," their opener, was a full show in itself. It started off with a sweet rockin' beat that had the entire place bouncing. There was some light guitar soloing that gave way to a strong rhythm and bass lines that became electronic. They added keys that paved the way towards a full out ridiculous climax.

A cool jambandy thing they did was finish "Voices Insane," a song they had left unfinished from the night before. To keep the continuum flowing, during the second set they left "The Overture" unfinished as well. Following "Voices," "Little Lai" made for a hypnotically delicious groove that perpetually progressed towards light. Finally, it led back to an embellished melody, and then to the skeleton of the tune.

"Astronaut" started off with some hard licks, with everyone singing in unison "A-Stro-Naut!" This hard rocker morphed into an airy '70s disco that took off into space, as bubbles from the deep end would propel towards the surface.

Their cover of Frank Zappa's "Pygmy Twylyte" was the entry into a fanatical world of electrogoodness. The moment erupted into a joyous celebration of triumph, love and fun … but that was just the beginning. Before I had time to catch my breath, I found myself in the tripped-outkick-ass version of Floyd's "Run Like Hell." Between the alternating flashing spotlights on Brownie and The Barber during their evil Floydian vocals, their reverberating guitar playing, and the all out rave that was sandwiched in the middle, it was the best version I have ever experienced.

The first of the second set highlights was their opener, "House Dog Party Favor." It was the perfect jamband piece, starting with a minor quality groove and rocking towards ecstasy, while there were light tunnels for you to bathe in on the way.

Somewhere thereafter arrived a hard rockin dark number that fulfilled my aggressive urge for the night. Knowing where to take us next, they made the floor buzz with a slow, sexy bass line supported by some cool drum effects. This guided and sustained us at a plateau with pan flute-like keyboarding, providing me with a Zen-filled moment on the mountain, with the earth erupting in colored light and beauty.

"King of the World" was fun because during every refrain where the song title was sung, many would put their arms in the air Oe la Leo DiCaprio in "Titanic." During this song, Gutwillig sustained this eternal note, every so often diving below the plane with fingers flying and then returning to the same sustained note. They followed this masterpiece up with the ending of the first set's "Astronaut."

Encore began at 12:20 a.m., so I assumed it would be a good 10-minute song, and we'd be quickly ushered out by the ever so anal security at The Orph (if you've ever been you know the flashlight Nazis I so speak of). "Bazaar Escape" began with a slow meditative groove that all of a sudden became an old punk song with a "hey, hey, hey" refrain. Fortunately, this was short lived, slowing to a Dead halt (pun intended). This spiraled the audience in unison with the lights, and spun us out at light speed on a rainbow towards oblivion.

A perfect way to end, but glad I was wrong. A naked drumbeat progressed harder and harder and a diving techno bass note made its way in. The crowd was now surfing on the edge of the universe, which led to the ultimate in tune body undulating that I've ever experienced. This exploded into the end of "Run Like Hell," which left me wanting to cheer out "Hammer!" with my arms crossed in a brainwashed fashion. The encore lasted at least 30 minutes.

I saw an old high school friend at setbreak. He left me with a caveat that I now pass on to you: "The Disco Biscuits are the purest most addictive drug there is. Once you start going to their shows you'll never be able to stop.