Last May, we attended a Fishbone concert, detailed here.
Yesterday, Fishbone sent this news my way: AT&T blue room Music presents: Fishbone from NYC 05/03/2007 - Rocks Off Boat Cruise - NYC Fishbone’s interview and performance clips are now up on the blue room site.
Under the "What's New" tab on bottom left of page or just search "fishbone"... * Interview: Songs Off The Album (1/5) * Interview: Still Stuck In Your Throat (2/5) * Performance: 'Faceplant Scorpion Backpinch' (3/5) * Performance: 'Everyday Sunshine' (4/5) * Performance: 'Ugly' (5/5) The performance pieces give you a real idea of the intimacy of the show. Pay particular attention to the performance of "Everyday Sunshine". At about the 4:40 mark, lead singer Angelo Moore climbs up onto the railing and sings the chorus and then sticks the microphone in the faces of two devoted fans, who can be heard singing along. That would be me and the Mrs.
The sun was setting on a beautiful day. I had a beer, a beautiful date, and was about to see Fishbone for the third time in less than eight months. Why wouldn't I be smiling?
Looking back at last night's performance on "The Temptress," here's Melanie posing before the show with Angelo Moore, the lead singer.
We boarded the boat at Pier 81, at West 41st and the West Side Highway. The venue was small. Indeed, there was no stage, just one end of a floor where the equipment was set up. At the other end of the floor was the soundboard and stairs to the top deck.
We watched the show from above. The main floor's ceiling went to the top of the boat. There was a railing that allowed people above the support from which to look down at the band.
This vantage point afforded a place above the mosh pit from which to view and listen to the concert. It also allowed a sense of participation as those that crowd surfed seemed to utilize the bottom part of the railing as a benchmark for a successful ascension from the main floor. If you could hang on to that railing, you could launch yourself back down into the crowd below. Mission accomplished.
The drawback from viewing from above was the limited view of the stage and the other musicians. Still, this was acceptable to Melanie and me since we have seen the band two other times in the past year, and we had a much better sense of time and place, with greater visibility to the exterior: seeing the Manhattan skyline on a clear, moonlit night, as we rocked and rolled in the Hudson, past Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.
Being above the fray allowed me greater use of my camera, as I was barely jostled (as opposed to the beating I would have surely taken on the floor). Of course, the pinnacle of the evening, early on, when lead singer Angelo Moore climbed the railing during "Everyday Sunshine,"
(Angelo right below us as he climbed up to the railing)
and was right in front of us, inches away,
as we sang the refrain when he thrust the microphone in our faces, then did a back flip into the crowd below. The photo above shows his hand gripping the railing right in front of me. Alas, I too excited to do anything more. Here's Angelo right after landing in the crowd:
Before the show started, I was able to photograph and read the set list (partial)
that was on the floor at the foot of the stage. I live-blogged the list in groups, which can be seen in last night's posts, but here is the set list in its entirety:
Watch: a minute and fifty seconds of Freddie's Dead. Note, at the very end, Angelo displays some stellar crowd surfing technique, all without missing any lyrics.
**They played these, but I must have missed a live post. Will correct once I can verify. I may have missed some titles to short spoken word segments, but I did get all the full songs.
The band was tight and didn't seem to be burdened with a lot of the technical issues that plagued the CBGB and Knitting Factory shows. The crowd was great and rowdy and moshed so ferociously at times that the Temptress rocked in the water significantly more in response to the movement on the boat.
This one guy, in the following three photos, shows the proper crowd-surfing technique. He started the night in a Green Bay Packers Reggie White jersey, and ended in a Fishbone shirt. This is the middle stage. The third shot, despite its disturbing nature, is classic.
Going . . . .
Going . . . .
Gone!
Of note was the absence of the song "Behind Closed Doors," which we had heard them playing during sound check while we waited to board. Of course, today, Melanie and I text-messaged back and forth naming songs we wish they'd played.
This was the first time we had seen Fishbone recently without a slew of opening acts, so the band played early and stopped as we docked, just around 11:00. Thus, it was a shorter set, and a short night, than we had been used to. Although this morning I am appreciative of the fact that I was in bed by 1:45 A.M., when we have usually been still "in concert" at that we hour in the earlier venues.
I can't recommend enough for people to see Fishbone play live, at least once. It's always a fun crowd, a hard-working band, and a suitcase full of awesome music.
More cool pics:
Angelo before:
and after:
To see a slideshow of all of Somegal's concert pics on Flickr, go here.
There's also (as of May 5), a bunch more great concert photos here on the Fishbone Live website. Here's Angelo playing the theremin:
If you look closely in the background, you can see a certain bespectacled blogger watching from the wings.
We are upstairs, looking down from a railing. Angelo climbs up during Everyday Sunshine and holds the mike in my face during the chorus. Melanie sings too. Angelo backflips from the railing into the arms of the fans below on the dancefloor in front of the stage. Awesome!
Well, not yet. At the corner of 41st and 8th, waiting for my hot date. Wearing my Dr. Madd Vibe shirt and thanking the Weather. We have a lovely night for a concert on a boat. I've slapped two small Icy Hot patches on my shoulder, but am still aching from the tumble I took on Sunday chasing a ground ball that the littlest Cohen sent screaming by me on an asphalt playground.
Fishbone Soldiers! Step right up! Disinterested parties!! Walk on by!
Yes, BillyBlog faithful, I am yet again subjecting those of you who are tired of hearing about Fishbone to yet another slew of posts, pictures, and live-blogging.
Just a little over seven months ago, I saw Fishbone rock CBGB in its death throes. We partied with Saddam at the Knitting Factory just days before the hangman's noose transformed the song into a quasi-obsolete anthem of irony. And here, we go, Thursday night on the third of May, I'm getting on a boat with these guys, and sailing down the Hudson, and round the Statue of Liberty. According to the Rocks Off site, tickets are still available. Could it be? Indeed.
Stay tuned for what is likely to be my last Fishbone experience for a while. I look to make it matter!
So a while back I bought the new Fishbone album via Amazon overseas. I reviewed it over a month ago here. You may recall I reprinted the album art as well.
I just discovered, a week and a day before the official U.S. release, the disc has different art in its American form:
I am fascinated by this. I actually prefer the Euro-cover, don't you. The vibrancy and personality seems slightly sucked out of the new version.
Just wondering. Two weeks from Thursday I will be seeing Fishbone for the third time since September 2006, this time floating in the Hudson on the Rocks Off! Concert Cruise.
Hmmm. Still puzzled by the different art. Thoughts anyone?
Yes, it's that time again. Just following up from last weekend's post. Fishbone is playing May 3 and we are going to see them again. This time, the venue is floating:
Ok, so dig this:
Departing from 41st Street and The West Side Highway, the Temptress heads south along the Hudson River to the Statue of Liberty. After circling Liberty Island for approximately 30 minutes, it heads up the East River, turning around underneath the Brooklyn Bridge. It then repeats the trip in reverse, docking 3 hours after departure.
Now, some folks would pay $30 just for the cruise, no? But throw in Fishbone, and you've got a hell of a deal. I already have two sets of friends joining us, so it's going to be a party! Come join the fun, oh New York fans of BillyBlog! Get your tickets here.
A lot to talk about in reference to the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame ceremonies earlier this week in New York, but I did manage to post about that earlier this week. Scroll down for that update.
Tuesday I took a sick day, my first in almost two years, so my whole balance of reality was off, I guess.
Speaking of work, the I.T. gurus flagged YouTube as a "problem site," and it is unviewable from my work computer. Not that I spent time trolling YouTube for blogfodder, but it locks up the system whenever a page embedded with YouTube clips (read: BillyBlog) loads.
The NCAA basketball tournament started this week, inflicting a large number of co-workers with March Madness. Growing up in Hawai'i, with my Tar Heel father on the mainland, and matriculating at a Division III school, I have found myself immune to the aforementioned mental disorder, and prefer a different distraction: www.bandmadness.net
You may remember them from last year. This season they have a re-tooled site and you can still vote whether you think ABBA is better than Tool, etc. etc.
News came Thursday of a new blog in the sphere o' blogdom. Loyal reader Leon aka Dear Old Dad aka The Ancient One, Blessed Be He, is now a Blogger and can be visited via the link on the sidebar. Check him out, give him feedback, and welcome him to the Nation of Blogspot.
So, that's that. We did get the news that we will be seeing Fishbone again, on May 3, this time on a boat cruise in New York Harbor and the Hudson River (more details to follow).
By this time next week, I will be in post-Radio City Lucinda Williams bliss. And, I might even be hitting a poetry reading soon, with National Poetry Month just around the corner.
Meanwhile, happy St. Patrick's Day. We are trying to dig out from the mess from yesterday's precipitation dump of frozen mush.
I'm not in the habit of doing full-on reviews of albums, but I thought I'd give this a try. If anything, to give a reference and a glimmer of hope to Fishbone fans in the United States.
I'm guessing I'm not the only American to wander over the cyberpond and snag the new Fishbone album, Still Stuck in Your Throat from Amazon.uk. If you can't wait, go there to get it. If you're a cheapie, wait until April 24, and pre-order it here. In the end, the new CD's European incarnation, with a just-recently-specified release date in the U.S. of March 27, just-recently-pushed-back release date of April 24, is worth the extra pounds that it costs, considering we're getting it months ahead of an American market.
I missed that show. I think I had a Shakespeare paper due that weekend. I still regret missing that performance.
I saw them again at the Roxy on the Sunset Strip in late 1990/early 1991.
The "official" Fishbone chronology site fishbonelive.net, doesn't list either show, but there are big gaps in the band's concert history there, in part due to their tireless touring and never quite hitting it "big". I know when the Roxy show was, approximately, because it was there that both the future Mrs. and I heard
"Everyday Sunshine" for the first time, touted as a song on their "soon-to-be-released" album, The Reality of My Surroundings.
It wasn't until July 8, 2000, when I saw them again, free in Central Park, at Summerstage. You can read the New York Times review here.
Jumping ahead, regular readers will know, I have since caught Fishbone twice, once at CBGB's and once at The Knitting Factory. It was at the CBGBshow that Angelo Moore aka Dr. Madd Vibe announced that the band had a new album coming out, called Still Stuck in Your Throat. The disc dropped in Europe in the Fall, and I snagged it through Amazon.uk. So, I've had a chance to listen to it, and will hereby review it. Bear with me, I'm a tad rusty at record reviews...
Let's start with a disclaimer. I am a die hardFishbone fan, and will be as objective as possible.
Still Stuck in Your Throat, at least the European version, has 12 tracks and from the get-go, it is apparent to the casual observer that this is not a commercial band. In fact, whereas most successful bands can claim top chart positions, Fishbone has only had 4 charting studio records (out of 8 full-length releases). And even these have just skimmed the charts, 1988's Truth and Soul peaked at #153, their follow-up and most commercially-successful, The Reality of My Surroundings, released in 1991, broke the top 50, but didn't get past #49. Their next albums, Give a Monkey a Brain and He'll Swear He's the Center of the Universe(1993)and ChimChim'sBadass Revenge (1996) peaked at #99 and #158, respectively. Their last three records, two of which were live discs, didn't make the charts.
Fishbone returns to form in this new CD, for sure. It is an irreverent, politically incorrect, socially-conscious, funkfest. A fusion of hip-hop, hard rock, and ska, the first sound you hear on Still Stuck in Your Throat is lead singer Angelo braying like a donkey. The song, "Jackass Brigade," is their take on life on the road. Angelo sings about getting out at a truck stop at three in the morning to use the facilities (only he's a little more crude) and the bus leaving without him. It's all silly song making, but the driving beat launches the record into a frenzy.
The second track would be sure to garner controversy if Fishbone was a bigger band, commercially. Entitled "Let Dem Ho's Fight," I heard this first at CBGB's in the Fall, and it is politically incorrect to the nth degree. Read the lyrics here, but beware, it's not for the faint of heart, or soul. It's a nasty, thrashing, skedaddling funkfest, and it works. Talk about a guilty pleasure, the song shreds, and has a catchy hook and chorus. It's about some form of female wrestling, and Fishbone faithful will like it, but the more sensitive of us may feel guilty singing along. Best simile in the song: "Got me sweating like a convict in a telephone booth".
The third track, "Skank N' Go Nutts," actually appeared in live format on 2001's unauthorized video Critical Times - Fishbone's Hen House Sessions and 2002's Live at the Temple Bar and More. We're finally getting this concert staple in its studio form. That's not too exciting, but it's still nice to hear a crisp clean version of it. The opening line "Idiotic behavior to the beat" sums up Fishbone's concert philosophy in five words.
The fourth track, "Party with Saddam" actually enjoyed some airplay last month on L.A.'s KROQ, and it may help propel this record to some moderate success. When they played it at the Knitting Factory at the end of December, two days before Hussein's execution, the news had broken earlier that evening that the former dictator's days, nay, hours were numbered. The title of the song sounds morbid standing alone, but the song hearkens back to one of their best early songs "Party at Ground Zero."
"Party with Saddam" is essential Fishbone. It's all about letting music remind us that we are all on this planet together and should enjoy life:
We won't see the end If we party till our colors blend Party till Saddam's your friend Never drop a bomb again All right We can break the chains If we party like our blood's the same Party till we lose our aim Never shoot a gun again ... Millions of dollars are spent on a piece Of what I don't know, but it sure ain't peace of mind ... Can ya imagine Arnie partying with Tookie Smoking and drinking till they lose their cookies Crips are cousins, Bloods are brothers Family can love one another We're gonna party with Pinochet He gonna sing the karaoke We're gonna party with Mobutu He's a lindy hopping dancing fool Party with Condaleeza Rice, now She like to shake it all night y'all Party up with Tony Blair Throw your hands up in the air Party with Fidel Castro He like to do it real low and slow Party with Vladimir Putin He like to breakdance and headspin Party with Kim Jong-Il He got the North Korean down-home feel ...
Ok, I realize, after a bit of a compositional break (I started this post in early January), that I've only addressed the first third of the album. There are still eight songs left. But fear not, as I realize that most reviews of CDs do not speak to every song. I'll try and take this down the home stretch here.
The fact is, the first quartet of songs sets the bar pretty high. After "Saddam," the tone shifts into a very mellow, melodic phase, with "We Just Lose Our Minds." Angelo's lyrics pour out of him like syrup dripping from a tree, as the rest of the band groove along, with a chunky bass line and a drowsy accompaniment from the horns. It's a nice "recovery" song after the party with Saddam.
Then we're back to the hardcore skanking energy burst from "Frey'dFuckin' Nerve Endingz". I appreciate what they're trying to do here, but this song doesn't really succeed. It bursts with energy, but it falls flat. It's just an unmemorable track that blasts about in the same range that makes it a generally uninteresting song. Next up is "The Devil Made Me Do It." Again, the song has all the Fishbone elements, but doesn't deliver the knockout punch that makes other songs on the record as catchy, or musically interesting. The next track, "Forever Moore," is another slow-paced (relatively speaking) song that showcases Angelo's vocals. Here, it succeeds a little bit Moore (sorry, couldn't help it) as a song. The melody is very nice, and features Angelo on the theremin, a fantastically cool music instrument that he relies on heavily in concert on certain tracks.
The theremin is an electronic musical instrument that operates using frequencies manipulated by the musician's hands in proximity to the antenna(e) on the device. Read more about it here.
The last third of the album launches with a terrific tune called "Behind Closed Doors," which I heard played in both gigs at the end of '06. It's abundantly clear when a band believes in a song, because they just tear it up in concert. This is a Fishbone track in the purest sense of the band's oeuvre-- it has a deep social message (homelessness), a blistering horns' intro that propels the song throughout the track, a driving ska/reggae beat, and a great vocal combo of Angelo Moore melodic background singing, and a reggae rap by keyboardist/vocalist John McKnight.
Next is a song called "Premadawnutt," which is an interesting rock/reggae mix with the theremin. It's a bit of a mess, a chaotic track after the tightness of "Behind Closed Doors." The record ends with a potent one-two punch. It starts with "Faceplant Scorpion Backpinch," with a driving rock beat that is all about, believe it or not, snowboarding:
Backfoot flip, snowboard spine tweak No pain without the powder, stuck four feet deep More than a mighty wind carried on my head Vertebraes cracking like dry french bread
Kind of an unusual subject for Fishbone, but according to a recent interview (read here for discussion of the album, the songs, why it's coming out almost six months later in the U.S. than in Europe, and snowboarding). A version of this appeared on one of Dr. MaddVibe's solo projects, Medicine Cabinet.
The album ends with Fishbone's cover of the Sublime classic "Date Rape". Granted, it's not an original, but Fishbone has always had great success with covers (i.e. "Freddie's Dead" from Truth and Soul), and they do a phenomenal job here. The song has actually been around a while. It appeared on the 2005 Sublime tribute album Look at All the Love We Found.
It was also made into a video by Fishbone, their first in over ten years.
Before anyone thinks this is a pro-date rape song, check the original lyrics here.
Here's the original Sublime video, featuring Ron Jeremy, followed by the Fishbone interpretation.
Over all, this is a good, strong album. Fishbone faithful will not be disappointed. Whether or not this will win new fans remains to be seen. Based on the interview linked above, it is clear that Fishbone, despite being an American band, are most at home in Europe. This is a comeback album, of sorts, that succeeds, for the most part. Its strengths far outweigh its lulls, and I recommend it.
Here is brand-spanking-new Fishbone video from Yesterday, January 23, 2007. Fishbone perform "Cheyenne Star Forever Moore" and "Behind Closed Doors," followed by an interview in French, with a little Dr. Madd Vibe poesy at the end.
The clip is 15 minutes, but well worth the watch, especially "Behind Closed Doors" which is a great song off their upcoming release. I'm not familiar with the first song, but it's pretty good too.
Often I get chortles from folks when they learn I have a mySpace page. But if it's okay for Kurt Vonnegut, it's okay for me.
Besides, most of my "friends" are bands I follow and by subscribing to their myspace blogs, I am alerted whenever they make an announcement. Had I not been a friend of Fishbone and a subscriber to their blog, I wouldn't have been alerted to their last-minute concert announcement, playing the Knitting Factory in NYC on December 28.
Sure, we saw Fishbone just three months ago at CBGB's, but the nice thing about underappreciated bands is that it is affordable to see them more than once in a short period of time.
Fishbone released their latest studio album in Europe only. No U.S. distributor, apparently. The disc, called Still Stuck in Your Throat, is available through Amazon.UK and is pretty decent. Expect a more thorough report next week after the show.
You can hear streaming tracks on the bands' MYSPACE pages. I'm unfamiliar with the "special guests," but it should be a ska-tabulous night!
If you watched the show NUMB3RS on CBS last night, you may have seen a familiar face. Look carefully:
See the Asian man at the top of the screen, in the tie and vest? He's about to assassinate a senator. The FBI is watching him on a closed-circuit monitor. They're zeroing on the suspect. Now look again. The gentleman right in front of him with silver hair and glasses. The grandfather of BillyBlog, blessed be he. Dear Old Dad snagged a split second of airtime right before the bullets started to fly. Way to go Dad!
Next, hop on over to the blog Culture Bully. The linked post pertains to Beck's performance as musical guest on Saturday Night Live on October 28, 2006. And because the suits at GE and NBC won't allow their shows to pop on YouTube, video clips of the show are scarcer than most. But if this doesn't give you a taste (the Culture Bully post, that is), NBC is re-airing the show tonight (Saturday, November 25, 2006) at 11:30 P.M. The performances are accompanied by marionettes, Beck in miniature, and the musicianship is phenomenal. The second performance of "Clap Hands" is particularly foot-stomping. TiVo or DVR or it, or do what they did in the old days, watch it as it airs. It's worth suffering through all the rest of SNL to catch the tunes.
I'm a little bit excited because the new Fishbone CD came in the mail today. Look for a review in the next week or so. The disc, called Still Stuck in Your Throat is only available in Europe and has not been dropped in the U.S. of A. Thank goodness for Amazon.uk for those special items. I may also review the "new" Beatles CD Love, which is based on the Cirque de Soleil show of the same name. I've listened to it and it is amazing...a must for any Beatles fan. My copy's stuck at work.
That should get you through Saturday, if not the weekend. Aloha.
