Fishbone | 12.02.08 | Philadelphia

Words by: Jake Krolick | Images by: Rod Snyder

Fishbone :: 12.02.08 :: JC Dobbs :: Philadelphia, PA

Angelo Moore – Fishbone :: 12.02 :: Philly

All seven members of Fishbone walked into the narrow downstairs room at JC Dobbs. They were greeted by a tiny box-of-a-stage that taunted them from the backside of the long constricted bar. JC Dobbs’ General Manager said that the band’s first remarks were, “Please tell us that is not the stage.” But the guys were flexible, seasoned from years of working around situations. They scrunched onto the stage and blocked the back wall from view as they tore through an amazing soundcheck. Fishbone has done it all; from playing a back-up band in the blaxploitation homage I’m Gonna Git You Sucka to headlining the early days of Lollapalooza. Spawned in L.A. alongside bands like The Minutemen and Red Hot Chili Peppers, Fishbone has been through countless changes and battled many demons. They persevere with the same flashing character and toxic energy that made us fall in love with their strange sounds during the ’80s and ’90s. Best of all is that Angelo Moore is still doing back flips into the crowd every chance he gets and John Norwood Fisher‘s hand on the bass is as funky as ever. In Philly, Fishbone sat on top of a mountain of music as the wise old sages amongst the ever changing, youth driven industry. They played a fine-tuned show filled with a mature and intellectual take on some of the rawest, funkiest songs ever created.

Warming up the stage were two youthful opening acts. The first, Natives of the New Dawn sold us Detroit soul mixed with tinges of JJ Grey & MOFRO and washed down with malt liquor. Tony Nouhan, the band’s karate chopping keyboard player, sang the crowd out of their evening shell with a stirring cover of Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine” (listen to it here). Nouhan directed his powerful high notes into Tupac‘s West Coast anthem “California Love” before passing the stage to Heavy Mojo. These Atlanta lads ain’t no Roots even though they referenced them as an influence. There was a significant lack of connection between the rapping and their instrumentals. Only at the very end of their set did the guitar riffs fuse with the lyrical punches as the crowd packed in tight as sardines for the headlining act.

John Norwood Fisher – Fishbone
12.02 :: Philly

Fishbone shaped the face of ska by breaking it down to its rawest elements. These honed touches poked through the spanked out notes changing the songs from punk to reggae to funk like an invisible hand spinning a radio dial. Angelo Moore may be in his forties, but his energy levels were through the roof as he flashed us wild-eyes. Like comedian Chris Tucker crossed with a determined preacher, Moore gave his sermon of spoken word while he tangled with a Theremin like a 13-year old hording a fresh stack of porn. While birthday boy John Steward slid behind his drum kit, Moore cried, “Jah Jah on the telephone!” That was the last time we saw Steward as the rest of the band crowded on the stage blocking him from sight. OG Bassist John Norwood Fisher’s single dreadlock hung casually off to the side of his head. Behind him, tucked in the shadows, loomed Rocky George. The old Suicidal Tendencies guitarist has been shredding his Ibanez with Fishbone for the past five years. By the performance’s middle it was obvious that he fit in like a long lost brother to the original members.

Horns eventually broke through the Theremin’s high pitched squeals with a resounding bluster. John McKnight and Moore’s baritone sax and trombone locked notes as old favorite “Unyielding Conditioning” flourished out of an extended intro. From there the show went wild as a local Philadelphia artist Mary Harris (Spearhead 94/95) hopped onstage to help elevate the heel-kicking shaker “Everyday Sunshine.” As the curvaceous singer bounced around the stage, the band was energized by her presence. Moore was pulling his passion from the crowd’s liveliness. The more we screamed and thrashed about, the more he let his sweat fly.

Moore’s early outfit of conductor’s hat and coat were torn off as he announced that the next song was dedicated to the past eight helpless fucking years living in this country. Moore lashed out a meaty cover of Sublime‘s “Date Rape,” complete with hand motions and hip thrusts. The crowd ate up Moore’s stage antics and threw themselves around in a churning pit driven by the link and exchange of notes between Fisher’s Bass and Rocky George’s guitar. The two thrashed along on the hard parts before Moore literally mounted the song, spitting out his interpretation of Bradley Nowell’s lyrics.

Fishbone :: 12.02 :: Philly

The onstage chatter didn’t end with Angelo Moore, but continued out of Fisher who freely discussed politics before bearing down on a cover of the Bruce Hornsby meets Tupac “Changes.” Moore crooned, showing that the years have honed a tender side to his voice. His tattooed scalp glistened under the green and blue stage lights as the anti-legend sung out with a rejuvenated breath for Barack Obama.

Fisher was searing when he went off on a rant about being homeless on the cold-ass streets of Philadelphia before throwing down some nasty bass work on one of the evening’s highlights, “Behind Closed Doors.” His long, spider-like fingers bounced back and forth on the bass’ meaty strings while Rocky George wound a funky wah-wah pedal through the lung thumping song. At this point most onlookers realized that Fishbone was killing it onstage. Fisher freely poured on gobs of sticky-icky, sweet sloppy bass as Moore launched himself into the crowd for the umpteenth time as the pit surged to catch his flailing body. It made no difference to him that the room was only 9-feet tall and that he had to moonwalk the ceiling in order to keep from hitting his head. We passed Moore the length of the bar and back again as his legs and elbows flailed like a swimmer in an ocean of limbs.

Soon, Fisher was back on the mic, this time leading the sweaty masses in a German drinking song. “Yaa-Yaa-Yaa-Yaa! Drink is good!” The sing-a-long led into Fishbone’s classic ska favorite “Party at Ground Zero.”

With a chant across the packed bar of “Fishbone is red hot!” the band was called back to encore with a superfly metal version of Curtis Mayfield’s classic “Freddie’s Dead” before one last fast romp through “Servitude.” The crowd’s mash-up of “M” shaped Mohawks, tattooed females and reminiscing gray hairs ate up every last note. The show was an hour and forty minutes of pure, unadulterated fun. We sweat, we bled, we laughed and off we went into a night filled with the promise that Fishbone really was still red hot.

Fishbone live in Philly at JCDobbs 12.2.08 from Jake Krolick on Vimeo