California Aggie, Volume 106, Number 21, 24 October 1986

Crowd hooked on Fishbone and pogo

By JIM UTZ

Monday night saw one of the more bizarre events in recent musical history the resurrection of the pogo, a dance presumed dead since the commercialization of Oingo Boingo. Directly before my eyes, it evolved from a violent, chaotic slam dance into a uniform, ritualistic hopping exercise. I had not seen since anything like it since the early 1980s, when my friends and I would play nothing but Devo at our parties. The force at work in the Coffee House - the active ingredient, the catalyst behind this heartwarming phenomenon was no Darwinian law, nor was it the work of any deity. Monday night's oddity was set in motion by Fishbone, a charismatic, acidic-sounding ska outfit from Los Angeles. Fishbone's 14-song set was, to put it plainly, pure enjoyment. The thrill of their performance came not only from the nature of the music but also from the band's carefree attitude. In a world where so many bands take a dour, depressed approach to their music, diminishing their ability to provide excitement both live and on recordings, it is always refreshing to see a band actually have fun onstage. Fishbone's energy and excitement were extremely contagious, stimulating and almost mind-altering. The tone for the evening was set by the opening act, Affirmative Action, a band that seems to improve with every performance. Don't take this to mean that they have ever been less than satisfying - the truth is that they have progressed to the point where one wonders just how much better they can become. Characteristically, "Ron," the singer, was late, and the musicians broke into a rendition of "Tequila" after a long and unsuccessful attempt to locate him. Just in time for the all-important chorus, Ron bounded onto the stage, shouted the word "Rasta!" into the microphone, and the antics began. Affirmative Action's set, though, was almost disappointingly short despite their excellent encore of "Everywhere I Go, Every Place I See," one of their best original ska songs. A large crowd of slamdancers, yet to be mesmerized by Fishbone's raw power, made the performance less enjoyable. But an echoing cascade of "dub" sound effects added anew and interesting dimension to Affirmative Action's sound. Fishbone instantly captivated the audience with its first two numbers, both bass-laden exhibitions of the band's tunk influence. Singer John Norwood Fisher, his head clean-shaven except for a thin stripe of curls down the middle of his scalp, belted out soulful vocals while prancing about the stage in a manner resembling a cross between David Byrne of Talking Heads (this effect was enhanced by the excessive size of Fisher's black suit) and an amphetamine-crazed professional wrestler. Guitarist Fish and bassist Christopher Gordon Dowd strutted confidently, hammering out a jazzy progression of notes. Beginning with their third song, "Ugly," a cut from their debut LP, Fishbone proceeded through nearly all of its ska material, including "A Selection" and "I Wish I Had A Date," two excellent songs from their new album, Fishbone In Your Face. Gradually, as the performance proceeded, people stopped slamdancing in order to marvel at Fishbone's incredible display of energy, provided largely by Fisher. He so commanded the attention of the audience with his quirky, convulsive dance steps that by the end of the final song, "Party At Ground Zero," he had the crowd jumping up and down in unison with him without even requesting that they do so. The band appeased the audience with an encore, a funky, egotistical tune entitled "Fishbone Is RedHot." After a good 10 minutes more of almost aerobic dance, the name of the song became excusable because the inevitable conclusion had been reached - on Monday night; Fishbone was red-hot. Nearly every audience member had a wide-open mouth and a face covered with sweat, and still the band left everyone wanting to hear more. Call it addiction if you like, but everyone seemed to revel in each dose of Fishbone that was potent and wonderfully habitforming