Aaaahhhh, such a show! I swear, I was just grinning like a fool at everyone
around me. And they smiled back (thanks guys!). Blake did a really good
job of getting at the feeling of the show. We both thought that this was
far and away the best crowd for a Bone show we've seen here. There were a
lot of people, and they were really into it. Even Mr. Security Guard man
who was next to me on the stairs was bopping his head along with One Planet
People. :-)

The food analogy for the opening bands is an excellent one, Blake! I
totally agree. As I told Blake and Dave, "They don't turn me on, but they
work as openers." Got people moving around, excited, that kind of thing.

And then.......... Jah Jah. You all know that I love Angelo's poetry, I
think most of us here on the list appreciate it to no end. But, we have all
heard the horrible stories about people not getting into it, or worse,
screaming for them to shut up and play. Well, the crowd really seemed to
get into it this time, maybe even more so than when we saw the Maddvibe
performance (of course, it was a more "exciting" venue, etc.). During the
pauses, people would shout uh-huh (you know, sort of a secular amen) or just
randomly throughout the theatre there would be pained cries of "Jah Jah"
from people. Very cool...

It was really great to have Dave (good to see you again!! when are you
coming up for falafel?) and Po (so nice to finally meet you!!) there. I
mean, of course, during the actual set there wasn't a whole lot of
conversation or anything, but knowing that you are with a group of people
who are as into the show as you are is such a great feeling. There was a
total sense of community over on our side of the stage. The guys behind us
were totally into it, the security staff were totally cool, everything just
worked...

I can't remember any other songs they played, I am pretty sure Blake got
them all, but let's see if I have any highlights... Subliminal Fascism
kicked my ass. And made me say, "Thank you sir may I have some more!"
Angelo started Give it Up when he was standing on the railing in front of us
(that we pulled him up on to - thumbs up to a motherfuckin workout!
Wouldn't I have just felt like a shit if he fell?), the crowd just broke
loose!. Obviously, I love Cholly, I always have. Angelo was joking around
with girls in the audience: "You gettin' there, girl!" Much fun was had by
all. There was this one chickie in a white dress, with a shawl tied around
her waist (interesting character, to be sure) who kept jumping up on stage
and flashing us all her panties. Right before Ma and Pa she was up on
stage, being a general nuisance, but a thoroughly entertaining nuisance.
Angelo asked her what she wanted, she said, "I want to sing with you." So
the he asked her if she knew the words to Ma and Pa. She looked a little
befuddled. "The chorus?" Blank stare. "This song is dedicated to your
daughter. Your daughter." She didn't get it. He sort of shook his head
and handed her the mic while he went to get his sax. The band strikes it
up, and she starts singing, something, I don't know what, Bjork sounding
over the music to Ma and Pa. Angelo, the rest of the band, and the audience
all just sort of watched in amazement. Eventually, he just retrieved the
mic, and the concert continued on its merry pace. Where'd You Get Those
Pants was hot! Very fun, exciting. People were actually yelling out for it
long before they played it. When one guy yelled in a quiet nanosecond,
Angelo answered "You'll get it." The Suffering was just exquisite. Broke
my heart (and, of course, moved my ass). AIDS and Armageddon (which I think
is incredible on the album) is even better live. Fucking undeniable.
Somebody on the list posted when they first heard the album that the music
to this song makes you want to do it, and the lyrics make you not. That
effect is even more intense live. Karma Tsunami sent the pit crazy. Kids
going monkeyshit crazy! Excellent. I'm a Weed Plant was strangely sweet
and beautiful. They did it coming right back from a break, and it was,
well, really pretty. You could tell in the chorus that the melody and the
rhythm were the same from Pants, but it was played so differently, I didn't
feel like I was getting ripped off or anything.

Jeez! I've said so much and there is still so much to tell you all! Okay,
the other important thing... When people were jumping up on stage, sure they
were dancing, diving, what have you. But there were a lot of people that
seemed to just want to pay tribute. The guy with the clown suit. His
friend who took the kazoo up there, bowed, and left it for them. Another
guy who jumped up, bowed to Angelo, shook hands, and headed back down. A
lot of really intense emotional moments. I felt like the guys were finally
getting some recognition. It was really beautiful. Almost religious (like
a Southern Baptist church service without the food or the guilt).

Okay, okay, I have to work. But you guys just had to know!!!!

Don't you dare not go, if you get the opportunity!

samantha

Souljahs-
Sorry it has taken so long to write this review of the Boulder show,
but here goes.
My bud Lou and I showed up to the Fox Theater around 10:15,
just when Fishbone was getting ready to hit the Stage. I found
Jah Dave up close to the front, and was Introduced to Sam and Blake. (Great to meet you guys!) I found some of my Old Zombiez compadres and it was good to see those cats too.
Angelo waltzed on stage first and recited some poetry, then out came the rest of the Guys joining in with Post Cold War Politics.
They really played allot of the older stuff off "In your Face" and "Truth and Soul"....which was awesome to hear!
It seems like the New Guys are Really Fitting in well, John McKnight is Playing alot more guitar, SpaceyT has some motherfucking chops, and Steward was holding it down.
However,after seeing them this time I realized how much I MISS FISH!
John Steward is a Great drummer, but Fish was the King!
Anyway what a great show!!
Here are the highlights that I recall-
Cholly
I wish I had a Date
Karma Tsunami ( So fucking cool live!)
It all kept startin over again
Housework
Subliminal Fascism
So Many more-
For those of you who are in cities that they have not yet hit
YOU ARE SOOOOOOO PSYCHED!
One of the Best Fishbone shows that I have seen.
Peace -
PO

Well it was awesome! Nuff said, but I'll try to elaborate...
Blake and Sam had snagged a great location in the Fox Theatre for us to have
an unobstructed and close view of the the Bone. As usual the sound in the
fox was top notch. From the git-go Angelo started the crowd off right by
jumping right in and swimming. Everything was clicking. Everyone was happy.

Random news of note;
Talked with McNutt about the lack of hollywood promotion with college radio.
He said that there was a shake up with the hollywood staff, and as of right
now there is NO person in the radio publicity dept. Super sweet I know.
Getting my application ready as I type!
John also mentioned that communication between the band is gelling tighter
and tighter. They are ironing out some of those inherent kinks that come up
when you have relatively new members join a band with 20+ years behind it.
Look for even greater cohesion and collective songwriting on the next disc.
Not only that, John brought along a mini recorder on the bus so that the
Bone can start working new songs now as opposed to waiting till after the
tour and cramming in the sessions and writing as he feel they did with this
release.

Norwood called after me as I was leaving to ensure that there will be some
strong things happening web-wise with the bone. If any of you other soldiers
have a chance to go more in-depth with him about this, please report back.

Met Angelo's dad, Billy, last night! He drove in from CA to present some
proposals to colorado university about English as a second language programs
in Bangkok where he lives half of the time. He suprised Angelo at the club
by showing up.. It was awesome. I asked him about his stint with Basie. He
grinned ear to ear and told me that he just sat in a few times, but you
could see him reliving it in his mind as we talked.

I'm gonna sign off here,
Po, Blake, Sam, had so much fun with y'all last night!

dave

Ok, here is my review of the show last night in Boulder, sorry if it is
incoherent, as I am quite tired today! Samm and I got to the Fox last
night at 8:30 or so and immediately had a pretty good feeling. Outside
of the theatre all sorts of people were hanging around waiting for the
first opening band to finish, draggin' their last cigs before going
inside (no smoking in any restaurant/bar/theatre in Boulder---I love
Boulder...), etc. We saw a number of people with their faces painted,
one of whom was wearing a clown suit. "Cool, looks like a good crowd
tonight!" The opening bands were ok, kinda like having an appetizer of
saltine crackers with peanut butter when you now that the main course is
gonna be cilantro-pesto-yam-tacos with chipotle/maple syrup and
cranberry tequila pico de gallo!!!! During the opening bands while
looking for Nuttwork member extrodinaire Jah Dave, I very briefly talked
to Norwood ("Hey, Norwood, how's it going?" Norwood smiles big, grunts
and nods "all right" and gives me a shoulder bump) and talked to Angelo.
Just told him it was good to see him and asked him if he had seen Dave
yet. Angelo was his usual very friendly self and was psyched to now that
Dave was coming, but hadn't seen him yet. On slightly stoopid's last
song we finally found Jah Dave, who introduced us to fellow list member
and Psychedelic Zombie Po (let me just say that hanging with people from
this list kicks ass, especially when it is for the reason we are all on
this list!!!!). We all planted ourselves next to a railing directly
above the floor and off to the side (about 8 feet from McNight's setup).
As Angelo spun some groovy tunes, the crowd grew (probably close to 500
people, fairly small club) and grew restless. The aforementioned face
painted clown suit wearing fiend was sort of cheerleading on the floor
and getting the people around him psyched up---very cool too see. Angelo
finally
appeared wearing a sort of orange marching band jacket with a cross
between a British policeman and drum major furry style hat and twirling
his cane! He opened with Jah Jah On The Telephone. The crowd took to it
quite well. Ok, now i'll list what they played. The first three songs
are in order, but after that I lost track of the order:

Jah Jah on the Telephone
Post Cold War Politics
Subliminal Fascism
Give It Up
Cholly
When Problems Arise
Lyin' Ass Bitch
Party At Ground Zero
I Wish I Had a Date
Bonin'
Ma & Pa
Behavior Control Technician
Housework
Beergut
Where'd You Get Those Pants (right after a woman with tight leather
pants
surfed by)
Suffering
Just Allow
It All Kept Startin'
Aids and Armageddon
Karma Tsunami
Alcoholic
I'm A Weed Plant (just Angelo, Norwood, and Spacey to start the first
encore)
Shakey Ground (encore)
One Planet People (too start second encore)
Junkies Prayer (Angelo at rapid speed) segueing into:
Freddies Dead (last song)

A couple of those listed before the encore songs were also in the
encore, I just can't remember which ones. And I might be missing one or
two songs
(Samm, Jah Dave, Po?). Fishbone kicked ass last night! The crowd was one
of the best I've seen for a Fishbone show since '91. Clown suit wearing
dude gave Angelo his suit (which Angelo thought was cool), one woman who
surfed on to the stage placed a kazoo next to Angelo's theramin. He used
the kazoo to start the next song. One guy angelo pulled up to the last
section of Lyin' Ass bitch was completely thrilled, he yelled into the
mic "I've been waiting fifteen years to do this." and then proceeded to
nail the last line, which absolutely floored Angelo and Norwood. At one
point, Angelo wanted to surf all the way to the back, but got stalled
out and had to surf back to the front. A stage hand who undoubtedly
noticed our disdain for the crowd's inability to move him back pointed
at our little section, so Angelo swam to us, where Samm, Jah Dave, Po
and I lifted him from below our knees up to the railing above us. The
band was tight, the new songs live were incredible, John Steward played
really well, McKnight is great (except for when his keyboard fell off of
its stand). About the only thing I could complain about would be Spacey
T's solos, they are a bit to rock star cliche for me, but his playing
the rest of the time was really solid. Ok, I should really stop now.
Sorry for the length....

Blake