Just recently, I was in Tokyo, and was lucky enough to have coincided my
visit with Fishbone's brief tour of Japan. The first show was on the last
evening I was in Tokyo, which was even luckier. My girlfriend got the
tickets (a very expensive Y6000, although this is the average price for a
club show in Tokyo), although she had never heard Fishbone, and we went to
see them at the Liquid Room. I had been a fan of Fishbone since "Truth And
Soul", but the last thing I saw released in the UK was "GAMAB....", and this
was the first time I'd ever seen them live.

When we got inside, Angelo was just hanging out, signing stuff etc until
maybe 15 or 20 minutes before they went on stage. I hadn't seen them
before, but Fishbone were incredible! My girlfriend was transfixed, and
really couldn't believe what she was hearing and seeing as Angelo was going
nuts throughout the show. I then bought the excellent "PFN" CD, which came
with a card signed by the band, to go with the "Nuttasaurusmeg" CD I'd
bought earlier that day, which also rocks.

Among the songs they played that night were.... Monkey Dick, Cholly, Party
At Ground Zero, Lying Ass Bitch, Alcoholic, Ma and Pa, Everyday Sunshine,
Sunless Saturday, Unyielding Conditioning, Housework, Bonin'...., Shakey
Ground, The Suffering, AIDS and Armageddon, Where'd...Pants?, One Planet
People, Just Allow, Karma Tsunami..... and more besides that I can't quite
remember. They finished with "Servitude", with each member leaving the
stage as Angelo introduced them until only John was left to play the drums
for a while on his own, which was really clever. So, despite paying ?40 to
see them, which is the most I've ever spent on a show anywhere, and without
any support, too, it was well worth every penny.... in fact, I think I got a
good deal! I know my girlfriend did.... they played for a lot longer than
any band she's seen in Tokyo, and she said it was the craziest and most
entertaining gig she'd ever been to. In fact, she was stunned into silence
by their sheer brilliance!! She may never be able to listen to Oasis in
quite the same way again, now that she has seen and heard true genius! As
for me, well, all I've listened to since is Fishbone!

It was the best show I'd seen since Fugazi last played over here, and I'll
be going up to Nottingham on 11th for sure. However, on 10th Sick Of It All
are playing at a small venue in Leicester, too, so, I guess I'll be kind of
sluggish when I go back to work on the Tuesday.

Well, it's off to work for me now...... see ya!

Joe