Let's just begin by saying that I will still be "Bonin in the Graveyard" in the afterlife. Wow it felt great to see Fishbone perform again! It has been years since I've seen them ( Early 90's all 5 sold out shows @ the ?Roxy) and since I'm experiencing my mid life crisis now...I thought what better time to go Skanking than now. You see I was curious and wondered what ever happened to Fishbone? I decided to google them and to presto! To my surprise they were still around minus all the members I was familiar with...but I've thought Fishbone was like a way of life for me. So I figured what the hell...I'm going to this show. To my surprise they were the opening act for this band Slightly Stoopid? I was thinking who the hell are they? Had to look them up and it was comforting to know they were a Sublimeish type band.

But back to the Reality of my Sorroundings. I must admit is was a struggle going to this show. First of all I went at it alone...no help from the wifey who had never heard of them. All of friends from back in the day were either married or moved out of town. A moment to reminicse of when life was just all about skanking and yelling..."Fishbone is Red Hot!" Oh boy those were the days. Well enough chattering about the past. Long story short. I missed the first 15 minutes of the show...just got into a car accident 3 hours prior...my head hurting from taking out the rearview mirrow...but I still made it to the show. The walk up the HOB steps turned into a quick jog due to the horns blazing through the place. Wow! What a feeling everything I considered holy about this band came back and again moved me. I don't know what it is about the Bone but they are they only live band that gets me going. That goes for everyone (U2, Stones, GreenDay, PennyWise...you name it?) It was great to see Angelo still up there being his careless fun usual self. Was that John on bass...Yeah boy! Even though I miss the old guys it was still great to see the new guys Boning hard! The blast from the past sounded as fresh as they did years ago and would stand up against anyone's music today. The new ones make me long for the new album to drop. The sad feeling I had was from the crowd. I know they were there to see Stoopid play and I must give respect to where respect is due. They were a tight band., but they were no Fishbone. Perhaps I'm too Fish-jaded. I had to view the show as being a twin double bill in which Fishbone played first. Just like the previous Fishbone soldier had mentioned about her April 9th, it was a shame to see how few really knew who they were. I guess it's a great thing for the fellas to continue playing and continue to recruit new soldiers for the Fishbone Army. Lastly, I would just like to say watch these guys and support them. These bad MuthaF@#%^ers are just as important to LA's Music scene as well as music as a whole. Just the many of bands influenced by them is countless. From the ChiliPeppers to No Doubt...Rock, Metal , Ska, and Funk-a-Punk. You ask anyone of them...the Bone was there to fuel them. Mad props to Angelo and the Boyz. No band can ever hold your jocks!!! Thank you for keeping it real and keep on skanking. Nuff Respect!

Just Re-Inlisted back into the Army!

Slightly Stoopid kicked off their set with their two drummers. The drummers came out and played for probably three to five minutes before they were joined onstage by Miles and Kyle, the dual bassist/guitarists. The crowd gave a louder cheer when the drummers first appeared onstage than at any point during Fishbone's set. While that seemed unthinkable at first, it's understandable because a lot of the people that attended the show aren't old enough to know who Fishbone is.

Slightly Stoopid features a strong rhythm section, which is a good thing considering that the rhythm section comprises three-fourths of the band. However, the guitar is virtually the same in every song, regardless of who's playing. In fact, after about six songs, I felt like I had heard Slightly Stoopid's entire catalog. That's saying something because aside from hearing a few of their songs, this was my introduction to the band.

I have to give credit to Slightly Stoopid on several counts. They did engage the crowd and get people moving. They are the first band I've ever seen whose vocalists switch back and forth between the bass and guitar. And finally, these guys kept the banter to a minimum and played a fairly tireless set, taking hardly any time between songs. In the end though, I have to say I'm a little disappointed. I'm not disappointed with the way they played, but with how they advertise themselves. On their website, Slightly Stoopid claim to fuse acoustic rock and blues with reggae, hip-hop and punk. I heard a lot of alterna-reggae and punk but I didn't hear anything remotely bluesy. In fact, if you put Slightly Stoopid in a lineup with 311 and Sublime, it would be hard to distinguish one from the other.

Fishbone opened with a lively set that upstaged Slightly Stoopid. Of course, Fishbone isn't your average opening act. These guys have been around and they can upstage lots of bands. One thing is for sure, Angelo Moore does not like to stand still. He's got some crazy legs when he dances. And the dude is fit. He never stops moving but he's never out of breath. It's especially impressive since he plays the saxophone.

Another thing about Angelo Moore is that he can belt out a song. His voice filled the House of Blues seemingly without any effort. The highlight of Fishbone's set for me was when Angelo broke out in some pretty convincing 'Back in Black' lyrics during 'Alcoholic.'

You'd never know how good Fishbone's set was by watching the audience though. Despite Fishbone's lively sound and presentation, I think I could count on one hand the people that looked interested and moved around a little. I give Fishbone a big thumbs-up. Slightly Stoopid (The Ese Locos) on the other hand gets a fairly convincing m?s o menos.

Oh yeah, and as Columbo says, 'There is just one more thing.' Fishbone was preceded by a DJ. Can someone help me out here? What's so interesting about a guy spinning records and twiddling knobs? My buddy told me he likes DJs if they're good. Personally, I don't think I would know a good DJ if it bit my nose. Maybe someone can explain it to me.

http://www.rocknworld.com/features/05/stoopid.shtml