Saw the Bone tonight as an opening act - first time in my 18 years seeing them. Great selection of songs, they were surprisingly tight, and as always, I am so glad I went. However, 7 -8 songs with no encore just wasn't the 'Bone for me. Lots of little kids who didn't know how to skank, no "Fishbone is red hot" chants, I guess I'm getting old. Angelo and Norwood have still got it, and the rest of the guys were great, but by far not what it was....

Alright... I'll throw down a little something here.

The first time I saw Fishbone was in 1988. And somewhere around 30 times since... so I'm quite qualified in comparison assesments... anyway.
First off, I'm very excited for the bands future. The new musicians are all talented and charismatic performers who's output as members of Fishbone I heartily anticipate, (just keep McNight off of guitar, more on that later...)
The WAY TOO SHORT setlist is posted on Fishbonelive so you may see my dismay.
The highlights of the set were Date Rape, and Face Plant. They tore those songs up, and the audience did too. I'm sure their familiarity with the first song added to it... But honestly, Date Rape just kicked ass... smokin. and if the audience reaction is any indicator, they've got a hit on there hands. Just imagine... that the first big hit, follow up with Cheyenne Star, then a left hook with a catchy Fishbone punk song... I see it now.
Anyway. Criticisms. They spent too much time noodling and getting to the songs. They looked they were wandering a little too much. It would have been awesome if they had all night, I'm sure I wouldn't have minded, ... call me selfish, but I wanted them to plow through as many songs as the could with the tiny hour they had.
And yes, many in the audience were unfamiliar with the Bone, and it certainly did bring down my enjoyment level, but it was kind of nice in a way. They WERE receptive, and all became fans by the end of the night. So it warmed me a little bit. I mean come on, they need new fans more than anything right now... let's be flat out honest, and how many times have you gone to see them open up for the WRONG BAND and the audience is out right hostile to them. I go home from those shows with a deep pit of anger in my belly for seeing my brothers art scorned.
AND... I think if they can't have Tori, just let Rocky go solo. Not that McNight is bad, I'm not really sure, I'm not a musician, but here's what I do know. The last two songs they played were Sunless Saturday and Servitude. These are two of my all time favorite songs by any band. I know them inside and out beat by beat. And frankly they guitar playing in them sounded kind of crappy. I don't know what or how to state it, ... muddled, under speed, a little flat. BUT, when Rocky did some soloing it sounded tight, so I figured it must be McNight, I could be wrong .... ANYWAY.
That being the case, and everything else sounding incredibly slammin all night prior, ... they should try those tunes with one guitar, or play to the current line up's strengths and chose something with more horns (which again kicked ass)
oh yeah, the outro to Beergut was too long for me, ... sorry, just kind of headache-y for me, and reminds me of the day when they did 10 minute DONUTS CIGARETTES COFFEE chants, which are kind of a waste of time to me. I understand a musician wanting to try out all kinds of sounds and styles, but I guess the manager in me wants Fishbone to get everything that's coming to them, and that stuff can be a little off putting to some people. ya know, wow that band was sounding so sweet and melodic and joyus, and now I'm getting a headache. Maybe I'm just an old man... .I am 32 maybe it's time to shut up and let the kids make these decisions.
Well I guess that's it. All in all I walked out of the show feeling more positive about the future of the Bone then just before Chim Chim's came out. Very excited but slightly wary. I've thought many times over throughout the years that there's no way Fishbone aren't going to be huge TOMORROW. I was 100 percent sure many times over, ... for years and years (20 to be precise) have told people, ... you've got to listen to this band, they'll blow your mind, there going to be huge, mark my words, just you wait and see. .....
and I guess we all know where this story goes...
So I've got my fingers crossed.
ONE MORE NOTE
I picked up the "Live in Amsterdam" DVD and love it. Yes, it's a little lower key energy wise then could be hoped, but as a historical documentation of the band for that 5-7 year period of their career, it's a fair assesment. Solid musicians, focused, creative, intense, passionate ... but with a definite note of the blues. a more mature and serious band, no value judgements, just a different, and still very enjoyeable flavor of Fishbone.
Ok I think that covers it.