So i hope on the 6:26 train from Elmhurst to Chicago. It was a non stop actually. Got there in about 20 minutes.
I walked from Madison 2 blocks, over the civic opera brigde, and took a left onto Wacker. Okay enough about how I walked to the HOB.

All in all, the HOB is a very great atmospheric venue. Great things can happen there with the right set up, which exactly happened tonight.

So I bring to the show this little hand held recorder. What I am doing with the recorder is getting people in bands or people i know to say "Hey this is SO AND SO from WHATEVER BAND and your listening to Manic Sewing Circle" Which is going to go on the bonus tracks of MSC's new CD which has been like delayed a year in releasing.
I wasnt there to tape fishbone honestly. I was trying to get Angelo the lead singer to say "hey this is Angelo Moore from Fishbone and your listening to Manic Sewing Circle", but that didnt happen.
I put the recorder in my back pocket, not realizing that its really a dumb idea to bring a recorder to a show, and they nail me! I should have put it in the head pocket of my Big D (maud loves this one, ahhaha) hoodie.

So i ditch the recorder out side in a gutter, and return later and get it.

The Beautiful Girls
Your typical 311 jam band.

Fishbone
WOW. If you think MSC puts on a good show, we are like the apitemy of what Fisbone accomplised.
So Angelo Moore (Dr. Madd Vibe) walked on stage and has this 5 minute opening spoken word intro with this bee bop organ and drum beat going on behind him. Nothing like Def Jam poetry but something like "We live the life of the famous not rich, still living in a shack in Cali, AINT THAT A BITCH!" It really got the crowd moving, but it seemed that people were swaying back and forth for the bone during the show, and no one seemed to know what the SKANK was. Which was alright, since the band made up for any crowd lacking movements.

MIKEY TAGS SUCKS ASS!

So they open with "Party at Ground Zero", im standing in the back and I immediatly rush to the stage because i cant stand that beat, and i wasnt going to let my first fishbone expirence be singing from the back of the bar with chicago ska's own DARRYLL who was there with me. Angelo has already stage dived into the crowd TWICE by the time I get up there to right-center stage. Whering his little abraham lincoln-ish type sailor hat, he flicks it around on stage shacking his ass like he is in a '20s ragtime band singing "Pennsylvania 6500". I read alot of reviews of the band at a fishbone based site www.fishbonelive.org and the setlist never mentioned that Party at Ground Zero was played and thats there known song? Thats like Manic Sewing Circle not playing Tuxedo Bandito! It just doesnt make any scence.

Angelo blew a few nice solos on his contra bass saxophone which isnt even considered a real saxophone and so few are made, his was a little smaller, but this is what the sax looks like, and seriously this is a real sax.

http://www.contrabass.com/pages/Triebert%20bass%20sax.JPG

Check out the biggest contra bass sax here, seriously its real.
http://drumbent.com/photos/music/other/contra.jpg

So the set continues, and they play so many real ska songs and barely non of that weird gonza hardcore metal crap like the song Swim. Which the music video can be seen here at with about 20 other fishbone videos at:
www.fishbone.net CLICK ON VIDEOS

The set continued and the bass player talked about his obsession for snowboarding. He said that every time he falls he lands face forward and the board smacks him in the back of the head, and he called it a "Scorpion Back Pinch" which was a great transition into the song "Face Plant (Scorpion Back Pinch).

Angelo - WHATS THE NAME OF THIS BAND!
Crowd - FISHBONE
Angelo - WHATS THE NAME OF THIS BAND!
Crowd - FISHBONE!

So the setlist looked something like this:
1. Party At Ground Zero
2. Ma & Pa
3. Face Plant (Scorpion Back Pinch)
4. Premadawnutt
5. Freddie's Dead / They played Glasses after this but it's not listed..
6. The Suffering
7. Lyin' Ass Bitch
8. Date Rape
9. Sunless Saturday
10. Servitude

So you notice the song Date Rape up there. Yes they did a GREAT cover of this classic Sublime song. And Southside Eric, they are not Sublime jr, even thou they played the song.

They only have a 45 minute set, but really every moment was great, and i am normally never this hyped after seeing a band play.

Angelo jumped the crowed about 4 times, and the crowd actually caught him. And he sang perfectly while in the crowd, and no mikeytags, the chord of the mic did not wrap around anyone and kill them.

So im so bummed that fishbone is finishing there last song Servitude, and right after the last note, someone spits on Angelo.

"WHO WAS THE MOTHER FUCKING BITCH THAT JUST SPIT ON ME!
(points to a guy in the crowd)
YOU FUCKER, I WILL BEAT YOUR ASS!
(saying this all in the mic)
COME HERE YOU BITCH, YOU WANNA GO
(the rest of the band comes over)
GET OVER HERE ASSHOLE
(crowd chants "BEAT HIS ASS" "BEAT HIS ASS")

just as angelo is about to go into the crowd and unwillingly beat some guys ass, a bouncer holds angelo back, and the always intriging HOB curtians close on him!

The best way to end the show really.
I give the band an A+ in perforance for the first time seeing them, and from what i have heard from promoters is that they will not be partaking in SID 3. And that makes me angry, cause i dont want to see mustard plug and the toasters AGAIN!
I am very glad I went to this show, and I recommend you all go to the next show.
Even thou they ripped me off of a 21 dollar ticket, and it said 15 on the HOB site. It really was worth seeing fishbone.

Slightly Stoopid
Who came first, 311 or Slightly Stupid? There cheesy name sums up this review.

carlo

So this is the second time I drove from my home in St. Louis to Chicago to see Fishbone in the last two years. I was all set for a great night. I had my hotel reservation at the House of Blues, i had my ticket in hand, I was ready.

Unfortunately, it seemed Fishbone hadn't been advertised at all, and it was a building full of high school stoners. or at least near the stage it was. So I wait for the first band to finish, then I get as close to Norwood as possible (my normal position). But this time, there were kids waiting for Slightly Stoopid blocking my way. So I'm about three people back. I accept it and wait patiently.

From behind the curtains I hear Angelo testing his mic. Then some kid yells, "STOOPID!!!!!!!". I shrug it off and wait.

So the curtain opens and Angelo is alone on the stage, and goes into "Lifestyle's of the Famous, But Not Rich". Then the rest of the band makes their way to the stage. They go into Party At Ground Zero, which has to be one of the best show openers in history. Next up, Ma and Pa. As the song starts, Angelo makes his way to the front of the stage and takes a leap. He stayed up for a minute, then they dropped him. This happened every time he dove. Very frustrating to watch this happen to one of the greatest frontmen in the history of music.

Throughout the show, tyhe band is tight, witty, and as good as ever. Unfortunately, the only time the crowd really got into it, was during Date Rape, but at least they got off their asses.

They seemed a bit rushed towards the end, and decided to end the show with The Suffering. As they wound it down, some asshole spat on Angelo. Naturally, he didn't appreciate it, and was ready to jump into the crowd and tear this kid apart. The crowd was encouraging him, and just seemed to want a fight. Angelo seemed so angry it looked like he just didn't know what to do. Then the curtains were closed and that was it.

I was seriously sick to my stomach. A guy who has never been given the respect he and his band deserved, was literally spit on, while on stage, trying to make these people happy. I took a day off work, unpaid, spent the money to stay in a hotel, and drove ten hours in two days, and this prick ruined it in half a second. I felt so bad for Angelo, I was looking around for him on the street after the show just to apologize. So in closing, Fishbone was as good and tight as ever, but the crowd really came out looking bad (naturally, not all of us).

I noticed in Carlo's review he said something about it being a perfect way to end a show. What the fuck is wrong with you?