Fishbone still has the funk

By Marc Hirsh, Globe Correspondent | December 29, 2006

"James Brown got to go to heaven for Christmas," declared Fishbone singer/saxophonist Angelo Moore after the very first song at Harpers Ferry on Wednesday. The veteran funk/ska/punk band owes an obvious debt to the late Godfather of Soul and paid homage by quoting his songs and mimicking his showmanship throughout the night. No mention was made of Gerald Ford, whose impact on the development of funk was less profound.

If Brown's influence was evident in the funk component of Fishbone's rhythmic brew, it eluded the technical aspects of the two-hour show. Microphones stopped working, Moore's theremin became nonoperational, and the cord was yanked out of John Norwood Fisher's bass at one point. Brown would have handed out fines like candy on Halloween. Fishbone powered through, though, with Moore showing admirable patience.

Fishbone's ability to roll with the punches served the band well. Moore was a charismatic frontman, dressed in a pinstripe maroon zoot suit and a militaristic beret. He threw himself around the stage (and the crowd) with controlled abandon. During the overdriven funk of "Freddie's Dead," he came off like a preacher delivering a cautionary tale from the pulpit.

Fisher's pajama onesie and jester's cap ensemble and keyboardist Dre Gipson's faux-inebriated crowdsurfing during "Alcoholic" notwithstanding, the rest of the band didn't bother competing for attention. Guitarist Rocky George had a particularly subdued stage presence, even as he blazed through his solos on the headlong, churning "Sunless Saturday" and "Servitude," which crossed Alice in Chains with Rush.

It helped to ground an occasionally sloppy, chaotic show, though the band's playing was always sharp, whether on the soulful ska of "The Suffering" or the gospel raveup that ended "Everyday Sunshine." It may not have been exactly the funk that Brown envisioned, but well into its third decade, Fishbone can still bring it.

Fear Nuttin Band's opening set combined reggae and metal grooves, but by the seventh time it pulled out "When I say 'fear,' you say 'nuttin'!" chestnut, it had long since exhausted its bag of tricks.

originally published on http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2006/12/29/fishbone_st…