Jan 24 1997 @ Volcano Kitchener, ON

On a bitterly cold Saturday night in the middle of a typical Canadian winter, a strange thing happened. A concert was held at the Volcano. Now that wasn't the strange thing. The strange thing was that Fishbone played their entire set.

A couple of months back, Fishbone was at the Volcano and, angry at the feedback from the sound system, trashed the stage and left. The fans were disgruntled.

Race, the band that opened for Fishbone on that fateful evening previous, again opened to an enthusiastic crowd who immediately closed in on the stage and began to dance. Angelo Moore came out and danced in front of the stage to the island beats of Race, encouraging the audience to do so as well.

Race, sounding like a cross between Maxi Priest and Ice T, were able to excite the crowd and left the stage with everyone hyped for Fishbone's appearance.

Moore, frontman/singer/saxophonist for Fishbone, crawling on hands and knees, recited poetry to the crowd while the stage hands finished setting up. Wearing a very loud but stylish ensemble (an orange and yellow island-style suit) he stood up, the band came out and he announced, "Tonight we will play an entire set!"

And play they did. With horns, bass, drums and guitars, Fishbone put out a little bit of ska, some rock steady, some rock 'n' roll and some funk. Opening with "Fight for Nutmeg," a term they use to describe their musical style, the evening took off with power, energy and enthusiasm. Fish, the band's drummer, sitting with his back to the crowd, pumped out funky beats while showing off his highly tattooed back.

Playing most of the songs from their latest album, Chim Chim's Badass Revenge, and some old favorites from previous albums, Fishbone made the crowd forget the minus one million degree temperatures outside.

When Fishbone played "Ma n' Pa" the frontman from Race began crowd surfing with some other awkwardly shaped members of the audience. The punk-infused "Beergut," the ska-seasoned "In the Cube" and "Sourpuss," and the satirical "Psychologically Overcast all had the crowd dancing and drinking and smoking pot, to the urgings of the band.

When they left the stage after twenty-two songs the crowd erupted into the traditional cheering and waiting for the band to return. They did. Coming back out they played "Freddy's Dead," and from the last album Give a Monkey A Brain and He'll Swear He's the Centre of the Universe, "Swim" closed the marathon night of moshing, crowd surfing, dancing, and bleeding ears.

by Rob Van Kruistum, Imprint staff, University of Waterloo

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