Aug 08 2002 @ Double Door Chicago, IL

Oh my f'ing gawd... that was easily one of my top five shows of all time... It was a good all around concert experience starting as i met two really cool musicians before the show... we talked Zappa.. Jazz... music i have never heard of.... One of them, this guy named "zero" introduced me to Walt!!!... Walt was real freindly we talked for a few minutes... the tour is sponsered by Jack Da...

>>>

So in the past two weeks there were two shows I was really looking forward too -- and I rarely look forward to live music now -- and I walked away from both gigs feeling a little let down. The first show was Love (featuring the only original member left around now, Arthur Lee) and I guess this one was my fault. There was no way that the band was going to be able to fulfill my own personal sonic imagery of what Love's early albums should sound like and it was nice to see Lee getting so much love (heh) from the audience after so many years toiling away in obscurity, but in the end it was nothing much more than a nostalgia show. You know, the kind of gig you make fun of your parents for going to see at a state fair, the only difference is that Love -- by virtue of lots of slobbering British press and an aggressive re-issue campaign backed by Rhino Records -- is now uber-hip again. Whatever, at least Lee ran through all the hits and no one who wasn't looking for a deeper more visceral experience walked away unhappy at all.

Now the second show I should have seen coming. Fishbone has long been one of those bands I deeply love and who's early EP had a profound effect on me vis a vis making up party mix-tapes for the house parties we had in my first college apartment. Our downstairs neighbors would come a fetch us and show us how their ceiling was bouncing up a down by quite a few inches due to the massive amount of people getting down to "Lyin' Ass Bitch" or "Party At Ground Zero." One of the greatest things about the band was their ability to totally wig out and cross from ska to metal to funk to a sound like a dishwasher humping a futon. Then, as time progressed the band started to write more metal and less fun before totally imploding in a bizarre situation involving cults and kidnapping. So I should have known that the band probably wasn't going to be replicating the fun times I wanted to. I had seen Angelo Moore in recent years doing his Dr. Madd Vibe spoken word thing in which he relies heavily on a theramin and when I saw a theramin being toted on-stage I should've really seen what was coming. There was a smattering of fun in the show but the band seemed more intent on thrashing out (Low-light? An incredibly sluggish version of "Swim") and Moore was anchored by fiddling with his theramin when he should have been jumping around the stage. Once again, don't get me wrong, the crowd loved it and I don't think anyone walked away as let down as I was.

Maybe it's unfair of me but when I see a band perform I really want to feel it and while I think both Love and Fishbone played with a genuine passion I don't think either group really was able to reach a point much beyond sentimentality and nostalgia.

Tankboy

<<<

My 2 cents...The Chicago show was good, but not as good as the one the last time around at the Cubby Bear. Now these were my 1st and 2nd Fishbone shows so who am I to say, but...that's just the vibe I had. BUT....I still would pay money to see them rock a less than stellar show than most bands out today at the top of their game, not to say that Fishbone isn't 1) at the top of their game and 2) a...

>>>