Nov 01 2003 @ The Ballard Firehouse Seattle, WA

I drove down to see Fishbone last night in Seattle at the Ballard Firehouse. Fishbone took the stage shortly after 10pm as Angelo walked out in a black and white striped prisoner's uniform, carrying a cardboard tombstone with a Fishbone logo drawn on it. He proceeded into a poem about what a 'bitch' the music industry is. This had me pretty worried that the show might end up being a real downer. Well, it got off to a slow start but the 4th song (Pressure), the band was givin' it 200% and Angelo crowd surfed about 5 times during that song alone! Walt was smiling, John was smiling, Spacey T was possessed playing the guitar, and Norwood was laying down some bad ass bass. They played a lot of old stuff with the highlights being Alcoholic, Give It Up, Every Day Sunshine, and Pressure. In no particular order:

Unyielding, Date, Karma, Last Days, Ma & Pa, Everyday Sunshine, Cholly, Give It Up, Alcoholic, Let Dem Hoes Fight

The tensions that have been transpiring in the band were not very evident to the audience until the end of the show. During the whole night there were lots of people climbing on stage but at one point, someone climbed on stage and bailed on Spacey's pedal board. He was pissed off and told the guy off and pushed him back into the crowd. During Let Dem Hoes Fight, two people again climbed up on stage and one landed on his pedal board and the other knocked over his POD which was on a stand. Angelo immediately went over and blocked off his "pedal area" from some other people trying to get by but it was too late. Spacey through his guitar into the corner and left, looking super pissed off. That was it. the end of Fishbone with Spacey T and Walt.

This scenario looked really bad from an audience perspective and it almost got worse. Spacey came out and grabbed the Mic and told everyone it was his last show with the band and that "[we] ruined it for him". Some faint and lots of "awe. come on.." could be heard. But suddenly, the most amazing thing happened. John Stewart stepped up the mic, long after Angelo, Norwood, and Walt had left, and began thanking the fans for coming out and telling that the rumours were all true but Fishbone would be back for the fans. Spacey said something else into the mic, which John answered "whatever man" to, and then apologized for what had happened and explained that next time people should be a little more careful but still have fun. I was completely astonished. John recovered the performance with his little speech at the end. He made that connection between the fans and the band, while Spacey looked like a complete asshole (I know he isn't, he was just pissed). He then ended by thanking everyone and threw out half a dozen or so drum sticks.

This made me sense that there is hope to the situation. One thing that I've always admired about Fishbone is the guys are very approachable and when something does happen on stage, like Angelo's mic's getting knocked over, no one has ever freaked out like Spacey did. They deal with it, usually in a pretty entertaining way, and continue on. Spacey is a great guitar player, he's a real good guy, but in my opinion, he's never been right for Fishbone. He's a very technical, "all settings have to be perfect" type player whereas the rest of the band has more of a 'fun', less serious attitude to them. I'm definitely not saying that anyone is lacking in skill, but I'm just saying that Spacey's performance isn't as free as Norwood's or Angelos', etc. Anyways, I think the performance last night proved what I've thought all along and I'm looking forward to seeing them with a new guitar player.

Walt, on the other hand, is going to be a big loss. Nobody will be able to replace his comedy and the way he fills out the live sound with his backing vocals. I spoke with Angelo briefly after the show and I've never seen him so down. He seemed confident that they would be getting things back together but I have to agree with a lot of people on the list.. They need a break from Fishbone. Regroup after five years and see what happens. If it takes longer, then so be-it. I have a feeling that Walt will be back.

To all you tape traders, I did not tape the show. I wanted to enjoy the experience and not have to worry about my gear. However, I did take a few photos: http://www.elchango.ca/fishbone/

cheers, Mike. (submitted through the Nuttwork)

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This show was scheduled to begin at 8 PM so I arrived a few minutes prior to that time. After finding out that there would be a couple of local openers I went back to my car to sleep for a while as I had a very long day at work and was very tired. I got back to the venue shortly after 10 PM just in time to work my way up front before Fishbone was set to come on.

I've never r...

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It's official Soldiers. Saw Fishbone last night in Seattle at the Ballard Firehouse. After getting a little elbow from Angelo, he told my partner and I that this is their last show. They've cancelled the tour. Angelo was walking around with a Halloween style tombstone that stated plainly, Fishbone RIP. The show was electric. Walt looked really happy, Norwood just played, Angelo was mani...

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