May 04 2007 @ Ram's Head Live Baltimore, MD

At 10:10pm, Dr. MaddVibe came and gave up a little dose of his medicine...a piece called "Nate Pro Crastro" (from PROCASTINATE)...a very funny anecdote complete with siren sounds. After the spoken word piece, it was on to a funky jazz instrumental featuring the band Fishbone. "(Cheyenne Star) Forever Moore" from the new album STILL STUCK IN YOUR THROAT was a very good, reggae-flavored R&B tune featuring Angelo Moore seriously getting off on the theremin (like the album version)...the only drawback to this performance was the low vocals by keyboardist Dre Gipson (someone set the volume his mic too low). "Behind Closed Doors" was a funk blast, thanks to the stank-ass, wet bass riffs by Norwood Fisher and tight drumming by John Steward...this was also a vocal spotlight for Dre (who co-wrote the song with Norwood) as he performed his rap midway through the song!

"Alcoholic" was the first song of the set where hell broke loose...after the first verse (slow reggae portion), the band went into the chorus (punk-rock) and Angelo flew into the sea of fans...all bodies skanked about and Angelo crowd-surfed back to the stage! At the end of the craze, it was back to the reggae part of the song, where Dre left his keyboard and took center stage, playing the part of a drunk bastard...he sang the second verse and "collapsed" into the pit between the stage and fans. Angelo was back to crowd-surfing and later Dre stood on the railing and flipped onto the heads & hands of the fans. At the end of the second chorus, the band started playing AC/DC's "Back in Black" for a minute, before going back into "Alcoholic". During the last chorus, Angelo was back over the heads of the fans!

"Let Them Ho's Fight" was a hardcore-punk-rock extravaganza, featuring the crunching lead guitar madness of Rocky George and pounding drumbeats of John Steward! "Date Rape" featured the majestic horn blasts of Angelo Moore (sax), Curtis Storey Jr. (trumpet) and John McKnight (trombone)... and more of the crazy punk-rock energy that overheated many bodies on the floor...including yours truly... who knew that PSAs (public service announcements) could be SO FUN!! "Party at Ground Zero" was the last moshpit-ready, skankin'-to-the-beat song that ended the show at 11:05pm.

After the show, I gave Angelo my tambourine as a token of my appreciation for the many years of great ska/funk/reggae/rock/R&B music....I really needed to skank my blues off last night!

FISHBONE IS *RED HOT* !!

<<<

I agree with the good doctor above - it was a great show. The crowd took a bit to get into the show, but once Angelo jumped into the crowd, it was on! The show was way too short (they were warming up for The Toasters) but really good. It was the first time I had seen the band since Spacey and Dirty Walt left, the (re)addition of the horns and keyboard were awesome. Dre (keyboards) is an amazin...

>>>