Dec 31 2003 @ Fais Do-do Los Angeles, CA

Heh, ok- ok ok. Well New Years was a blast, but I have since caught the flu and obviously havent been up to par. Unfortunately considering I was running around working the whole time, I should probably be the last person giving reviews, and ya'll know im horrible w/set lists and details and such- but alas, I believe the only other "current" list member I saw there was Keisha (Corndog aka cory of jabudah and Mole were both there, but they left the list years ago).

So by around 9:30 the place was already pretty filled & I only caught a few songs of the aggrolites (dirty reggae: http://AGGRO9.TRIPOD.COM/) but of course as always- they got the party started and the room was groovin. (if ya'll are into trad ska/reggae, I would definitely check em out! Great guys too!!!!)

The highlight of my night by far was KillRadio, they were kind of the odd ball out of the groups considering they had a harder more political edge- but man they fricken kicked ass!!! Each time I see em they're climbing up the ranks as my favorite bands (bout to trade em in for fbone right now ::wink::). Just their live performance, stage presence, everything always on point. Plus they always have that lil dip in their swang- so whether you feel like pitting or shakin your groove thang- is completely up to you. They're in the studio again and I heard one of their new tracks and it was sick as hell!! They seem to be venturing/expanding more to the groove oriented side of thangs. (live clips: http://www.ikillradio.com/killradio_live.mov or their website: www.killradiorevolution.com)

Then along came fishbone. By this point the house was packed (not to capacity thank god or we all woulda gotten crushed in the process) they got on stage late about 5 min prior to midnite, and did a lil happy new years chant/jam as the clock struck 12. we heard tons of people pissed cuz they didn't do a count down, but I heard later at their previous new years shows they never do. and in my opinion it was prolly one of the best sounding fishbone shows in a while. (and I was sober ya'll, only had 2 beers! ::smile::) They were tight as hell, and sounded "full" again. In the past few years something seemed to be lacking in their "sound." cant pin-point it, but I didn't feel "it" as much as I used to. Unfortunately due to my clouded state right now, I couldn't tell you what they played or how they played it, but it was fricken awesome. Mostly more of their funk/ska/dancing stuff- but that didn't stop the pit from going full force (and of course sarah aka ms.mother nutture all up in the mix!!).

And fishbone went way over their time allotted set, so poor Tre Hardson (of the Pharcyde) didn't even get to go on until 1:30am. But being the wonderfully kind hearted and understanding person he is, he got up there w/out a complaint and still friggen rocked the crowd!! Unfortunately prior to this the crowd had already started to dwindle- but tre definitely kept those who stayed, enticed enough to stick around longer. After this show I have such a deeper admiration for tre, and cant wait to work w/him again!! He just as a whole is so refreshing. His music has so much more depth than your average "hip-hop" and technically, theres many, many more elements in his groove to even call it hip hop. www.trehardson.com So all, and all- the night was a blast. I wish I had more insight to give ya- but im still not all there as is, I asked a couple of friends to write reviews, but all I heard was "ohhhhhh, it was sooooooooo much fun!!" or "ohhhhhhhhhhh, it was sooooooooo dope!!" to which obviously they suck balls as reviewers. Hope that gives ya'll a smidgen of insight. HAPPY NEW YEARS ALL!!!!!

.lauren.....

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