Definitely the best of the three shows I saw in this Euro tour.  The venue was not packed (250-300) so moshpit action was limited, but nonetheless, the band was on fire and so was the audience.  Good setlist with the reappearance of When Problems Arise and CCBAR.  Great version Behind closed doors whose tempo was slowed down and made really groovy.  Finale extravaganza with ser...

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Fishbone at the Kulturfabrik in Esch/Alzette (13th June 2009)

The late Eighties and early Nineties were a time for musical innovation, with an anything-goes mentality that made discovering new bands a much more rewarding experience than it is today. Fishbone were at the right place at the right moment, stretching the idea of crossover further than any other band, and that made them briefly even stars. A few years later, the revolution was dead, heavy metal became very conservative, and black artists somehow seemed to limit themselves to R’n’B and hip hop music. Ah, those were the times!

Yet somehow, Fishbone are still around, no longer in their original line-up of course, but with vocalist/saxophonist Angelo Moore and bass player John Norwood Fisher, there are still two founding members from thirty years back present. Rocky George on guitar only joined six years ago, but this former Suicidal Tendencies member should have been another incentive to check the funk ska reggae hardcore rock veterans from Los Angeles.

After German ska band Another Guardian Angel had to cancel because of an illness, local ska punk rockers The Disliked had their playing time increased to three quarters of an hour. Combine that with a good sound, and you can’t be any happier as an opening act. Early on in their set, they seemed a little rigid, and the low number of watchers (most preferring to catch the last glimpses of sun on a wonderful balmy evening) didn’t help their either. The second half of their set saw them fortunately wake up, and the high number of hits from their latest CD “My Parents Went To Eldorado And All I Got Was This Lousy Cadillac” made sure that the growing audience became more agitated. They should have done without the acoustic number that took some steam out of their performance, but otherwise they did everything right towards the end, with a dynamic stage presence that is proof of their hard working lately.

Shortly after 10pm, Fishbone entered the stage and began with a five minute long jazz improvisation which was followed by a couple of soulful tracks. Once they pumped up the volume with their upbeat cult hit “Alcoholic”, it was clear that the sextet is still crazy for mixing together every possible genre, and it’s their unpredictable behaviour that is one part of their fantastic live show. Maybe even more important is the fact that despite thirty years of band history, they are still close to their audience, jumping from stage, letting the audience sing into the microphone, giving the impression that they are on the same level as their fans, who by the way were mostly older than thirty years already. No kiddie stuff tonight!

After eighty minutes, the regular set was ended with Sunless Saturday (or was it the first encore… my memory has failed me), their über-hit from 1991, and despite its having an age that would count as grown up for people, it managed to get me to jump into an improvised moshpit, showing that nostalgia can sometimes be fun.

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