The Wolves and the Fishes

I am a huge fan of a band called Fishbone, who are from the US and don't tour the UK/Europe that much - the last time was 2003. This year they are touring Europe with just two UK gigs; one in London and one as part of the Download Festival. I live in the midlands so London is over 2hrs drive away but it's not too bad a drive – and in 2002 I flew to Amsterdam to see them so it was easy in comparison!
This time Fishbone were playing in Highbury on the 8th June so I left work at 4pm and headed straight for London. I arrived outside the venue dead on 7pm which was when the doors opened so it was a quick trip to Subway and then into the venue.

At first it didn't bode well as the first support act "this is our first UK gig EVER - yeah!!" after every song were from Canada and I didn't think much of them. Also, the merchandise stall was manned by a French bloke who didn't have any Fishbone stock as the Fishbone bloke wasn't about! Eventually I got a t-shirt before Wolfunkind (the main support) came on.

Although I didn’t know what they were like I decided to stand at the front centre of the stage for Wolfunkind so that I would be in a good for when Fishbone came on.

I was well pleased that I did as Wolfunkind were excellent, playing some great funk metal. It turned out the drummer was the bloke on the merchandise stand and on stage wore just a pair of white y-front pants, the guitarist looked like a down and out in a suit, with a mass of messy hair and a beard, the bassist had a glitzy jacket on and the singer was dressed normally but with a cross in tape over his trouser front! O and they had three inflatable dolls on the stage!!

For their last song they were joined by Angelo Moore, the lead singer of Fishbone, who sang and then Rocky George (Fishbone guitarist) did an instrumental/jam with them.

In fact I liked them so much I bought a CD and t-shirt and intend to get the rest of their CD's! It's in French but check out their website as it has some audio clips.

www.wolfunkind.com

The road crew then started setting up the stage for Fishbone but there were problems with Angelo's Theremin and eventually the crew got him to come out and sort it. So he used that to start the set. I didn't get a set list but from what I remember (in no order) they did:-
Sunless Saturday
Face Plant
Ma & Pa
Subliminal Fascism
I like to hide behind my Glasses
Everyday Sunshine
The Suffering
Cheyenne Star Forever Moore
Alcoholic
Freyed F****n' Nerve Endings
Date rape

Face Plant was not on the set list but Norwood (bassist) decided to do it on the
spur of the moment I think.

I'd not seen the new line up before so I was looking forward to the extra horns and I wasn't disappointed. The mix wasn't good from the front but it was still a great gig. Everyone seemed happy although there were a few monitor/cable issues during the first few songs. Sound wise I think the current line up is the best since I saw them the first time about 10yrs ago.

http://www.fishbone.net/

after such a good gig the 135miles drive home flew past! And I’ve found out that they will both be back in the UK touring “in the fall”!

40 Facts about Colin

1. I was born on the 20th April 1966 6.15am
2. I was born in Stroud
3. I was named after my Canadian Uncle John Colin (1/1/22 - 04/32)
I share my birthday with: -
4. Hitler (1889)
5. Carmen Electra (1972)
6. Luther Vandross (1952)
7. Harold Lloyd (1893)
8. Jessica Lange (1949)
9. Ryan O’Neal (1941)
10. George Takei (Mr Sulu) (1940)
11. The Columbine school killings happened on my birthday
12. I’ve given 52 Blood donations
13. I’ve been with my partner Jane since 1992
14. Jane and I met on a blind date
15. I drove to Arctic Circle with Jane & her daughter Pippa in a 20yr old Mini Estate
16. Over the last few years I’ve lost 4.5st
17. I’ve owned 5 minis
18. My mini can be seen on the official video of the Mini’s 35th Anniversary
19. I’ve been escorted off the premises in my last three jobs
20. My first job was selling electrical goods in Woolworth’s including a Sinclair C5 electric “car”.
21. I’m a huge fan of the band Fishbone and travelled to Amsterdam to see them play
22. I’m briefly visible a couple of times on the Fishbone DVD of the Amsterdam gig
23. At one job my nickname was Veggie after I made a mistake and was asked if I was a vegetable
24. My longest non stop drive was from Inverness Hospital to Worcester (10hrs)
25. I hate Cherry and Marzipan
26. I love Pizza and Peanut Butter (not together, although….)
27. Desert Island book would be Stranger in a Strange Land
28. Favourite wild animal is the Humpbacked Whale
29. Second fave wild animal is the Manta Ray
30. Fave Holiday destination – Pine Tree’s Hotel, Ixia, Rhodes, Greece
31. On my birthday in 1972 Apollo 16 landed on the moon after engine trouble
32. I’m the only person to fail the B/Tec Diploma in Sciences at Worcester Technical College
33. I’ve never read or seen a Shakespeare play.
34. I initiated legal action against the Halifax Building Society and a date was set at the High Courts of Justice (Old Bailey) before they backed down.
35. I once had a pedestrian run into the side of my car in Kidderminster. He got up and ran off before I could stop and get out.
36. I’ve crashed my car into both a bus shelter and a bus itself (several years apart)
37. I’ve been stopped by the traffic police twice, both times no action was taken against me as the police were just bored and I had not broken any laws!
38. I worked at Misys for 10yrs and was given a crystal vase to “celebrate” this.
39. A week after my long service award I was given a written warning for not doing my job properly
40. I’ve driven my Mini around the Silverstone race circuit on two occasions as part of a parade.

In one Day

I recently turned 40 and I had a surprise birthday present off my partner Jane and it was …….a day trip to Iceland!

We got up at 3am Saturday to leave at 4am to check in at 5am for a 7am flight to Keflavik. It was only when we were on the plane itself that Jane told me what we were doing. We arrived at Keflavik 9am local time (GMT) and as the plane was just for the day trip we were organised into the different coach parties as there were several different excursions – we were in the “Whale Watching Only” group which was the smallest. We then drove to Keflavik harbour and got on the “Moby Dick”. This was a converted ferry although it looked more like a fishing boat to me! It wasn’t big whatever!

http://www.dolphin.is/

We had a three hour trip into the North Atlantic in temperatures that must have been sub zero and not helped by the rain and wind! Unfortunately we didn’t see any whales! But it was certainly an experience! And I would do it again.

After we got back it was on the coach and off to Reykjavik stopping off at a few sights on the way. By this time the sun was almost out! Our guide was very good and took us off the proper route to show us a few extra things which was an added bonus. We got to Reykjavik and had a short walk with the guide then 45mins to mooch on our own. Then it was back on the coach and to the airport. As we were part of an organised group and it was the same plane back (and only hand luggage allowed) we didn’t have to check in so it was straight onto the plane and sit in the same places.

We were given breakfast and evening meals on the plane which were good and Jane and I had a small bottle of Champagne each on the way out and two on the way back – which meant we had all the champagne on the plane! Apart from a toasted sandwich on the boat and a waffle at one of the stops that was all we eat – so we didn’t get a chance to try Icelandic food. Although we were expecting it to be VERY expensive most things didn’t seem to be that bad. The toastie was £2.50, the waffles about £3.50, petrol was £1.05 a litre, postcards were about 35p – so nothing was that much more than we would have paid in London. I think it shows how expensive this country has become!

All in all it was a great day and Jane and I want to go back for a longer trip – three/four days perhaps.