The Life and Loves of an Air Guitarist - Part 3
Fishbone
Between 1991 and 1995 there was a weekly late night TV show for hard rock fans called firstly “Raw Power”, then “Noisy Mothers”. One week they did a feature on “Funk Metal” which was a new popular genre at the time and showed a video by a band by Fishbone called “Sunless Saturday”. I was impressed and bought the CD single which had a list of tour dates in the UK with one being in Birmingham shortly after. I managed to convince a friend with a car to come along (and take me!) and was blown away! I don’t recall much of that first gig apart from not knowing any of the songs bar the two on the single and that it was a total assault on the eyes and ears as the band threw themselves and their equipment around the stage while playing an amazing mix of rock, punk, funk and ska.
A few years passed and the home computer age arrived for me and I discovered a group of people on the internet who were fans of Fishbone and had an email list – the Nuttwork Neighbourhood - and so my musical education kicked off again thanks to this international family but mainly a lad up in Nottingham called Simon Smith and his recommendations of some excellent Latin rock/hip hop music – bands such as Ozomatli, Sergeant Garcia and Orishas.
Finally Fishbone returned to Europe in 2002 and I was determined in see them as much as possible so in November it was Sunday in Nottingham, Monday in Birmingham and then the following weekend in Amsterdam! The latter was supposed to be a meeting of as many Euro fans as possible, a chance to spend the day with the band and get backstage. The previous year they had done a similar thing in LA – but had a beach BBQ after the gig.
I was offered a bed for the night in Amsterdam from someone I had only communicated with via email (well dodgy!) but Arno turned out to be like all the other members of the “Fishbone Familyhood” and a great bloke. However when I arrived in Amsterdam I discovered that his phone had been cut off and I had no address for him! A helpful lady at Tourist Information managed to track him down and we finally met up by describing what coats we were wearing and standing at the meeting point of the rail station! We spent the rest of the day with some others and Norwood Fisher, the bassist, his partner and their daughter both of whom I had met at the UK gigs. The gig itself was recorded and released as a DVD/CD combo and I can be seen a few times dancing at the front!
Because of the mixture of influences on the members of Fishbone their music was a varied mixture of styles which meant that their fans came to the band from different musical directions. Some, like me, were into Rock, others Punk, Funk or Ska and so you would be recommended other bands to listen to; this led me to the funk of George Clinton’s Funkadelic, FFF (French Funk Federation) and Weapon of Choice, the ska of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Mad Caddies and made me listen with open ears to the punk bands my brother used to like and I always hated, mainly The Clash.
The mixture also makes it difficult for some to “get into” Fishbone as one minute they can be doing a gentle ska song, then a manic punk/thrash metal number and then a funky one. This also makes it difficult for record companies to pigeon hole them! However they are an amazing live band with huge amounts of energy and enthusiasm. Many people have commented that Fishbone on a poor night can still be leagues above many bigger bands and it’s just a pity that bands which were influenced by them (Red Hot Chilli Peppers & No Doubt to name two) have gone on to big things while for various reasons Fishbone have not really got the fame they deserve – but then would they still be the same band?
Between 1991 and 1995 there was a weekly late night TV show for hard rock fans called firstly “Raw Power”, then “Noisy Mothers”. One week they did a feature on “Funk Metal” which was a new popular genre at the time and showed a video by a band by Fishbone called “Sunless Saturday”. I was impressed and bought the CD single which had a list of tour dates in the UK with one being in Birmingham shortly after. I managed to convince a friend with a car to come along (and take me!) and was blown away! I don’t recall much of that first gig apart from not knowing any of the songs bar the two on the single and that it was a total assault on the eyes and ears as the band threw themselves and their equipment around the stage while playing an amazing mix of rock, punk, funk and ska.
A few years passed and the home computer age arrived for me and I discovered a group of people on the internet who were fans of Fishbone and had an email list – the Nuttwork Neighbourhood - and so my musical education kicked off again thanks to this international family but mainly a lad up in Nottingham called Simon Smith and his recommendations of some excellent Latin rock/hip hop music – bands such as Ozomatli, Sergeant Garcia and Orishas.
Finally Fishbone returned to Europe in 2002 and I was determined in see them as much as possible so in November it was Sunday in Nottingham, Monday in Birmingham and then the following weekend in Amsterdam! The latter was supposed to be a meeting of as many Euro fans as possible, a chance to spend the day with the band and get backstage. The previous year they had done a similar thing in LA – but had a beach BBQ after the gig.
I was offered a bed for the night in Amsterdam from someone I had only communicated with via email (well dodgy!) but Arno turned out to be like all the other members of the “Fishbone Familyhood” and a great bloke. However when I arrived in Amsterdam I discovered that his phone had been cut off and I had no address for him! A helpful lady at Tourist Information managed to track him down and we finally met up by describing what coats we were wearing and standing at the meeting point of the rail station! We spent the rest of the day with some others and Norwood Fisher, the bassist, his partner and their daughter both of whom I had met at the UK gigs. The gig itself was recorded and released as a DVD/CD combo and I can be seen a few times dancing at the front!
Because of the mixture of influences on the members of Fishbone their music was a varied mixture of styles which meant that their fans came to the band from different musical directions. Some, like me, were into Rock, others Punk, Funk or Ska and so you would be recommended other bands to listen to; this led me to the funk of George Clinton’s Funkadelic, FFF (French Funk Federation) and Weapon of Choice, the ska of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Mad Caddies and made me listen with open ears to the punk bands my brother used to like and I always hated, mainly The Clash.
The mixture also makes it difficult for some to “get into” Fishbone as one minute they can be doing a gentle ska song, then a manic punk/thrash metal number and then a funky one. This also makes it difficult for record companies to pigeon hole them! However they are an amazing live band with huge amounts of energy and enthusiasm. Many people have commented that Fishbone on a poor night can still be leagues above many bigger bands and it’s just a pity that bands which were influenced by them (Red Hot Chilli Peppers & No Doubt to name two) have gone on to big things while for various reasons Fishbone have not really got the fame they deserve – but then would they still be the same band?
Labels: Fishbone, Funk, Funkadelic, No Doubt, Orishas, Ozomatli, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, rock, Sergeant Garcia, Ska, Weapon of Choice
posted by Colin | 12:24 PM
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