Archive for the ‘Fishbone’ tag
Fishbone Is (Still) Red Hot
From the first moment I experienced the band Fishbone I immediately recognized they were perhaps the most unique band in the known universe. Their seemingly boundless balls-to-the-wall energy and their blend of funk/punk/ska/metal/reggae twisted and altered my mind and left an indelible impression.
They never let up. They never disappointed. Every time I saw them was an amazing experience. They inspired and influenced a gazillion other bands, but no one has yet to equal their manic-ness plus their superb musicianship. The same was true in their later spin-off incarnation as Trulio Disgracious.
At the Mill Valley Film Festival last night, we got to see a new documentary about the band, Everyday Sunshine, followed by a concert at The Woods.
Narrated by Laurence Fishburne, it not only tells the story of how they formed and their career ups and downs, their idealism, internal struggles, etc. – it does so with a humor and grace rarely seen in this genre. Besides all the standard interviews and behind the scenes discussions and arguments, there is a beautiful, sometimes humorous, animation running throughout highlighting many events that they did not have pictures or video for.
Here’s the trailer:
The film also detailed what happened when the original guitar player, Kendall Jones, left the band and joined a pseudo-religious cult run by his Father, based near here in Novato, California. It explained how the band’s attempted intervention was turned into a charge of kidnapping by a ambitious district attorney – which was later completely thrown out by a jury.
After the film, there was a question and answer session where the filmmakers where joined by Angelo Moore and Kendall, who still resides here in Marin:
(l to r) Filmmakers Lev Anderson & Chris Metzler with Angelo & Kendall
Kendall was asked “What lesson did you learn?”
He replied, “Jesus Christ is no reason to leave a band.”
The concert was as good as any of their shows I’d seen. Their energy was amazing considering they’ve all aged a bit. The crowd moshed like crazy. It was obvious many folks had not done anything like that for a decade or more.
Kendall joined original members Norwood Fisher, Angelo Moore & Walter Kibby for the encore of Party At Ground Zero. Here’s an excerpt (sorry I did not record more, but I had to dance):
Here’s a medley of some other songs: