Today, I just wanted to share the best ever NSFW anti-trump rant by Angelo from Fishbone at their House of Independents(HOI) show last night. This newish club is now my favorite place to see “bigger” bands live in Asbury Park. I still dig the intimacy of places like APYC and the questionable sonic sound but when you have a 8-9 piece band with horns you seriously don’t want the experience to get lost in cacophony of noise and the sweet stench of cheap beers. Which reminds me I also dig that HOI serves local micro-brews up front and center from Dark City Brewing Company and Asbury Park Brewery and from I understand APB will be available in cans! I think in life fishbone shows have always been fun and life affirming, having seen them over a dozen times since 1987 or so. Only one oldschoolCity Gardens chump got ousted early on in their set by the bouncers until Angelo told them to chill and let people dance and have fun. There may have been a 10 year old kid body surfing and one of the other dad’s made a frowny tisk tisk emoji beard face.
I only got to shoot these two videos for the Review Stalker YouTubes on my iPhone, which the channel almost bizarrely has 500 subscribers for some reason which I think maybe it’s the DJ Red Alert video with over 100,000 listens! crazy contributing to that math.
Anyway, I really wanted to enjoy and dance my freakin’ ass/feet off a little bit- and that I did. I also managed to live stream a couple songs on my personal facebooks and instagram because I’m loco. I’m sure I’ll pay for the bandwidth usage later.
Fishbone is still one of the best bands in not only America but the whole wide World in my humblest of opinions. So go see them in this lifetime soon. Before the show Angelo being the gentleman and showman he is spent time with fans signing autographs and hanging out. Seriously their fuck racism tees are awesome and you can give people a little of your mind with their classic t-shirt online here.
This next one is so Bootsy Collins with Norwoods getting crazy ass bass sounds you couldn’t help but funk it up and shake your booty thing. Man I wish the sound was better but listen to that bass! I can do so much better magic with my NJ based video production company VLHfilms.com for live bands on a budget but alas I was really at House of Independents to get my groove on.
Fuck you #Sandy the #frankenstorm. To hell with everybody who keeps ignoring global warming issues in politics and not trying to reduce your global footprint somehow. We’re all guilty of this in many ways. I hope we survive this natural disaster and it does not become some apocalyptic scene. Anyway here’s a playlist of a bunch of songs about inclement weather, rain, sleet, floods and snow to help you brave this situation.
Playlist for badweather:
01. Smells Like Rain MP3 by Unsane from Occupational Hazard (1998) When i think of storms and chaos sometimes i think of the walls of guitar gutter these guys create.
02. Raincoat’s Room MP3 by Swell Maps from Jane From Occupied Europe (1980) An instrumental jam that sets up mood. Amazing record all around of an indie guitar sound that has not changed much since.
03. Rain Test MP3 by Aviso’Hara from Our Lady of the Highway (2001) A slow jam with best line from a movie. “Give me the strength to die well” Name that movie!?
04. Date With The Rain MP3 by Frankie Gee from Groove Merchant Turns 20 compilation. This is a funky one. We’re not just noise blog here. We like the funk the boogie.
05. Seven Seas MP3 by Echo and The Bunnymen from Ocean Rain (1984) This originally came out while I was in freaking just in Highschool but it’s such a stand-up album all the way . Great live band too.
06. Thunderstorm MP3 by the original Buzzkill from their first full length CD release I feel like myself again This is dirgy punk. “This is a stormy Monday and everyday after that!” Good mosh-part at the end.
07. Rain MP3 by Bongwater from Double Bummer CD on Shimmy Disc (1988) Is this really a cover written by John Lennon & Paul McCartney? I just know this is one of my favorite NYC bands from the 1980s. Period.
08. Pouring Rain MP3 by Fishbone from Truth & Soul (1988) This is one of their slow soul jams that really shows how this band could groove. Also another amazing live band that I saw about 8x I think in their heyday. Still awesome now. So check them out. Nobody makes music like Angelo and his boys.
09. The Waves MP3 by The Draymin from their new one Should’ve Known Better (2012) This is particular tune is very alternative grunge. Nice acoustic song with great singing. Check them out.
10. Rain Bird MP3 by Love & Rockets from Earth * Sun * Moon (1987) There is used to be this dark band called Bauhaus. this is an off-shoot of that. The music was always ethereal, dark and inspired. File under #Goth
11. Behold The Hurricane MP3 by The Horrible Crowes from Elsie (2011) Would be almost impossible for this band not to sound like the Gaslight Anthem no matter what Brian Fallon does. Good songs on this record.
Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone (Cinema Guild) tells the tale of how Norwood Fisher (Bass/Vocal – 1979 present) and Angelo Moore (Vocals/Sax 1979 -present) kept Fishbone together since the beginning to present day. Being a white suburban punk I was lucky enough to have caught them from the onset of their journey. Can’t say I stayed dedicated their whole career but with respect I went on to do my thing and thanks to them discovered a lots music with a open mind. This documentary features a slattering of rock star power and fandom from Iced-T, to Flea, Mike Watt, to Vernon Ried talking about how for them Fishbone set the bar. Watching this I quickly reminded how Norwood exploited the bass with his own funkiness as if it owed him which affected me in many ways when I started learning the instrument. Their energy was so influential to my sense of what a good time at show is; it still to this day is a feeling that’s never been topped by any other live band except for maybe Jane’s Addiction and a couple others. They set the bar so high that even they can’t seem to reach the altitude again and this documentary does a great job of portraying this wall of talent. There is hope as well from the underside of the “rock” dream where the notion conflicts with a bunch talented guys who slowly dispersed with having a hard time of finding acceptance even amongst their own culture. Laurence Fishburne says it best “They brought the funk to the punk”. If you ever wondered how a Artist works through their broken dreams this film gives you a hard glimpse into this world of break-downs and the insanity of it all. Unfortunately depending on your greatness it’s a intense journey that some artist don’t survive. In the end you’re rooting for them hoping the original line-up can get back together to make another record or play one mother fucking amazing show.
Give It Up MP3 by Fishbone from In Your Face (1987)
A few of the bands in the documentary: Organic Anti-Beat Box Band MP3 by Red Hot Chili Peppers from The Uplift Mofo Party Plan (1987) Group Sex MP3 by Circle Jerks (1980) Up The Beach MP3 by Jane’s Addiction from Nothing Shocking (1988)
“It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.” -Seneca
I was wondering that there really are no new and worthy protest songs these days. It was cool that Jeff Magnum used the Wall Street Protest as a platform to make for a good street acoustic performance but really there is no new content to speak of. Ken Kesey, Joe Strummer, U2 and REM said their thing decades ago. So it seems that protesting is for people who don’t work (can I protest that too? ). I know that they more than likely are students or don’t have jobs for one reason or another but considering how fast the social media pace works who knows if we’ll ever hear a good protest song. The messages are mixed and are quickly being simplified into a media meme. Airline pilots and unions are taking the opportunity to revitalize their platforms and take stand against the very reason they should exist. “Shit the government should be able to balance a fucking check-book right” said one angry black man in a viral video I saw. A blessing really that this small army of individuals decided to take a stand because there is a reason we don’t put regular Joe’s in charge of the masses but then again we elected one and he’s been getting crush by perception. Really a big challenge considering we’ve let the financial system of lobbyist be in control for quite some time. Our “leaders” have been letting the people get ripped-off for quite sometime so it’s really a matter of time before our blood runs out or has it already? I think the transfusion is over and this is the tipping point. There are things you while being inspired by music that you can do. Maybe something as simple as switching your money from one of the big four banks to a smaller local bank so you don’t incur a service fee to keep more some of your money or live by cash and not use the convenience of credit cards. Buy what you can truly afford to buy. Although I would like to error on the side of some guy yelling at me with me a megaphone to be complacent. The actions can be subtle. One tactic that might work my dear sheeple is to just do something in your own private way is the point. I mean seriously when is the last time you gave a cop a hug or gave a complete stranger a random act of kindness. I think we just all really want the opportunity to have the things we want but without rules that govern those that have everything. How can we all exist is metaphorical slaves of the machine? This is a class war and the ironic part is that those with very little think they are one of them and that’s just shows you how stupid the masses can be convinced by things that don’t matter in the end.
City Gardens Riot on The Dance Floor film skate deck
As hard as we may try to write about new music the past keep coming up again and again like unwanted overgrown hair and reminds me just how truly awesome things were way back when the slang “that was so 10 minutes ago…” never crossed our minds because the landscape of haircuts were so diverse from band to band and scene to scene. We were constantly consuming so much great music at such a rate that personally I think you’d be a fool to stay affiliated to any one genre of music but lets just say punk and alternative music encompassed everything. Including the Skinheads, Skate punks, Ska fans, hardcore fans and metal kids all under one roof.
From about 1986 through 1995 or so I used to go to as many shows as I could at City Gardens in Trenton, NJ which was as dangerous as Newark. A couple times my friends and I showed up to a $5 show like Fugazi and it was just sold out with a line still wrapped around the 1,100 capacity cinder block club. This was pre-internet so the only way you’d ever know about a show in my area was by word of mouth or from a flyer. The best part was the diversity of bands that Randy Now used to book anywhere from The Ramones to Robyn Hitchcock to 24/7 Spyz. This club is where I stage dove for the first and the last time to Fishbone. I got kicked out of the club after falling on my back then paid my way back in again to see the rest of the show from the sidelines. Luckily it was raining and I convinced the door guy it was not sweat but I was just wet. I still think my back cricks from that fall but regardless it was so worth being part of historic venue and experience of really being in the mix at a live show.
There are a little under 5 days left to donate anywhere from $25 to as much as you want to become either a Crowd Surfer or attain Club Owner status over on Kickstarter page to help bring the story of City Gardens and Randy Now to the screen in the flick Riot On The Dance Floor. The more dough the better the soundtrack will be for this movie which; will help Director Steve Tozzi bring this film truly to life. Anyway, here’s some bands I can remember seeing and as I write I keep thinking of more bands I saw play there.
Some bands I saw at City Gardens: good clean fun MP3 by Descendents from I don’t want to grow up Knock It MP3 Fishbone from In Your Face (1986) I Just Want Some Skank | Beverly Hills MP3 by Circle Jerks from Group Sex The Godfather MP3 Dag Nasty from Wig-out at Denko’s (dischord) Turned Out MP3 The Rollins Band from Lifetime (1988) My Wife and My Dead Wife MP3 by Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians from Fegmania! (1985) Waiting Room MP3 Fugazi from 13 Songs Monkey Trick MP3 The Jesus Lizard from Goat Ocean Size MP3 by Jane’s Addiction from Nothing Shocking Hands All Over MP3 by Soundgarden from Louder Than Love We Care A Lot (Slash Version) | Epic MP3 by Faith No More from This is it These two songs pretty much almost demolished the building. I remembering back at the bar trying to get drink and then running right into the mosh-pit when they played Epic. Fun times.
There are bunch more bands of lesser status but none-the less of same level of importance so maybe I’ll do a follow-up post of tunes. I know I’m leaving out a few or at least ones I know I saw!
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