Thursday November 10 brought LA Ska/funk masters Fishbone back to Seattle. Their first concert here in more than two years. The show was a sell out and Seattle’s Crocodile Café was packed.
Fishbone is a very eclectic band as well as versatile Front man Angelo Moore played about three different types of saxophones and an instrument called a theremin. The latter is an electronic instrument played with no physical contact with it. Angelo looked like some demonic scientist concocting an evil experiment as he moved his hands over the instrument.
Guitarist Rocky George sported a four-inch high afro haircut and tortured the strings of his guitar, making them scream and wail throughout the entire show. Keyboardist Paul Hampton whipped his long locks about and wore dark glasses in white plastic frames.
A few times Angelo made political references at our recent unfortunate election results and said the election was a result of an overcast state of mind. He chanted Obama love, Trump hate, which led into their song Love Hate.
The aforementioned members weren’t the only lively ones. Trombonist Jay Armant strutted about the stage while blowing his horn before dashing back to his mic to perform harmonies.
Fishbone puts on one of the most amazing live performances of any band I’ve seen and I’ve seen many. They always play for more than two hours and they are truly a band that loves playing together and playing to an audience. The rest of Fishbone are, John Norwood Fisher on bass and vocals, Walter “Dirty Walt” Kibby on trumpet and vocals, and John “Wet Daddy” Steward on drums.
Opening the night was a band hailing from Central Oregon called Larry and His Flask. Oddly, no one the band is called Larry. These guys weren’t an opening act as much as they were a band sharing the bill with Fishbone. This is a very enthusiastic and energetic band, particularly bass player Jeshua Marshall. He hauled his stand-up bass all over the stage, often holding it above his head without missing a lick. His long bronze curls whipped about when they weren’t cascading down his back. Adding to his running back and forth across the stage, he kicked and leaped about like an acrobat. His brother Jamin was equally acrobatic as he slammed on a stand up drum kit. He often stood on it, towering above the stage. Good looks also run in this family and when they both took their shirts off it was be still my beating heart. The entire band are amazing performers and musicians and it was hard to know whom to watch as they were all doing crazy antics at any given time. They are also very versatile musicians as some members played more than one instrument. Jeshua swapped out his bass with banjo/trombone player Andrew Carew, then promptly walked off stage, along a rail about four inches wide and jumped into the audience, only to hop back on the stage moments later. The band also got political when Jamin stood on his kit and got everyone to yell, racism sucks. Larry and His Flask reminded me of a high powered steam locomotive, full of power and energy and also a lot of soul. Since they only live one state over, I hope they see fit to return to Seattle in the very near future. They were a blast. The rest of the band is, Ian Cook on guitar and vocals, Dalin Buckley on guitar and Kirk Skatvold I believe played mandolin and trumpet. The band did not return my message asking for clarification on who played what. I do highly recommend Larry and His Flask.
The sound was impeccable the whole night. The lighting however left something to be desired. Whoever thought it was a good idea to bathe dark skinned people in dark lights needs to think differently. At times during Fishbone some members almost became invisible. But this is a minor complaint. The performers put on stellar shows.
– Photos property of Holly Homan, all rights reserved.
