Customer Reviews

Fishbone Live

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This is Fishbone's first official live DVD. And it inevitably raises questions : What went wrong that we had to wait a good 20 years before this finally happens when Fishbone has always been labelled as the ultimate live act whose records never really matched their stage energy ? Isn't it too late now that the glorious lineup of the early 90s has mostly disbanded and the two remaining original members, Angelo Moore and Norwood Fisher are well into their 40s ?

Answering the first question is almost impossible : Fishbone's errance in the show business is probably a good showcase of everything that can go wrong. My love for Fishbone, besides their incredible music, mainly comes from the fact that when 99.9% of all other bands, confronted whit the same hardship would have called it quits, Fishbone rebounded over and over and is still around today.

Is this DVD still relevant ? Yes ! Of course, the Fishbone of 2009 is no longer the same as in 1991, but it matured like good wine, without diluting the sound nor the energy. To the fans left behind in the mid 90s, this DVD is a great testimony that not only Fishbone is not dead, but it's still red hot as ever. For those who have sticked with the band and all the musical paths they followed in the last 15 years, this live DVD is a must, if only for one thing, because for once Rocky George (guitars) is not buried in the mix. I must have seen 6 or 7 shows with Rocky on guitars, and it's the first time he's audible. (And clearly I'll have to stay in front of his amps next time!). Actually, the whole audio mix is perfect (I have yet to watch the DVD in a decent 5.1 home theater, though), well balanced without being too clean. For sure, this is a live recording of Fishbone without nets. The editing is nervous and generous. It makes you feel right in the center of the Rock School Barbey, Bordeaux, France, where it was shot in april 2008. The DVD is true to the general mayhem that Fishbone produces on and off stage.

In my view, the song selection is the main compromise of the DVD. It's a best of selection spanning all of Fishbone's career, but four songs had to be dropped for the final 2h10 mix which could have balanced the impression... But all the songs here deserve on their own right their presence on the DVD. This will be the only small spoiler: the Flamenco-Punk Servitude finale is incredible.

The object itself is a nicely packaged double digipack with a companion audio CD with a subset of the songs on the DVD and an 8 page booklet. The DVD is NTSC and can be viewed on any system, has no zone restriction, and both stereo and 5.1 dolby surround sound.

Is this the ultimate Fishbone live DVD, probably not, but a centerpiece in a quadrilogy featuring these other DVDs: Critical Times, from the (infamous) Hen House Studio Sessions, the upcoming Everyday Sunshine documentary and the underground Live at Warfield PPV bootleg from 1991.

Sometime, in 1993 there was an interview with Angelo and Norwood
and Ricky Rrachtman posed the question."Is it hard to get black
kids to listen to rock?"I forgot the rest of the interview but that
question seemed oblivious to me as thirteen-year old African American
with a shaven head.Black rock musician's have long been ignored for
not only their brilliance, but their contribution for the American music
scene in general.
However it's too bad a home is often found beyond our shores.

This dvd will be at the top of my viewing list for some time to come!!!

Have No Fear, this is a must-buy! If you're reading this, then you have enough curiosity to welcome the uniqueness of Fishbone and fully appreciate this long-overdue CD/DVD set. The packaging is attractive. The performance is energetic. The song selection hits the highlights from their archives and still squeezes in a few gems from their latest CD, Still Stuck in Your Throat (an instant Fishbone classic, don't miss it). The sound is good. When viewed on computer, the video and audio hold up; can't wait to check this out on the home system. The editing & video production overall is high-quality but with a sense of rawness that appropriately reflects the atmosphere of the venue -- There's enough camera movement to keep things interesting while generally avoiding the nausea-inducing shakey-cam techniques in favor of smooth camera movements. It's great to see the crowd bum-rushing the stage and leaping into the front rows for a body-surfing "Swim" (But somebody get that dude off the stage during "Cholly"). Thanks to Fishbone for still being FISHBONE after all these years! Please don't make us wait another 20 years for the next professionally-shot official live recording (Cough - Blu-Ray - Cough Cough)!