First, let me say that I hate this venue for rock shows. It's a basketball gym. The sound is so bouncy it's hard to really hear any nuance...
I first saw The FFB at the Cocoanut Grove decades ago. I remember a friend/co-worker recommended we go and he passed away in 2000, so this had to have been mid-90's. I saw them again about 20 years ago at Palookaville in Santa Cruz (one of the best sounding venues). They opened with Thela Hun Gingeet by King Crimson, played some Primus and a bunch of other covers and then ended the first set with Shine On You Crazy Diamond. It was a great first set. After intermission, they came back on stage. Didn't say anything, and then performed Pink Floyd's Animals in its entirety. It was awesome!
So when I saw the announcement that they were back after 20 years and touring Animals again, I had to see it. It turns out that in this lineup of the band, Sean Lennon is on guitar. I dragged my neighbor along. We got there a little late as parking in downtown SC is a bitch. Fishbone had already started, but we probably only missed one song. They played a bunch of songs that I didn't know. I'm sure they were great, but we could barely hear the guitar or Angelo's various saxes. He had 5 or 6 going from tiny to very large. In one song, he switched from the tenor or bass sax to the tiny soprano, mid song. They also dragged out the theremin for him and he made noises with it on several songs. They played Everyday Sunshine, then a couple more that I didn't know. Then then ended with Party At Ground Zero. They have so much energy, but that was it. No encore.
Then, after setting the stage, the FFB came out. Keyboardist, drummer, and vibes player all sporting pith helmets. Sean in a leather motorcycle jacket and captain's hat a la Rob Halford. No Thelma Hun Gingeet. Actually nothing I recognized. They played quite a while and it was really hot, so we stepped out to the lobby to buy some water. When we got thru the line, they had already played Pigs on the Wing Pt I and we're on to Dogs. The rest of the set was great. Such a great album to hear live. Sean was a serviceable David Gilmore. Various members taking on the vocal part for different songs. They played a few more songs and ended the set. They came out for an encore and played two more songs. I didn't recognize either, but the second one was very droney, Within You Without You-esque. They brought out a special guest (we couldn't see who it was as they were all backlit and just silhouettes, but he was a big man with dreads). Sean introduced him as an old friend. He played an instrument that looked like a bunch of vertical pipes of various lengths. We couldn't hear what he was playing very well, but it sounded a bit like a harmonica or an accordion. Later he switched to flute. Angelo from Fishbone came out and played sax or theremin on a couple of songs. They all looked like they were enjoying themselves.
All in all, a fun time out, but mostly for Animals.
On other dates of this tour, Adrian Belew and Jerry Harrison's Remain In Light show is joining as the middle act between Fishbone and FFB. That would have been awesome and I'm sad they didn't play this date.
--tg
I first saw The FFB at the Cocoanut Grove decades ago. I remember a friend/co-worker recommended we go and he passed away in 2000, so this had to have been mid-90's. I saw them again about 20 years ago at Palookaville in Santa Cruz (one of the best sounding venues). They opened with Thela Hun Gingeet by King Crimson, played some Primus and a bunch of other covers and then ended the first set with Shine On You Crazy Diamond. It was a great first set. After intermission, they came back on stage. Didn't say anything, and then performed Pink Floyd's Animals in its entirety. It was awesome!
So when I saw the announcement that they were back after 20 years and touring Animals again, I had to see it. It turns out that in this lineup of the band, Sean Lennon is on guitar. I dragged my neighbor along. We got there a little late as parking in downtown SC is a bitch. Fishbone had already started, but we probably only missed one song. They played a bunch of songs that I didn't know. I'm sure they were great, but we could barely hear the guitar or Angelo's various saxes. He had 5 or 6 going from tiny to very large. In one song, he switched from the tenor or bass sax to the tiny soprano, mid song. They also dragged out the theremin for him and he made noises with it on several songs. They played Everyday Sunshine, then a couple more that I didn't know. Then then ended with Party At Ground Zero. They have so much energy, but that was it. No encore.
Then, after setting the stage, the FFB came out. Keyboardist, drummer, and vibes player all sporting pith helmets. Sean in a leather motorcycle jacket and captain's hat a la Rob Halford. No Thelma Hun Gingeet. Actually nothing I recognized. They played quite a while and it was really hot, so we stepped out to the lobby to buy some water. When we got thru the line, they had already played Pigs on the Wing Pt I and we're on to Dogs. The rest of the set was great. Such a great album to hear live. Sean was a serviceable David Gilmore. Various members taking on the vocal part for different songs. They played a few more songs and ended the set. They came out for an encore and played two more songs. I didn't recognize either, but the second one was very droney, Within You Without You-esque. They brought out a special guest (we couldn't see who it was as they were all backlit and just silhouettes, but he was a big man with dreads). Sean introduced him as an old friend. He played an instrument that looked like a bunch of vertical pipes of various lengths. We couldn't hear what he was playing very well, but it sounded a bit like a harmonica or an accordion. Later he switched to flute. Angelo from Fishbone came out and played sax or theremin on a couple of songs. They all looked like they were enjoying themselves.
All in all, a fun time out, but mostly for Animals.
On other dates of this tour, Adrian Belew and Jerry Harrison's Remain In Light show is joining as the middle act between Fishbone and FFB. That would have been awesome and I'm sad they didn't play this date.
--tg
