In The Clubs
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Slightly Stoopid with Fishbone
House of Blues, Anaheim,
Ca.
By Gary Schwind |
Slightly Stoopid kicked off their set with
their two drummers. The drummers came out and played for probably
three to five minutes before they were joined onstage by Miles and Kyle,
the dual bassist/guitarists. The crowd gave a louder cheer when the
drummers first appeared onstage than at any point during Fishbone’s set.
While that seemed unthinkable at first, it’s understandable because a lot
of the people that attended the show aren’t old enough to know who Fishbone
is.
Slightly Stoopid features a strong rhythm
section, which is a good thing considering that the rhythm section comprises
three-fourths of the band. However, the guitar is virtually the same
in every song, regardless of who’s playing. In fact, after about
six songs, I felt like I had heard Slightly Stoopid’s entire catalog.
That’s saying something because aside from hearing a few of their songs,
this was my introduction to the band.
I have to give credit to Slightly Stoopid
on several counts. They did engage the crowd and get people moving.
They are the first band I’ve ever seen whose vocalists switch back and
forth between the bass and guitar. And finally, these guys kept the
banter to a minimum and played a fairly tireless set, taking hardly any
time between songs. In the end though, I have to say I’m a little
disappointed. I’m not disappointed with the way they played, but
with how they advertise themselves. On their website, Slightly Stoopid
claim to fuse acoustic rock and blues with reggae, hip-hop and punk.
I heard a lot of alterna-reggae and punk but I didn’t hear anything
remotely bluesy. In fact, if you put Slightly Stoopid in a lineup
with 311 and Sublime, it would be hard to distinguish one from the other.
Fishbone opened with a lively set that
upstaged Slightly Stoopid. Of course, Fishbone isn’t your average
opening act. These guys have been around and they can upstage lots
of bands. One thing is for sure, Angelo Moore does not like to stand
still. He’s got some crazy legs when he dances. And the dude
is fit. He never stops moving but he’s never out of breath.
It’s especially impressive since he plays the saxophone.
Another thing about Angelo Moore is that
he can belt out a song. His voice filled the House of Blues seemingly
without any effort. The highlight of Fishbone’s set for me was when
Angelo broke out in some pretty convincing “Back in Black” lyrics during
“Alcoholic.”
You’d never know how good Fishbone’s set
was by watching the audience though. Despite Fishbone’s lively sound
and presentation, I think I could count on one hand the people that looked
interested and moved around a little. I give Fishbone a big thumbs-up.
Slightly Stoopid (The Ese Locos) on the other hand gets a fairly convincing
más o menos.
Oh yeah, and as Columbo says, “There is
just one more thing.” Fishbone was preceded by a DJ. Can someone
help me out here? What’s so interesting about a guy spinning records
and twiddling knobs? My buddy told me he likes DJs if they’re good.
Personally, I don’t think I would know a good DJ if it bit my nose.
Maybe someone can explain it to me.
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