Fishbone Celebrates 20th Anniversary of Alex’s Bar

I heard Fishbone would be playing the 20th Anniversary party for Alex’s Bar and The Delirians would be playing support. The Delirians begin their set promptly at 3:30 and had everyone in attendance groovin to their reggae-infused sound.

At 5:30, the great and mighty Fishbone crashed the stage. Lead singer Angelo Moore is a master performance artist and easily one of my favorite frontmen to see perform live on stage.  This guy is a legend, and Norwood is beyond legend on the bass guitar. I’ve seen him deliver a dynamite performance even with his wrist in a cast. The anticipation grew over who would be the new guitarist since the split of John Bigham. In walked Mark Phillips who the fans loved tonight, and he played amazingly. He nailed the ‘Problems Arise’ solo, and the sold-out venue was skanking and dancing the moment Fishbone hit the stage. It’s always nice to see Cheyenne Moore skanking, and of course Michele Harper.

When they began their set, Moore said on the microphone “We’re gonna take you on a bus, the slow bus movin’, we’re gonna take you thru the ghetto and the valley, the inner city bus, back to the 1940s, 50’s Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, the Ku Klux Klan,” and went into Slow Bus. Slow Bus takes me back to Tapeheads.

They played a setlist of classics from Reality of My Surroundings, and Truth and Soul. For the encore Fish came up from the drums to the microphone standing at the front of the stage and paid tribute to the late Neil Peart. It was a very touching moment. They wrapped the show with Party At Ground Zero. A fitting way to celebrate the anniversary of Long Beach’s beloved Alex’s Bar.