If there is one band that has spent the last forty years flipping a massive, middle-finger to the rules of conventional music, it is the absolute legends in Fishbone.
These boys didn’t just break the mold when they burst out of South Central Los Angeles back in 1979—they blew it to pieces, swept up the debris, and used it to build a completely new sonic monster. Fusing punk, ska, funk, metal, and soul into a hyper-kinetic weapon, they created the foundational blueprint that launched a thousand bands. Without them, the alternative landscape of the '90s simply doesn't exist. But while their studio records are undisputed masterpieces, anyone in the global heavy army knows that the true church of Fishbone is found live on stage. It's a place where gravity is merely a suggestion and frontman Angelo Moore rules over the chaos like a mad scientist.
Now, pack your bags and get ready, because the pioneers are heading back down under this September for a massive national headline tour. This isn't just any regular run of dates, either. The band is celebrating the massive 40th anniversary of their iconic debut studio album, In Your Face. For the old-school Aussie punters who remember the sweat-soaked, ceiling-shattering energy of their legendary tours here in the early 1990s, this is the ultimate homecoming. For the younger generation of heavy music fans, this tour is a rare, front-row masterclass in pure, unadulterated live performance from the absolute architects of the fusion genre.
The hype surrounding this run is reaching a boiling point. With founding keyboardist and trombone player Christopher Dowd firmly back in the mix, Fishbone recently snapped a nearly twenty-year recording drought with their stellar EP, Stockholm Syndrome. The new material proves the creative fire between Moore and Dowd is burning just as fiercely and subversively as it did in the 1980s. This upcoming Australian campaign promises a blistering collision of pure nostalgia and modern aggression, tearing through the hits of In Your Face while unleashing the biting, socially conscious tracks of their modern era.
Ahead of what promises to be an absolute series of masterclasses at historic rooms like Melbourne's 170 Russell and Sydney's Liberty Hall, HEAVY caught up with the incomparable Angelo - aka Dr. MadVibe himself - to get the lowdown. In true Angelo style, he holds nothing back as we dive deep into the endurance of Fishbone’s message, re-igniting the spark with original members, and exactly what happens when one of the most volatile live acts in rock history collides with the notoriously wild Australian crowd. Strap themselves in, heavy music fans, because this one is going to be special.
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