Today’s story is about more than a song. It’s about an entire concert of songs. Specifically the first concert I ever attended. Fishbone is a Los Angeles band that plays ska, punk, funk, and alternative rock. At the time I saw them in concert, they were touring behind their most commercially-successful album, The Reality of My Surroundings, which contained the single:
Everyday Sunshine
It was November 1991. I had just turned 18, and was a freshman in college. And I may be wrong, but a majority of the student body of the College of William & Mary joined a caravan to Norfolk to see Fishbone and Primus in concert. I had six people in my car alone.
Now, this wasn’t the very first time I saw a live music performance. I’d been to gigs for kids and families, seen jazz and world beat acts play at First Night, and even a group of Beatles impersonators play en plein air. But this was my first REAL concert. And as first concerts go, it kind of spoiled me for concerts.
The venue was The Boathouse which was literally a boathouse on a pier in the Elizabeth River of Norfolk. The low ceilings, wooden pillars, and chicken wire fences only added to the clausterphobic crush of the crowd packed within. Nevertheless, my companions and I made our way to the area in front of the stage known as the pit.
Do kids these days still mosh? Because it was 1991, and that’s what did, slamming bodies into one another for the two plus hours that Primus and Fishbone played. The dense crowd actually helped here because the bodies absorbed the shock. It was more dangerous at the edge of the crowd where a mosher could find themselves violently thrown across the room. There was also body surfing. I tried it, but being tall and heavy, I was not easy to support and soon found myself heading head first toward the cement floor. My downward progress was blessedly stopped within an inch of contact. I didn’t try again.
At a point during “Everday Sunshine,” Fishbone’s lead singer Angelo Moore jumped into the crowd, climbed up into the rafters, dangled upside down by his legs, and initiated everyone in the room into the Fishbone Family. I assume I’m still a member all these years later
2019 Blogging A to Z Challenge – A Song and a Story
A: Always on My Mind
B: Baby Come Back and Baker Street
C: Cheek to Cheek
D: Don’t Worry, Be Happy and Doctor Jones
If you want to read more, check out my previous Blogging A to Z Challenges:
- 2016: A journey through my neighborhood of Jamaica Plain in Boston.
- 2017: A spontaneous photograph each day.
- 2018: Watched and reviewed documentary movies.
And dig deep into Panorama of the Mountains, by checking out my:
- Book Reviews
- Movie Reviews
- Beer Reviews
- Music Reviews and Writing
- City Stories, expository writing about my experiences in various cities
And, if you like Doctor Who, I have a whole ‘nother blog where I review Doctor Who stories across media: Epic Mandates.
Panorama of the Mountains 