Celebrating Mardi Gras with Fishbone

The first annual Mud & Water Mardi Gras ball happens this Friday night (2/8) and will feature Los Angeles ska/punk/funk legends Fishbone, a band whose party ethic and epic horn section make them much more suited to lead a Mardi Gras celebration than it would seem at first glance.

Fishbone formed in Los Angeles is 1979 when it’s members were high school classmates. They gained notoriety working their way through the LA club scene along with friends like The Red Hot Chili Peppers in the early to mid eighties, and signed a major label recording contract with Columbia Records, releasing their first LP In Your Face in 1997 and embarking on their first international tour opening for The Beastie Boys.

In the early 90’s the band gained wider recognition as an emerging force on the alternative rock scene, touring nationally with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and adding more soul, rock, and metal elements to their unique funk and ska based musical gumbo, and also tending more towards socially driven subject matter with songs that delved into matters of race, class, and other issues in their native city around the time of the L.A. riots.

The band retains 3 of it’s 6 original members and have, in addition to their own 7 studio albums, recorded with a wide variety of artists like Little Richard, George Clinton, Gwen Stefani, and HR of Bad Brains. The band has appeared as a musical guest on Saturday Night Live, and also had one of their music videos (Sunless Saturday) directed by Spike Lee. Former Miles Davis sideman John Bigham was part of the band for 7 years before leaving to pursue other creative interests.

The band was deeply involved in the making of the 2010 documentary Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone, which garnered a significant amount of critical acclaim, and a dozen awards for Best Documentary at various film festivals across the country. The film is narrated by Laurence Fishburne and features interviews with George Clinton, Ice-T, Flea, Gwen Stefani, Les Claypool and Branford Marsalis talking about the band’s influence on them and culture at large.

Although I haven’t seen them live since my awkward years (1993 or 94 I think), I can say without hesitation that these guys are not only of huge cultural importance, they are also the utmost of professional party starters, and anyone with even a passing interest in music would be foolish to miss the opportunity to see them perform at such an intimate venue.

Fishbone at Mud and Water’s Mardi Gras Ball, Friday, February 8 @ 8PM. For tickets click here.