|
Taken from The Austin Chronicle (Feb 14, 2022)
Angelo Moore & More
The Art Of Never Giving Up
by Gary Lindsey
Brand New Step, with Angelo Moore pictured in the center. (Photo courtesy of Kris Jensen) |
It's below freezing on a Thursday and Austin's having its annual one day of true winter weather, which wouldn't be a huge deal were it not for the uncharacteristic two weeks of winter weather that brought life here to a halt last year. Caught off guard once, few are taking chances this time around.
The Continental Club, knowing how Texans react to snow, has closed its two sibling bars, the Gallery and C-Boys, for the evening. Even the headlining band for tonight's show stayed home. Literally, the one and only reason that the South Congress hotspot had their doorman, sound-person, and two bartenders put on pants and brave the elements was for the one band that I'm here to see.
You see, tonight isn't just another local, wide-brim, pearl snap, progressive honky-tonk band looking to score some free IPA and a possible record contract, this is Angelo Moore of the legendary underground phenomenon Fishbone, having flown from Los Angeles to do this show with one of his many projects: Angelo Moore & the Brand new Step.
I was lucky enough to first discover Fishbone pretty early on, both in my life and in their careers. In 1987 they came through Chicago with the Beastie Boys - who were headlining their first national tour supporting the breakout monster Liscened to Ill - and the legendary beer spitting, BBQ describing New York hardcore outfit Murphy's Law. Already a huge fan of Murphy's Law and the Beasties, I had never heard of Fishbone, so I asked my best friend and punk mentor Kevin Cahill about them.
"They're ska," he said.
"Ska?" I replied, "What's Ska?" (remember this was 1987, that word was still exotic to a 17-year-old)
"It's a form of Jamaican music that's popular in England right now," he said.
"Oh, ok, Ska, got it." I said, shrugging it off and refocusing my attention on Murphy's Law, whose set was eventually cut short by security for being too rowdy.
If they only knew what was about to happen.
Fishbone comes out to fill the time void created by the early departure of Murphy's Law and quickly starts to play a mid-tempo, jazzy interlude that has me scratching my head. I had just finished watching a hardcore punk band, and now I'm waiting for a hip-hop band, where did this jazz-fusion band with a horn section come from?
As the warm, infectious melody floated along, it started to create a surprisingly comfortable vibe amongst the mostly teenage crowd who, like me, came to declare that we were armed and ready to join the monumental fight, for our inalienable right, to paaarrrrrrrrrrty.
Then suddenly, without pause or warning, the song stops dead and the entire frontline of the band scream into their microphones, in perfect unison, "PARTY AT GROUND ZERO, A "B" MOVIE STAR IN YOU, AND THE WORLD WILL TURN TO FLOWING PINK VAPOR STEW.... WAAAAHHHHH," and the place just explodes!
For the next half hour the entire band is a nonstop bullet-train of so many genres that I can't even comprehend what's happening - all I know is that I'm in. Every band member is dancing, jumping, stage diving, throwing instruments 20 feet in the air and soon it's hard to tell the difference between the band and the crowd. It was the craziest mix of music and chaos I had ever experienced and I was hooked.
That was 35 years ago. Suffice it to say, I no longer expect- nor do I seek- that kind of intensity at the shows I attend. Which brings me back to the Continental Club on that frozen night two weeks ago.
Angelo Moore & the Brand New Step is completely in time with my present step. A bit slower in speed, but a lot broader in range. Trading in the hyper-energy outlet of a mosh pit for a richer, deeper appreciation of different styles of music, and recognizing the necessity of it's cross fertilization in order to create tomorrow's music.
"All I want to do is everything you've never done," is what Kris Jensen, the Austin-based lead guitarist and cofounder of BNS, told Moore when they decided to take this project to the next level.
Jensen met Moore on a "musical blind date", as he put it, after seeing the Fishbone documentary, Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone in San Francisco in 2012. "When I saw it... he just blew me away," Jensen reminisced. "And I met him and Norwood [Fisher] after the movie, and I was like 'Fuck, this guy is amazing.'"
Coincidentally, at that same time, Jensen was struggling with a song he had written, but couldn't seem to come up with the lyrics for and while mentioning this dilemma to his producer and keyboard player he said, "Man I would love to get Angelo on this song," to which his friend wisely replied, "Well, just call him."
I asked Moore if it was strange getting a call from a complete stranger, with no real musical history or releases to his name, offering to fly him to San Francisco from Los Angeles and work on a song he'd never heard, with no idea of when or where it would or could actually be released. He calmly replied, "It's not that Strange. To always be able to have an option to do something different is always a blessing. Ya know, to get a fresh breath of air, to get a brand new step. Everybody deserves a brand new step in life and I got mine with this band."
Never phoning it in, and never short on showmanship, Moore takes the Continental stage and assumes complete control.
"Y'all ready to have some fun?" he calls out to an enthusiastic response from the scattering of dedicated fans who, although were light in numbers, managed to keep the bartenders busy with their appreciation for making this show happen. We were now all in this together, united in our shared experience of ignoring the elements, in the name of good music, good times, and most importantly a group history of good taste.
The sound is perfect and by the third song nobody is motionless. The slow, persistent keyboard-driven groove of "Karma Cashback" has the crowd possessed as the intensity builds while Moore sings of lessons learned and the price you pay for youthful indiscretions. As the energy increases with every song, so does the temperature and, within 30 minutes or so, the very idea of an ice-storm happening right outside has melted away.
In the absence of the headliner, BNS graciously plays for over two hours, the highlight being when Moore stepped down from the stage into the crowd, leading the entire audience in a dance created for the band's namesake song, "Brand New Step."
"Take a little step to the east, for freedom and for peace... Take a little step to the west, for flavor and for passion," Moore energetically intones, creating a beautifully surreal scene somewhere between Saturday Night Fever and The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Watching this legendary frontman - whose history lies mostly in aggressive underground music - soulfully gliding across the world renowned dance floor which often rattles to the rhythm of a two-step or a boot scoot, I can't help but to admire the tireless charisma of Angelo Moore and his ability to unite these once separate worlds.
Crowds and fashions will always come and go, but true talent, good energy and an open mind will never stop making the world a better place.
One show at a time.
|
