AD VENTURES ADVERTISING Angelo Moore, left, Norwood Fisher and John Steward of Fishbone.

’Bone’s back

The ska-funk band returns
with a new lineup

It seems that the "Party at Ground Zero" never stops for the guys of Fishbone. In trying to briefly speak to original member John Norwood (aka Norwood Fisher) from his cellphone during a late breakfast in a Lake Tahoe ski resort restaurant recently, it was tough to glean some new info from him in his condition, but needless to say, Norwood was looking forward to returning to "one of the most magnificent places on planet," complete with surf and "hot chicks."

Fishbone Where: Pipeline Cafe, 805 Pohukaina St. When: 8 p.m. today and tomorrow Tickets: $15 advance, $20 at the door; 18 and over Call: 589-1999

Regular island visitors since the late 1980s, the frenzied ska-funk band from Los Angeles -- led by original members Norwood and front wildman Angelo Moore -- follow up their December 2003 gig at Volcanoes Nightclub with two nights at Pipeline Cafe, starting tonight.

Since their previous visit, co-founder Walter Kibby and guitarist Spacey T have departed the 'Bone yard. The current incarnation of Fishbone includes guitarists Rocky George (who's become a regular since originally on loan from Suicidal Tendencies) and Tory Ruffin (The Time and Dru Hill), drummer John Steward, keyboardist D'Andre Gipson (who did a stint with Eek-A-Mouse), and Andre Holmes, whom Norwood calls "Padre -- he's a crazy (mofo), Rasputin the Crazed Monk, he does trumpet and vocal, and parties way too hard!"

While Norwood and Steward have a side project band in Trulio Disgracias, right now, "Fishbone is our 100 percent priority. Everything else will have to wait. It will always be that way, even though John and I have been nursing this project for 13 or more years now.

From the band's debut in 1987 in a Hollywood club, sharing a bill with grunge masters Soundgarden, Norwood said "some crazy people have come through this band, but it was George Clinton who taught us how to be who we are." (The Godfather of P-Funk guested on their 2002 EP "The Friendliest Psychosis of All," released under the Fishbone's Family Nexperience aegis.)

"We got some s--- that's comin' out," he continued on, mentioning one of three new originals that sounded like, for all the world, "Fake Playa Scorpion Back Tense." "It's about a snowboardin' accident, with your face being buried in snow. Angelo might have wrote the song, but I've experienced it. It's a miracle I can walk."

AD VENTURES ADVERTISING An earlier shot of Fishbone in all their manic glory.

IT'S NO SURPRISE that being in Fishbone means being young at least in spirit. "We did the Vans Warped Tour 10 years ago, and now, we are the extreme sport crowd," Norwood said, as the band spent most of last month playing at various North American winter resorts.

With their old record label, Columbia, recently releasing "The Essential Fishbone," a live-in-concert DVD on its way, and a guest appearance on an upcoming Sublime tribute album (doing "Date Rape"), Fishbone has weathered the ups and downs of nearly two decades, with none the worst for wear.

Recorded highlights have included their self-titled EP that spawned their "Party" signature hit, '88's "Truth and Soul" (with a slamming cover of Curtis Mayfield's "Freddie's Dead"), "The Reality of My Surroundings" from '91 (and the hit "Everyday Sunshine") and '93's "Give a Monkey a Brain and He'll Swear He's the Center of the Universe."

Besides the aforementioned "hot chicks," Norwood said, with five days of vacation surrounding the club gigs, it's back in the water and back on the board for him.

"I live in Huntington Beach, so it'll be no problem," he said. "I know Angelo will try to surf. But when he snowboards, it's like a disaster going to happen. His knees got busted two seasons ago. We were in Vail, and there he was, knockin' old people down the mountain, and then he goes down these concrete stairs and into the wall. He didn't know how to stop. He's got no control skills, which represents the possibility of anything-can-happen."