Angelo Moore is mainly known for being one of the vocalists for the long-running band Fishbone. Moore is the one playing saxophone, theremin, or keys and wearing wild outfits while stomping around stage doing occasional back-flips. He’s also been involved in countless other musical groups and collaborations with the likes of Prince, Gwen Stefani, Jane’s Addiction, and, most recently, Jeff Rosenstock. ForeverMoore: The Angelo Project is an hour-long glimpse into Moore’s daily push to create something into the atmosphere. He’s throwing down some poetry, banging out a song on a keyboard, or trying on some wild, elaborate outfit for a sketch where he plays all the characters. His multifaceted alter ego Dr. Madd Vibe releases poetry, videos, and music. The spoken word highlights in the doc are eye- and ear-catching. His lyrics consist of social and racial politics with some tongue-in-cheek stapled to his patented kookiness. (Check out the video for “Search Me.”)
Other than the wild man himself, we meet his bewildered bandmates and his adorable and supportive family. His friends and family seem concerned with his feelings of not quite “making it” yet. There seems to be an overall theme on how you measure your success. Despite all the things Moore bangs out regularly, he doesn’t seem content with his work. He has a line that’s something like “Turn your limitations into lemonade,” which is something we can all relate to.
The doc has tons of amazing live footage of Moore’s stage antics, crazy costumes, and spoken word pieces with some occasional good-looking rotoscoped animation. It moves pretty quickly but there’s a scene at the Zion Canyon Music Festival where Angelo loses a saxophone reed. For a good couple of minutes, we see him wandering around the grounds looking for one. It’s strangely delightful.
There isn’t a lot of Fishbone coverage in this movie. Maybe because it’s all been said in 2010’s Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone. So if you were hoping for Fishbone action, sorry. The man does so much more and it’s worth watching even if you aren’t a Fishbone fan. And Angelo, if you’re reading this, I love your style, but those big-ass bowties gotta go. –Rick V. (Old Soul Productions, oldsoulproductions.org)