Parade and other events celebrate Italian cultural heritage (photo by twi-ny/mdr)
Fifth Ave. from 44th to 72nd Sts.
Monday, October 10, free, 11:30 am – 3:00 pm
www.columbuscitizensfd.org
More than one hundred groups and thirty-five thousand marchers will make their way up Fifth Ave. on Monday in celebration of the Italian heritage and the spirit of Christopher Columbus for the sixty-seventh annual Columbus Day Parade. Grand Marshal Joseph Plumeri will lead such participants as Pia Toscano, the Sacred Heart University Marching Band, the Stony Brook University Marching Band, the cast of the musical The Italian Fairy, folk dancers, and many more; past grand marshals have included Paul Sorvino, Bobby Valentine, Dan Marino, Henry Mancini, Danny Aiello, Vincent Gardenia, Yogi Berra, and Frank Capra. In addition to the centerpiece parade, there is a cultural exhibit in Grand Central Terminal’s Vanderbilt Hall (through October 10), a wreath-laying ceremony in Columbus Circle (October 9, 9:30 – 11:00 am), a mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral (October 10, 9:30 – 10:45 am), and a concert at the Rose Theater in Frederick P. Rose Hall celebrating the 150th anniversary of Italy’s unification, with the Petruzzelli Theater Orchestra from Bari, soprano Marina Shaguch, tenor Massimiliano Pisapia, and Maestro Alberto Veronesi (October 9, $100-$250, 4:00).
When they were junior high school students in South Central Los Angeles in 1979, Angelo Moore and Norwood Fisher formed the core of Fishbone, what would soon become one of the most exciting live bands on the planet. Chris Metzler and Lev Anderson document the band’s rise and fall — and rise and fall, and rise and fall, etc. — in the stirring Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone. Using archival footage, old and new interviews, and playful animation, Metzler and Anderson follow the group — Moore and Fisher along with fellow founding members Chris Dowd, Walter “Dirty Walt” Kibby II, and Kendall Jones — through its many personal and financial struggles as it tries to deal with such socioeconomic issues as racism, violence, and the anti-liberal bias taking hold of the nation in Ronald Reagan’s 1980s. Fishbone held nothing back on such albums as In Your Face (1986), Truth and Soul (1988), The Reality of My Surroundings (1991), Give a Monkey a Brain and He’ll Swear He’s the Center of the Universe (1993), and Chim Chim’s Badass Revenge (1996), mixing in pop, punk, funk, ska, reggae, R&B, soul, jazz, and hardcore, prancing about the stage without shirts, diving into the crowd, and always speaking their mind, and they hold nothing back in Everyday Sunshine as well. Narrated by Laurence Fishburne, the film really picks up speed when it delves into the Rodney King beating and the mysterious circumstances involving Jones’s religious transformation and the band’s attempt at an intervention. The decidedly unusual tale also features an impressive lineup of talking heads offering their views on the history of Fishbone, including Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Perry Farrell from Jane’s Addiction, fIREHOSE’s Mike Watt, No Doubt’s Gwen Stefani and Tony Kanal, the Roots’ ?uestlove, Gogol Bordello’s Eugene Hutz, Parliament-Funkadelic’s George Clinton, Primus’s Les Clayool, Living Colour’s Vernon Reid, Circle Jerk Keith Morris, Ice-T, and, perhaps most informatively, Columbia Records executive David Kahne, who lends fascinating insight into what made Fishbone great — and what kept them from greater success. While you definitely don’t have to know a thing about Fishbone to enjoy this very intimate documentary, longtime fans should eat it up. Everyday Sunshine has its New York theatrical premiere October 7-13 at the reRun Gastropub Theater in Brooklyn in conjunction with the release of Fishbone’s latest release, the seven-track EP Crazy Glue (DC-Jam, October 11, 2011). Metzler, Anderson, Moore, and Fisher will appear in person at many of this weekend’s screenings, at least one of which will also include a live performance.
