Fishbone Hit 40 Years Loud with In Your Face Tour, Tribute Reissue, and New Album on Deck

Forty years later, Fishbone aren’t looking back quietly – they’re turning their origin story into a full-blown, multi-layered celebration that hits the stage, the turntable, and what’s coming next.

The Los Angeles genre-defying pioneers officially launched their “In Your Face” 40th Anniversary Tour on April 9, a run built around the record that introduced their explosive fusion of ska, punk, funk, and soul to the world. But this isn’t just a nostalgia lap. It’s a living, expanding moment for a band that has never operated in a straight line.

At the center of it all is today’s release of the In Your Face / Cover Your Face 40th Anniversary Limited-Edition Double LP, a project that doesn’t just revisit the past – it reframes it. The first disc delivers a newly remastered version of In Your Face, the 1986 debut that still feels as unpredictable and urgent as ever. The second disc, Cover Your Face, flips the script entirely, handing those songs to a wide-ranging group of artists who reinterpret them through their own lenses.

That list of contributors reads like a cross-generational co-sign on Fishbone’s influence. Patrick Stump, Twin Shadow, Silversun Pickups, Kimya Dawson, Wheatus, and Open Mike Eagle all step in alongside punk, ska, and indie voices like Catbite and Bite Me Bambi – the latter delivering a personal take on “Cholly.” Even comedian-musician Dave Hill gets in on the action.

For Bite Me Bambi’s Mike Berault, the connection runs deep, recalling a formative moment watching Fishbone play a free show as a teenager – one that sparked a chain reaction leading to his own band. That kind of story isn’t rare when it comes to Fishbone. Their reach has always extended far beyond genre lines, and Cover Your Face makes that impact impossible to ignore.

Keyboardist and co-founder Christopher Dowd summed it up simply: celebrating In Your Face four decades later feels surreal – not just because the record still resonates, but because of how it continues to evolve through other artists.

That evolution is front and center onstage. Each night of the tour, Fishbone performs In Your Face in full – no shortcuts – before diving into a second set stacked with material from across their catalog. That means everything from early staples like “Party at Ground Zero” to later standouts like “Everyday Sunshine” and deep cuts pulled from albums like Truth and Soul and The Reality of My Surroundings.

And then there’s the wildcard: the VIP experience.

Up for grabs on this run, the band is offering an expanded VIP experience, meet & greet, exclusive merchandise, and for the first time, Fishbone is opening the door to something completely different – Fishbone Karaoke. Not a gimmick, not a side-stage novelty. Fans actually step up and perform with the band backing them, choosing from a curated list that spans decades of their material. It’s chaotic, unpredictable, and exactly the kind of thing only Fishbone would turn into a legitimate part of the show.

The tour itself stretches coast to coast, with stops in major cities and underground rooms alike, including a Dallas date on May 4 at Studio at The Factory – bringing the celebration directly into the band’s long-standing Texas stronghold energy.

All of it lands at a time when Fishbone isn’t slowing down. The band – Angelo Moore, Christopher Dowd, James Jones, Hassan Hurd, John “JS” Williams II, and Tracey “Spacey T” Singleton – is already deep into work on a new studio album set for release this summer, with more touring expected to follow.

So while In Your Face might be turning 40, Fishbone isn’t treating it like a legacy piece. Between the reissue, the tribute album, the full-album live performances, and what’s coming next, they’re doing what they’ve always done – pushing forward, pulling everything with them, and making sure the story doesn’t stop where it started.

Grab your copy of the In Your Face / Cover Your Face 40th Anniversary Limited-Edition Double LP Reissue HERE.

IN YOUR FACE TOUR DATES

April 9 – San Francisco, CA – August Hall (w/ Bite Me Bambi)
April 11 – Seattle, WA – The Crocodile (w/ Bite Me Bambi, Kimya Dawson)
April 12 – Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios (w/ Bite Me Bambi)
April 14 – Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge (w/ Bite Me Bambi, The Anchorage)
April 15 – Denver, CO – Bluebird Theater (w/ Bite Me Bambi, Dead Pioneers)
April 17 – St. Louis, MO – Off Broadway (w/ Sinister Dane)
April 18 – Chicago, IL – House of Blues (supporting Dance Hall Crashers)
April 19 – Detroit, MI – The Shelter (w/ The Boy Detective)
April 20 – Columbus, OH – Scully’s Music Diner (w/ Being Hvman)
April 22 – Albany, NY – Empire Underground (w/ Catbite)
April 23 – Garwood, NJ – Crossroads (w/ Catbite)
April 24 – Philadelphia, PA – Brooklyn Bowl Philadelphia (w/ Planta Industrial)
April 25 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Bowl (w/ Planta Industrial)
April 27 – Cambridge, MA – The Sinclair (w/ Dub Apocalypse)
April 28 – Washington, DC – Black Cat (w/ Joe Keyes and the Late Bloomer Band)
April 29 – Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle (w/Pipe)
May 1 – Orlando, FL – The Beacham Theatre (w/ Being Hvman)
May 2 – Atlanta, GA – Terminal West (w/ Howling Star)
May 4 – Dallas, TX – Studio at The Factory (w/ Piñata Protest, The Wee-Beasties)
May 5 – Austin, TX – Mohawk (w/ Piñata Protest)
May 7 – Mesa, AZ – The Nile Theater (w/ Piñata Protest, The Venomous Pinks)
May 8 – Los Angeles, CA – Teragram Ballroom (w/ Piñata Protest)
May 9 – Pomona, CA – The Glass House (w/ Piñata Protest, Chudson)

Catch FISHBONE on the Road…