Ah Fallen Friday. Today is what I would consider a one-hit wonder. Do you remember this song? It caught fire, stirred up a storm and then when it burned out there wasn’t anything left. In the immortal words of Throwing Toasters… sometimes I wonder. Sometimes I wonder why it is when a band can produce a hit of this kind of magnitude that they can’t really hold on to the audience.
On the flip side, last night I was witness another band rehearsing that is comprised of the son of the original writer, members of the original band, and new players as well. That band is going out on the road next week for the first set of a string of dates. Zappa plays Zappa was how it was billed to me by the person who invited me to the rehearsal. However, I doubt that’s really the name of the group.
Interestingly enough I got there a little early and walked into an enormous rehearsal space in Burbank. My buddy George was in there on one of the two couches (the one that wasn’t taped off). Dweezil was in the room futzing around with his gear. He was obviously having trouble with something in the gear and it’s switching. The soundguy was milling about and next to George on the couch was Steve Vai. I came up and introduced myself and sat down between him and George.
Steve was warming up on his guitar but was kind enough to attempt to chat a little in between all the squaking and riffs that Dweezil was playing. He wondered if I was Dweezils buddy but let it out that I was there because of George. The subject of mutual friends came up and I mentioned Jeff Soto. Steve was telling me how he thought Jeff was a great singer so I mentioned to him about Jeff’s new gig in Journey. Steve was excited and happy for Jeff, then asked me to tell him hello. Very cool chap.
The rehearsal finally got underway and the room of other invitee’s were treated to roughly 3 hours of incredible music and playing. I recognized some of it, but since I haven’t spent a ton of time studying Zappa there was a lot that I didn’t know. What I do know is that the band is fucking amazing. It would be incredible to play in a band with that kind of talent. They all knew their parts, were very fluid and powerful. It was great!
Zappa is a no-hit wonder. Oh wait, I take that back. He did have one hit that he wrote but his daughter Moon-Unit sang it – Valley Girl. Not a massive hit, but it was certainly a recognizable song. No they didn’t perform it last night. Even without a major hit Frank Zappa amassed a massive following of fans. There is no doubt in my mind that every show will sell out and that’s without Frank even performing. I’m not taking anything away from the band they were spectacular. So why is it that bizarre music like Frank’s tends to live on when something easily accessable like Eve 6 doesn’t?
Despite the fact that this band isn’t really out there anymore, I still dig this song. If you don’t have it, you should. By the way, if you can see the metaphor of Inside Out in the post congrats. If you can’t see it – you should read it a couple more times. Then comment about it.
(** Disclaimer: If Eve 6’s label attempts to turn my pockets inside out, I’ll remove the audio faster than they can kiss the rabbit between the ears. The post will remain. **)