ZFB has just returned home after an extensive, two-stop, tour of the east coast of Florida!
On Friday, November 6, 2015 the band convened at a location in Lake Worth, Florida, which will be kept confidential so as not to create a tourist attraction that might cause difficulties for the locals. After an extensive rehearsal of one run-through of one song, the band took to the streets in search of food, beer and inspiration. And beer. Seeing as how the band's lead vocalist is from the area, you'd think he'd have been able to hook us up with a couple of free rounds on the house of at least one bar, but such was not the case. Plus we never did find that missing Tonka truck. On the positive side, we left some used beer bottles in a banyan tree somewhere, so there's ZFB DNA floating around unclaimed.
In a clear sign of dissention within the band, guitarist Rich decided to sleep on the hotel balcony. It didn't help matters that Steve and Pete thought it was hilarious that he was promptly coated with sugar ants. Defiantly, Rich brushed off the intruders and claims to have slept "ok."
The first show the band played was a fun one on Saturday, November 7th at the Duncan Theatre in Lake Worth, which is a wonderful, state-of-the-art theatre. We played as part of the Dance for Food series of events. After we danced for what seemed like hours without being given even a snack, it came to our attention that this is actually a wonderful charitable program to provide food for the less fortunate, put on by the Artists for a Cause organization. So not only were we hungry, we looked like jackasses as well. Really though, the show was great, our performance was smooth, and it was inspiring to see so many artists come together for such a good cause. We were so pleased we decided to celebrate with food and libations. Surprising, no?
An aside: Not being dancers, at least not professional ones, we made the HUGE faux pas of walking with our "street shoes" on the Marley. We were told to get off of it. We didn't. Because we simply had no damn idea what a marley was, where it ended, or which way to get off of it. The silver lining comes in the form of a new song that Steve has written - which as of this post has not been heard by the other guys in the band - entitled "Off the Marley." Perhaps that song will be fully realized as a future ZFB classic.
On Sunday, following a hearty bowl of sausage, the band took to the road for gig number two, which was another Dance for Food performance.
Another aside: For those of you who are unfamiliar as to how a band like us fits in to such a show, let us explain. You see, dancers often perform with the accompaniment of recorded music. Often such a dance is performed on a marley, but that as you will recall is a sore point. Anyhow, we have been humbled by the use of our music by some of the featured artists from the Preston Contemporary Dance Theatre, headed by Anna Preston. When we are able we like to perform the music live for the dancers, rather than have them use our CD's. We like to call this "Let's see if we can play haphazardly enough to make these graceful ladies trip." So far we have lost this game every time, and nary a dancer has fallen down accidentally. In the past, our songs "Back Home," "Confused" and "Yesterday Always Knows" (along with an "improv" piece that evolved into "Alone With You") have been used for this purpose, and this time around the chosen song was "Greenhouse Blues" off our debut album Zero Down Time. As has been the case in the past, we are thrilled that somebody likes our music enough to bother choreographing and performing a dance to it.
Anyway, the second show was held in the town of Fort Pierce. While the theatre in Fort Pierce wasn't as technologically advanced as the Duncan, it sure was cute. What the theatre lacked in terms of a respectable sound system, it made up for in its lack of air conditioning. It was seriously hot in that place. But the show went on, and was another successful performance by the dancers and the band. And we should mention Terry Barber. He is a classically trained countertenor vocalist. If you don't know what a countertenor is, you should google it. We'd explain but we have already exhausted our supply of "asides." Anyway, he's got a stunning vocal range and is a truly nice guy. His version of "Habanera" from the opera Carmen, was jaw-dropping.
One of the best compliments we got after the overheated Fort Pierce performance was to hear that the dancers backstage waiting to perform were moved to dance to our music while we played, even though (a) they didn't have to and (b) it was so hot that who wanted to exert any more energy than necessary. That made us feel pretty darn good.
All in all, it was a successful tour. The only question that remains unanswered is "What ARE you??"
For more about Artists for a Cause, visit www.a4ac.org
To see the pics and live postings from the weekend visit our facebook page at www.facebook.com/zenfuseboxband