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Remember that scene in La Bamba when Richie Valens shows up at a fan's house with a bunch of pizzas for private pizza party. More than two decades after that event played out on the silver screen, that scene was played out in real life, only instead of Lou Diamond Phillips showing up with Brylcreemed hair, a fan in San Jose, California, was treated to a pizza party and private show of her own, courtesy of the Fray, her favorite band. And the whole thing apparently started with a Tweet.
@RheshellAnne
rheshellyn.@TheFray why is your Bay Area trip on 11/02 cancelled? :(
The hardcore fan in question is a student college student from San Jose named Rheshell, and the timing of her Tweet was fortuitous, not just because she won the guys favor by alerting them to a canceled gig, but because a couple months earlier, guitarist Joe King had proposed the idea of the band doing some last minute, flash mob sort of grass roots things with their hardcore fans. Needless to say, right place, right time for Rhesell. To her absolute shock, the band reached out with an offer of playing a private show in her living room. The only stipulation: Capacity was limited to however many people could fit in her living room. So Rheshell phoned up all her relatives and started planning a party.
@RheshellAnne
rheshellyn.@TheFray was trying to win tix to make my dream of seeing & possibly meeting you guys.. http://t.co/Pa19AO2V
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"We set up this show in her living room," Slade recalls. "We pulled up, brought a bunch of equipment, and pizzas. We played for, like, a half an hour. It was so much fun, man. And then we had pizza with them, and they brought a bunch of food from Costco. They had like sub sandwiches and chips. Then we sat in the backyard and hung out. We were there for a couple of hours, and played some music for them. It was really meaningful.
"It was so rad, man," Slade adds. "It was like a reminder of why we do music. And I don't say that cheaply. You know, you when get into promo land, you kind of forget. It was the last radio thing of 45 radio performances we did in 21 days. It was insane. We got in and everybody was kind of cranky and over it, and we got in and everything just evaporated, and we all remembered why we're doing this. It was powerful."
Feeling was evidently mutual.
@RheshellAnne
rheshellyn.@TheFray just made me the happiest person on the planet. enough said. ♥ ♥ ♥
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Related links:
- The Fray's new album, Scars & Stories, due out 2/7/12. Listen to "Heartbeat," the first single
- Interview: Isaac Slade on the Fray's new album, working with Brendan O'Brien and opening for U2
- Issac Slade of the Fray talks about what it was like to open for U2, plus video of a few new songs
- The Fray films video for "Heartbeat," the first single from its new album, Scars and Stories
Click through for bonus clips of Slade and King playing an acoustic version of "Heartbeat" single, and onstage with Yo Gabba Gabba! Live!
Follow Backbeat on Twitter: @westword_music
Follow Backbeat on Twitter: @westword_music
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