Goodbye Zeta Cauliflower © 2001 The Gobbler, by Juan Wilson   I got an email from Nate Arnone back at the end of January. Nate's a musician and graphic artist consultant who works with Habiterra Associates. The last line in his email was a succinct "PS: Zeta is dead. Long live Zeta! 1987-2000" The message indicated the demize of Zeta Cauliflower, a band that started as a college student band and just grew and grew musically. Above is a poster for the band's last show at Mad Murdock's on April 20th in Jamestown, New York. Be there or be square! Zeta has been at the cutting edge of local music for years and was poised to take the place of the 10,000 Maniacs as Jamestown, New York's contribution to the national music scene. At first Zeta was sort of a post punk grunge band. They evolved into a band that was hard to catagorize. The band was more willing to take risks artistically and other bands I've watched. Perhaps the the high water mark was the 1997-1998 Big Blue Ball New Year's Eve party. The band rented ballroom at the Commons Mall on Third Street in Jamestown. They put up some posters and prayed. If you don't know Jamestown, you don't know what a chance they were taking. Downtown Jamestown is as quiet as a cemetary at midnight on New Year's Eve. On top of that, the weather in Jamestown is as likely as not to drop a street closing 12" of snow in late December. My son is a big fan of Zeta's. In December 1998 he was a high school student in Connectcut. I told him about then upcoming Big Blue Ball and somehow he got to Jamestown to see it. It snowed and it was cold, but he wasn't disappointed he came. Nor was anybody else that made it to the show. It was about the best New Year's Eve Party I've ever been to. Almost every interesting and exotic person in the Jamestown area came out. Many is costume. It was hip, urbane and inclusive. It was a huge commitment of money and effort by the band. Although the didn't quite break even, it was great! Zeta Cauliflower's line up that night included Chris Lasi - Drums N8 Arnone - Guitar, Keys, Congas Jeff Erickson - Guitar1, Vocal1 Stevie Fransignor - Bass Jon Johnson - Vocal2, Percussion Drama Turn - Tablist, Sample, Programming Fortunately, the band immortalized that night with a Big Blue Ball CD. If you're lucky you might be able to get a copy for yourself. In February I emailed back Nate expressing my regret about the band breaking up. He replied... "Thanks for the compliment and condolences regarding Zeta. It was a tough call, but in the end the right one (at least for now). hey--we were together longer than the Beatles!" Longer than the Beatles! That surprised me. They did have a history. They played the Great Blue Heron several years. They entertained thousands of people between Jamestown and Rochester. They even came back for a Big Blue Ball II in 1998-1999. Again, this was a big risk for the band. Jamestown is a fickle place. It seems to punish those who take the extra effort to offer something special. I wouldn't advise opening a restaurant that serves much more than burgers and a fish fry on Friday in Jamestown. The Big Blue Ball II cost Zeta an arm and a leg. The show was great anyway. I'm lucky. I brought a recording MD and stood in front of the stage with it. I am about the only one who has a recording of it. It's a bit distorted in places but it captured the night. If your in driving range, go see this band April 20th at Mad Murdock's. You won't be disappointed. We'll miss you, Zeta.