The legendary First Avenue in Minneapolis hosted something special last night. You could even say a prophecy was realized in that venue.
I went to see Dweezil Zappa (and his kick-ass band) play “choice cuts” from the memorable and iconic career of his father Frank.
If you know me, you’re probably asking why I went to this show and not a metal show… I’ll just say this: I’m a music fan first and I can totally appreciate the talent it took to compose this music. Who wouldn’t want to see that performed live?
Without giving away the entirety of Dweezil’s set, I’ll say that about halfway through, they played Frank Zappa‘s perhaps most “radio friendly” hit, “Valley Girl”. As it was introduced, Dweezil mentioned that “this song was a warning from my father that was missed.” If that societal critique wasn’t clear enough, a female band member (who took over the “valley girl” part) took selfies from the stage as the song was played – seemingly implying that Frank Zappa warned us about our pro-Instagram culture in 1982… and we didn’t pay attention to the harm it could cause.
After Dweezil’s introduction of “Valley Girl”, I had to ask myself if he was right. Is it possible that Frank Zappa knew we’d be as connected online as we are today? Did he see that we’d become as attached to social media as we are?
According to this website, 82% of American adults between the ages of 18-34 have shared a selfie and uploaded it to social media at least once in their life. Scarier is the CNBC statistic that more than 250 people have actually died while trying to take a selfie in recent years.
If Frank Zappa were alive today, I imagine he’d preach balance when it comes to posting. In fact, he might’ve denounced the whole concept of social media entirely.
What do you think?
