All aboard local band Midnight Gravy Train

While partygoers were dancing wall to wall and screaming out the words to Lil’ Jon’s “Get Low” at the top of their lungs, Blake Vissing and his bandmates were busy setting up for a show in the basement.

More than 50 people crammed into Vissing’s small living room for the second Frankfest of the semester.

“We had the first party in the beginning of October just to get people together for fun and to play a few songs in the basement.” Vissing said. “Everything sort of picked up after that,”

Frankfest got its name in homage to Will Farrell’s character in “Old School.”
Vissing is the frontman and guitarist of the band, with Drew Frasure on bass and Asher Igra rocking the drums.

Though Frankfest part two was only the fifth performance as a band, the members have been playing individually and on other projects for more than 15 years collectively.

Around midnight, Vissing announced to his guests that the show would be starting shortly. A few green bulbs and colored Christmas lights were the only source of light in the small cinderblock room, which had piles of laundry in one corner and a small stage with equipment in the other.

“How’s everybody doin’?” Vissing screamed through the mic. “I’m Blake, and we are Stink Finger and the Midnight Gravy Train.”

The crowd yelled back, and a few of the rowdy guests began banging on the furnace ducts overhead. Just then Igra started a solid beat followed by Vissing plucking out the chords to The White Stripes’ “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground.”

“My brother always said that if he had a rock band it would be named Stink Finger, so we sort of adopted that in the beginning and then tacked Midnight Gravy Train onto the end. But now we are just Midnight Gravy Train,” Vissing said of the final decision on the band’s name.

What’s in a name, though? The cloudy confusion surrounding Gravy Train’s title certainly hasn’t stopped them from attacking different genres all the while holding onto their incendiary sound.

“Does anyone have any requests?” Vissing said after the set was five songs deep. Someone in the crowd jokingly barked out, “Hendrix!” and without missing a beat, Vissing strummed out the first notes to “Foxey Lady.”

The next notch added to Gravy Train’s belt was Frankfest 3D — a show which attracted an even larger crowd. With the band Sorry About Last Night warming up the crowd, Vissing and his Gravy Train seemed rowdier than ever.

With 3-D glasses and notable additions to their set list such as “The Weight” by The Band, Midnight Gravy Train jammed into the early hours.

While Gravy Train might still be in its infancy, with gigs only being booked by word of mouth or self-organization, the band’s ambition and talent has set hopes high for success to come.

Frasure said the next step for the Gravy Train would be writing original songs.

“This is the first band I’ve been in that has really given me a reason to pursue recording and performing,” he said. “I feel something special forming here — we definitely all have the talent and great chemistry for it.”