Local rockers Human Zoo reunite for show at Mixing 10

A decade ago, Human Zoo rocked many a Cape Girardeau music fan. On Saturday the members of this party-friendly band will get back together for a reunion performance.

"It just seemed like it would be fun. We've wanted to do it for years," said Todd Mayberry, guitarist and vocalist. "We just all got to a point where we are more settled with job situations, and we just thought it would be a good time."

Human Zoo last hit the stage more than 10 years ago. The members will reunite for a show at 9 p.m. Saturday at Mixing 10.

"We've done little things where one guy is in a band, and we sit in and play, but other than that it's been a while," Mayberry said.

Mayberry's stepbrother, Scott Slinkard, is also guitarist and vocalist in the band.

"We wanted to play music again, and we got together a few times and started banging out some music to see if that spark was still there," Slinkard said. "It was, and we're quite proud of how stuff is coming out."

Mayberry said the reunion show will include a lot of the covers the band used to play.

"Van Halen, Blues Traveler, Counting Crowes all the way back to some old Rolling Stones and such," he said. "We've picked up a few new songs, but we're playing a lot of the stuff we used to play."

Mayberry said the reunion show is happening thanks to the fans of the band that connected on Facebook.

"Facebook is one of the things that made us say, 'We should do this,'" Mayberry said. "Scott posted a video from when we used to play, and people started commenting on it, and so we made a page for Human Zoo for fun. It just started with people asking if and when we are going to play again and so forth, so this show came out of that."

Human Zoo's lineup features three of the original four members. Mayberry, Slinkard and bassist Andy French return with Brent Lee stepping into the role of drummer.

"I called Todd and we got together and starting tossing around ideas," Slinkard said. "Nothing was really falling together, and we came across Brent. He's just an amazing drummer, and he jammed with us one night and we hit it off. I said, 'Well, this is it; Human Zoo is going to play again.'"

The members of Human Zoo have been busy since their last show. Slinkard has been playing music in one form or another since the band's last performance. He played with Brooke Burrows, a country pop artist who has since moved to Nashville, Tenn., as well as playing with Fade to White, a contemporary Christian band that played around the Midwest before disbanding.

French has his own business selling farm equipment online as well as maintaining a full-time farm, and Mayberry has a store called Blue Chalk Software in Advance, Mo., which does computer programming for schools and sells computer items in its retail storefront.

"I've played a few little things, but I never got a band together," Mayberry said. "Like the guy pining for his old girlfriend, I was just waiting for these guys to get back together."

The future is uncertain beyond Saturday, but Mayberry doesn't rule out the idea of additional shows down the road.

"We're talking about maybe playing some more; we'll just see how this goes, you know?" he said. "None of us have the illusion that we're going to be rock stars. There's not that ego and that dream, we're just doing it for fun."

Pertinent address:

2 N. Main St., Cape Girardeau