For the record, this is clearly just a rumor. However, when the son of Frank Zappa puts the words Phish and “whole night of my Father’s music” next to each other, well, let’s just say our interests are piqued.

In a new interview with the Missoulian ahead of Dweezil Zappa’s upcoming performance at The Wilma, Dweezil Zappa was asked about how Frank Zappa would feel about the feuding between the Zappa siblings. The guitarist responded, “I think he would be horribly disappointed at how everything has been handled by my mom, and now my brother and sister… Phish can do a whole night of my father’s music, and they don’t get a cease and desist letter, but I do?”

Phish has never done “a whole night” of Frank Zappa music in their career. Of course this is speculation, but really the only time it would make sense for them to do a night of Zappa’s music would be at their upcoming Halloween performance.

The band is very strongly influenced by Frank Zappa; though only one song is officially in their repertoire (“Peaches En Regalia”), Jon Fishman released a Zappa Picks compilation album a few years ago. The band also strongly considered a Zappa album for their Halloween show in 1995, but, according to Phish.net, “insanely complex overdubs, potentially offensive lyrics, and several tunes (esp. “Watermelon in Easter Hay”) that Zappa had requested never be performed live again” caused the band to reroute their practices to The Who’s Quadrophenia for that show.

Additionally, there is the timing to consider. The “cease and desist letters” didn’t become a part of Dweezil’s life until this year, so it stands to reason that this comment refers to something that has happened recently, as opposed to an older reference. Furthermore, the band’s decision to play on a Monday for Halloween must mean that they have something in store for the performance.

On the other hand, Dweezil – who probably isn’t as nerdy about Phish stats as we are – could just be making a sarcastic comment to emphasize his point. Phish more or less swore off of musical costume sets when they broke from tradition with the Wingsuit set of 2013, and continued that new trend with their Chilling, Thrilling Sounds performance in 2014. While the Halloween show could be a Zappa tribute that doesn’t pick on a particular album, this could all just be nothing but the hopes and dreams of Zappa/Phish fans blowing a quote out of proportion.

While we won’t really know until we’re handed a “Phishbill” on October 31st at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, NV, it’s certainly fun to speculate about what might be planned for that fateful evening. Until then, we have three nights at Dick’s and a whole fall tour ahead! See you there!