Zappa Plays Zappa

[meagain]

I started a thread on this in 'Entertainment' but no one goes there so....

I saw this show http://www.zappa.com/cheezoid/whatsnew/zpz/ Wow, they're at the Vegas HOB tonight. I love that particular HOB!

Anyway, there were 8-10 people on stage at any given time. Played for about ? 3 hours at least. Bozzio & Vai came out later. The Napoleon guy was pretty good.

The best part of the show IMO was the beginning when they played footage of Zappa in concert on the big screen. This went on for a goodly amount of time and the audience was singing along. Personally, I would have been quite happy just seeing all this old footage and will be checking to see if there's any Zappa DVD's to be found. Somewhere in the middle, more footage of just a Zappa solo came on, Dweezil faced the screen and played his part. Kinda cool.

The place I saw this at held around 4300 people. There's only a couple shows in the states left and all seem to be in House of Blues, etc. which would be preferrable imo.

Just wanted to mention this cuz I know there's alot of Zappa people here that might want to check it out for kicks.

[colterphoto1]

Napoleon Murphy Brock, I believe- tenor sax and vocals wasn't he? During the Roxy and Elsewhere days (excellent 2 lp set btw).

Whatever you do, Don't get the DVD - Does Humour belong in Music?- it's the stupidest 'concert' ever, mostly a bunch of idiotic stage shenanigans and not much inspired playing.

By all means- go directly to your local DVD outlet and demand a copy of 200 Motels- probably the quintessential Zappa film with claymation, interviews, a young Terry Bozio and cast of hundreds.

Michael

[oldbuckster]

Remember a concert on local PBS staion with Frank and a cast of many on stage, can't for the life of me remember what it was called, Frank soloing in front of a HUGE american flag, think he was trying to make a point, in his own way.

[Audible Nectar]

A friend of mine went to the Chicago/Auditorium Theatre show as well, and his review was most glowing[] That theater is incredible.....I saw String Cheese Incident do a three night New Years' run in that place from the 17th row dead center, and it was the best acoustics I have ever experienced in any concert hall.

If you can see the Zappa tour, it is highly recommended that you do so.

[colterphoto1]

http://www.zappa.com/spifnificent.html

INteresting interview with Dweezil and tour info.

[meagain]

There's a 6-part documentary on YouTube. I just saw part 6. German, but most of it's him talking in English, etc. But very very well done.

Part 1 http://youtube.com/watch?v=pYTh1UgNHJg&search=zappa%20part%201

I guess to get the other parts, you'd search on Zappa Part 2, etc.

[MarkBK]

Frank was amazing - glad to see Dweezil pay homage to his dad! I was lucky enough to see Frank many times around Chicago - Ravinia with the original Mothers of Invention - Dekalb - NIU with Napoleon Murphy - Ruth, etc. - Zappa was a VERY under appreciated guitar player - he would do the most amazing extended solos - my band mates and I were always amazed. A true genius on many levels...

Can you imagine what it would be like for him to be your dad?

[Daddy Dee]

Wow, a truly international tour. Wish I could have heard one of those shows.

[oldbuckster]

meagain, see ,made no difference moving it, people would rather talk about equipment, never mind the music, funny, no music, who needs equipment?

[colterphoto1]

Has anyone else here seen this tour?

DZ and band are in Indy tonight. Murat Theatre Egyptian Room

I'll be in the THIRD ROW for a three hour show! This is going to be incredible

For snippits of the ZPZ 2006 tour see the Zappa website, looks like a great cast of players

http://www.zappa.com/zpz/videos.html

check out the one top right for ZOMBY WOOF- smoking band!

Michael

[dtel's wife]

Michael,

I hope you have a really good time tonight!

and...I hope you enjoyed your weekend!

[colterphoto1]

OK peeps, I just witnessed 2:50 of Jazz from Hell.

Review to follow, I just joined the Zappa Forum so I could post there first.

[colterphoto1]

(originally posted on the Zappa Plays Zappa Forum)

I just got home from the ZPZ show at the Murat
Egyptian Room in Indianapolis. I had never had the pleasure of seeing
Frank play live so when a old buddy told me he had some 3rd row seats,
I was in.




Middle aged crowd, some youngsters, looked like a lot of
parents/kids in the audience. That's good to see, a new generation of
fans.




This show was far beyond expectations. A few housekeeping chores. I
am new to this Forum but been enjoying Zappa music since HS in 1976. I
see a fair share of concerts. I have not read any other reviews of this
tour yet.




No smoke, no fancy light show, no bubble machine. Just 8 fantastic
young musicians (ok one fairly old one) having a great time onstage.
The song selections were what could be expected and a few very major
surprises.




I won't give a song by song synopsis, partly because it would be
impossible. We probably heard full productions or snippets of 40+
songs. Early in the show they did a medley of old 'Nasal Retentive
Calliope Music' with a cacophony of instruments - very artsy and
eclectic - but seeming in the style of Frank, if the live LP's and
tapes I've seen are general indication. A large section of 70's-80's
filled the middle section with Cheepnis, Cozmic Debris, Uncle Rhemus,
and Dirty Love being the most recognizable to most of the audience. I
liked 'Wind up Working in a Gas Station' from Zoot Allures, Dumb all
Over, and some of the more eclectic bits like the 200Motels-like
orchestral/solos about 2/3 into the show.




For several tunes the large screen behind the stage showed Frank either
in excellent voice or ripping the strings off the SG, while the live
band played in. DZ wisely chose not to do dueling solos or dueting with
Frank, instead he humbly strummed backup or played while Frank sang.
Those were some very touching moments and helped emphasize what a
tremendous guitar play Frank was. I don't know how he keeps from
tearing up playing his Father's music.







On other tracks DZ played much in the style of Frank, down to the heavy
flanging/phasing. The tone of his stereo guitar rig was impeccable.
DZ's playing was better than I had hoped for, the guy definitely has
spent some time getting his chops down. That smile, I remember his
smile. So proud to be up on stage, knowing he had us in his hands but
never pretentious. DZ just seemed like a nice kid having a ball up
there. Fame hasn't hurt him a bit. Although we were maybe 2/3 of a
house in a rather small ballroom, he seemed very appreciative of the
response the audience gave him. I know the first 10 rows were at
standing ovation about every other song. DZ would just grin that boyish
grin and toss his tousled locks, then bow his head gracefully. A truly
NICE performer. You get the feeling that he'd be that way on the
street.




The rest of the band was magnificent. Scheila Gonzalez, as
keyboardist/sax player (soprano,alto,tenor) /vocalist was an amazing
talent, very flexible, fun and very much enjoying getting to do some of
the 'funny little voices' so frequent in FZ's music. The dueling sax
with flute/trumpet/duck call was brilliant and hilarious at the same
time. A very talented young lady with great stage presence.




Ray White was indefatigable. I think he mostly sang tunes that he
had originally done with the band, so he was very much at home with the
material. Illinois Enema Bandit, the show closer tonight, was immensely
powerful. Ray has a fantastic voice and was very strong, despite the
band having played 5 nights in a row, I think. A real gem, this one.




The other band member who really impressed was the Billy Hulting
percussionist/marimba player. It looked like part acoustic/part
electronic pieces he was using onstage, and the tone really cut
through. I dont' know why, but the 'non-rock' instruments just seem
more interesting to watch. He was all over the place and always added
quite a bit to the overall sound of the band. Thanks for a great show
Billy!




Bassist Pete Griffin was a young, cocky, true rock star with
swinging hair and stage swagger to match. He also got a turn at some bk
vox and really kept a solid line. Frank had some top notch bass players
so those were big shoes to fill but he did so in spades.




Drummer Joe Travers had a very full Drum Workshop kit and he used every
one of them beautifully. Obviously a very schooled performer, but he
had a tight-but-loose feel, good timekeeping with some swing as well.
He did a lot of vocal duty, some quite hilarious. Remember that the mic
duties over the decades were handled by some very bizarre folks, and
this guy's impressions fit right in. Hugely powerful with great
dynamics, not too showy, but just right.




Lead Guitarist Jamie Kime had a tough role to fill. You had to watch
closely to see who was playing what part, FZ, DZ, or him. Did a great
job all night long and never grabbed the spotlight.




Keyboards - Aaron Arntz - multi talented, with piano, synth, analog,
vocoder, vocals and trumpet. He was well to the back of the stage and
our view was partly obscured by the bassist. Hit all the right parts
with all the right voices, his solo bit during the 'orchestral madness'
was hilarious, something about 'You have a lot of war memorials
here...'.




There is so much to be said about this show that words fail me now. I
was very impressed with the tempo of the show, the song selections, the
tribute quality, etc. The technical quality of sound was superb, not
too loud, good mix although we were pretty much in front of the main
stacks. I would have liked more lighting production, it was very
minimal, but hey, this was about the man and the music, right?




Last word- one of the encores was a piece from Jazz from Hell called 'G-spot Tornado' that
was originally produced and played on Synclavier (right?), but DZ and
band had broken down the arrangment so the band could play it.
Brilliant, simply brilliant.




Go see this tour. Just do it. I'm an expert, remember? You'll thank me later.

I'm listening to 'My Guitar wants to Kill your Mama' on CD right now. Frank was a genius, no doubt about it.

Michael

[colterphoto1]

If you're in Ohio- the tour's headed YOUR WAY- Cincy and Columbus.

FREAK OUT