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Regarding the recent ZPZ show at the Wiltern... the band was tight and the music was great... BUT the entire DADA-ist flavor is missing, the carnivality, the mockery of stupidity, no audience interaction, none of Frank’s keen eye for the absurd as day-to-day life… no dance contest, etc.
The master himself is missing... it isn't just the music we like... it was Frank's PRESENCE that put it all over the top.

ZPZ's future performances may need to resort to a giraffe filled with whipped cream…

So, it really isn’t the MUSIC that should be passed on alone, but the keen awareness of human stupidity that Frank was so adept at. Ray White took his check and went home.

Furnabulaxative

News flash..................

Frank Zappa is sadly no longer with us, stupid.

Now go get your fucking shinebox!

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Make your checks payable to QUENTIN ROBERT DeNAMELAND, Greatest Living Philostopher Known to Mankind.

Like I said, Frank is missing... but Gail will gladly shine your brown shoes for 20 million bucks.

You are not alone in this assessment of the Frank Zappa Tribute Band known as Zappa Plays Zappa.

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"If Frank Zappa cut a fart and mixed it to stereo, I'd buy it!" - jimmie d

Thanks for your obvious "clarity"...

I saw the first round of shows in 2006 with Vai and Brock... that was fun and flashy... Brock created the fun, Vai the flash. No flash last Thursday night... and a smattering of fun just because we were all there.

Poor guy can't even spell "Colaiuta"...

that's not jayp's spelling, stupid. we had a member here a while ago who called himself 'colauita68'...
but he was banned for being a complaining asshole. he just wouldn't shut the fuck up...

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"bit of nostalgia for the old folks."

That explains it. Thanks. I've known Vinnie for 35 years... "Catholic boy..."

Anyway, no use in beating a horse, living or dead... ZPZ is great... but lacks that bizarro approach. More whipped cream... more improv on comedy is what would make it more FUNBAGGISH!

"If we're dumb, then God is dumb... and a little ugly on th side."

swami, I can't see it, I just can't see it. There was only one FZ and, similarly, whether it's "The Marx Brothers" or "Rodney Dangerfield" or "Johnny Carson" or "__________"(fill in the blank), no continuation of FZ's on stage presence is possible with anyone. Underpants or giraffes or enema bags it's always going to be the weak part of the show.

--Batchain

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<------PhotoArtWerk by debutante_daisy http://www.facebook.com/BatchainTheMovie

I dunno Bat, there's some pretty good Elvis impersonators out there.

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Some folks got it
Some folks don't
Some so yoogly
They never won't

Oh my.....Could this mean that Zappa Plays Zappa is a SUBSTITUTE?

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"If Frank Zappa cut a fart and mixed it to stereo, I'd buy it!" - jimmie d

Hey FZ was one of a kind. Theatrics for many of us is a small part of the experience. I saw FZ with many line ups, I liked the wazoo band the best but Flo& Eddie were great to, ZPZ, Is ZPZ, looks like the MUSIC is their focus

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Confusion will be my epitaph

less we forget, those of us who got the chance to see frank in the 70's or 80's he had been performing 15 to 25 years, alot of time to work on his perfection. and as we saw with zpz, this year better than last. dz will get to the point of perfection with his work ethic and bloodline it may come sooner than 15 to 25 years

I hope you don't really believe that shit, Conceptual Continuity.

("work ethic"? "bloodline"? What the fuck???)

--Bat

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<------PhotoArtWerk by debutante_daisy http://www.facebook.com/BatchainTheMovie

I think what I wanted to say when I started this topic is that ZPZ is really good, but it can never come close to a "Frank Zappa" performance. All of the ZPZ musicians are over-the-top great... but by merely reproducing and performing Frank's work lacks the spontaneous fun that Frank and his cohorts would create in real-time. There are nearly 10 million people in Los Angeles County and that night at the Wiltern was not sold out. There were a lot of empty chairs. And Dweezil is no Frank when it comes to guitar solos, as good as Dweezil is in his own way, Frank's style was really "out there"... less notes but more QUIRKY PIZAZZ all around. Oh, well...

too bad there were two dance contests and two audience participation events at the Norfolk show. If you honestly expected this to be JUST LIKE a Frank Zappa show, you are truly one of the dumbest people i have ever heard of.

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"Once you go black, you never go back."
--Thomas Jefferson

As a new fan of zappa i just want to hear(and see) his music being performed as excellent as possible ...im not expecting dwezzil to be exactly like his father on stage ( that would definitely be quite pathetic) i think hes right now just trying to spread his dads music around with some publicity...and it is fun to know that the person who performs the song really knew the composer quite well

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There WILL come a time when everybody in the world they will be free to sing and dance and love : )

Dear Mr. Mama,

No, I never said that I expected it to be JUST LIKE a Frank Zappa show... it JUST ISN'T... that's all. It's a Dweezil show, playing his dad's music. What's so hard to understand about that, junior? Maybe you'll return to Managua... you could go unnoticed in such a place. Are you livin' in Maryland?

I've been to 3 ZPZ shows... the Vai / Brock combo was excellent. It was nice to see and hear Ray White, but he wasn't tearin' up the stage with fun. Listen to the banter on the Dub Room Special CD... that has a real fun feel to it. The Zappas need to ask some virtuosos like Mike Keneally, George Duke and Ike Willis to help out with the "feel" cause ZPZ needs a lift if it is gonna survive another season or two. Great songs played perfectly by great musicians is a good thing. There will never be another Frank... when he passed he took a big important chunk to the grave... and that is THE HUMOR and SPONTANEITY. They need some nutjob on the stage... like Ahmet... whatever happened to Ahmet's participation? I think he was sitting behind me in one of the partially empty rows of seats... mouth hanging open in awe of his brother.

I know for a fact that the majority of former Zappa band alumni are not going to be asked to participate in the ZPZ thing... EVER! Lots of love out there folks. I love you Mr. Mama!

^Maybe we just have different impressions of the shows. I am not old enough to have ever seen Frank Zappa live. I have heard a large amount of tapes and own the Baby Snakes and Dub Room Special DVDs, so I have at least got a glimpse of it. I saw a fair amount of audience participation and humor at the shows I was at. Enough for me anyway.



Dweezil wanted Ike this time around but it didn't work out.

ZPZ is not a Frank Zappa band, as an attempt to have Frank's music played on-stage again for fans young and old, and hopefully to reach new potential fans. I think the "feel" you described is definitely important, but unlike you I didn't feel like ZPZ was lacking that in any way.

I think the players right now are doing a great job. They're nailing some pretty difficult songs and I don't think bringing George Duke or Keneally would really make the songs THAT MUCH better except maybe bring an element of authenticity or nostalgia.

DZ has said he's doing the shows for the kids, and that he has the young players up there for a reason. I can sympathize with that, but I agree with you that there is a need for guys like NPB and Steve Vai and Ray White to be up there for a, as you so eloquently put, "feel". I think some kind of combination of the two is the best way to go.

Hopefully we're on the same page. Now i know how trendmonger feels.

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"Once you go black, you never go back."
--Thomas Jefferson

A friend told me a couple of days ago that Ike has a crack addiction. He didn't show up at the Zappanale festival in Germany. No one heard from him at all. No wonder it didn't work out with ZPZ. (sorry Ike... if you're reading this and I'm wrong, my apologies) I saw Ike about 2 years ago when he wandered into a small club during an MK performance, but I didn't get a chance to say hello. I hope he is okay.

the reason he didn't show up at ZPZ is 'cuz Gail and him have some kind of beef.

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"Once you go black, you never go back."
--Thomas Jefferson

Well, apparently the beef is with most former alumni. He was scheduled for the Zappanale fest and didn't arrive on his flight and didn't bother to tell anyone. He flaked on a 3-day festival.

STFU!
{There.....NOW you can say you know how trendmonger feels. }

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Stay with me flagrantly and we'll have ecstasy for all eternity.

Jimmy, you devil!

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LMFAO.

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"Once you go black, you never go back."
--Thomas Jefferson