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Did you attend the ZPZ show at the State Theatre in Sydney?

Dweezil and the band love reading your reviews.

Please do not post in this thread if you did not attend the show.

Mikey
Zappa.com Webmeister

1. Purple Lagoon (intro)
2. Imaginary Diseases
3. Magic Fingers
4. Tell Me You Love Me
5. Peaches en Regalia
6. Dirty Love
7. Montana
8. Village of the Sun
9. Echidna's Arf (of you)
10. Don't You Ever Wash That Thing?

11. The Mammy Anthem
12. Pygmy Twilight
13. Don't Eat the Yellow Snow
14. St. Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast
15. Father O'Blivion
16. Bamboozled By Love (with Johnny Diesel)
17. King Kong (+ solos + medley + general mayhem)
18. Cosmic Debris (+ more solos)
19. I am the Slime
20. Willie the Pimp (with audience participation)
21. Apostrophe

Really great show. Everybody (both on stage and off) had a great time. Cut down to a six piece, the band sounded really tight and had a much stronger guitar sound.

PS - Anybody who was late won't make that mistake again. Imaginary Diseases was just superb; an unexpected joy.

Hope to see you guys back again soon.

Great show guy's.
Thanks for coming to Sydney again and when ever you do come we will always welcome you with open arms.
A show not to be missed and lastly a special thanks must go to Sheila for taking over lead vocals on such short notice,what a talent, well done.
Hopefully we will see you all very soon.

And Dweezil, the secret word for tonight was ( ahh ) . ( Thanks Joe !!! ).

Great gig, great company. Thanks guys see again you next time.

Oh forgot thanks again to a good man out there tonight. Safe trip back to Long island. If things get any worse over there, hey, we will have you!

Awesome show gang. Nice of you to drop by once more and a damn fine effort all-round to rework things so well in the absence of Ray.

Scheila - you're a gem. As a fellow August 5th birthday Leo, I salute you sister! Was nice to meet ya.

Thanks to all for your entertainment tonight; from the music & musicianship, to the "Diesel & Dweezil" rendition of Bamboozled By Love (yes folks - Mark Lizotte on lead vocal & joint lead guitar), to the little dude on air-guitar (how good was he?!), to the onstage conversation and the post-gig meet & greet.

There was a lotta love in the room.

Peace...

Awesome show!

The "quaalude thunder" version of Pygmy Twylyte was sublime. Loved the reggae stylings. Had the privilege of seein' ZPZ @ the Byron Bay Bluesfest on Good Friday, where it's delivery was far more "Roxy.." in flavour . Nice to see you playing with it.

Joy to hear the Mammy Anthem: sadly, far too few of the devoted seem to have met Ob'dewlla 'X' & the other Sisters..

Magic Fingers, St. Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast, Village of the Sun, Bamboozled By Love, Cosmic Debris, I'm the Slime were standouts.

Willie the Pimp was a powerhouse! Your guitar work was mighty slick (all night, actually!!). You did Frank proud! Getting the "little nipper" (that's Aussie for "small child") on stage during the "audience participation" was THE coolest thing I've seen on a stage in many years. If part of your "mission" is to bring FZ's music to a new generation, nicely done! The name Zappa will be on the tip of that kid's tongue for YEARS.

Hope that Ray White (Realtor) gotcha thinking hard 'bout that condo: I don't like to speak for others, but I think that the audience pretty clearly would like to see ZPZ back here with frequency.

Think Ray White (Vocalist) may have done you a favour in the long run. Disappointing, frustrating, yes, but, as is said, what doesn't destroy you only makes you stronger. Your band seem far from throwing in the towel. ZPZ is a stand alone act, you all proved that tonight. Guests like Ray add a certain nostalgia to the experience; it is great to see them, but ultimately the show isn't about them.

All credit to your obviously talented band. Strength to strength!

Thanks Dweezil!
Keep it happening groover!!
All the best on the tour.
COME BACK SOON!!

p.s. off the shelf, ready to wear, perfect for the Global Financial Crisis: Can't Afford No Shoes - I'd love hear that incorporated into the repertoire! It's so... NOW!!

Sorry to interrupt, Australia.
The New Singer. Help me out, gag me with a name.
Napoleon (plays Oslo 30. April), Ike, Me... question question question.

Just to be pedantic, note that the set list as performed did not match the stage set list (copied above): "I am the Slime" was played instead of "Penguin in Bondage".

All in all, a really good selection of material: some old favourites; some lesser known material; and lots of stuff off Roxy!

venue was fantastic.
I thought the enmore show was great but this was it's equal.
shelia is my new musical legend. the guitar playing has grown out of sight in 12 months.
the highlights were the 1st note until the last.
this band has its own indenity playing the greats man's music.
wish we got the girl with the paint on bikini.
please come back every year.

this was insane
i am still in tears
chris

Dweezil and band ... welcome baaaack! Thanks - we detect some affection for Australia and it is returned to you!

Last night at The State was just beautiful. Thanks for Frank's music - I saw him at all of his Sydney concerts dating back to the early 70s at The Hordern Pavilion with Ruth Underwood, Jean Luc Ponty, the Fowler Brothers, George Duke, Ian Underwood and all the other luminary players. Until I saw you at The Enmore last tour, I never thought that I would hear this music again. You have done it with the utmost love and respect, not for a moment losing the rock ethos. Just unspeakably beautiful. Thanks for the playing, the high volume and the love you have for the music and for *playing it*.

Rock on and please travel safely until you return to us.

If a strange Aussie guy with white-coloured hair comes up to you somewhere on earth and says g'day, it'll be me!

all my love to you all and a special cheer to Pete the bassist, and Scheila on sax and keys ... Dweezil, play it, play it!

Pete

another bassist from Leichhardt, Sydney.

I don't really want to pour a bucket of cold water on all the exultation that has appeared both about this show, and also the other earlier shows in Brisbane and at the Byron Blues Fest at Easter (don't throw rocks yet pls, I have followed Frank since the early 70s, saw him at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney in 1976 (?) - now captured on the FZ:OZ discs, on a visit from New Zealand then, and am still collecting more and more of his music). But I will, and frankly I would have to say that, in all honesty, this gig was nowhere near as good as the last one in Sydney in late 2007 at the Enmore Theatre which I attended. That gig I thought was sensational, and thinking about it I must only conclude that it was both because it was such a faithful reproduction of the original Frank and the Mothers sound, but also because of the special "guests" who came on and off like the somewhat showboaty snakehips Steve Vai and Ray White and Napoleon Brock and so on and so forth. No disrespect to the Aussie artist occasionally known as Johnny Diesel (my apologies to northern hemisphere viewers who may have no idea who the hell we are talking about) who did one solo singing and guitar spot in the show - which I would be hard pushed to associate with Uncle Frank at all in either the tune (allegedly Bamboozled by Love according to the set list above - who dat?) or the sound, as Diesel's guitar sound is nothing like the rest of the show - talk about the Catscratch Fever segment of the show? The single number by Diesel as a guest was really a poor substitute/fill in for the fact that Ray White (not the Sydney realtor as noted above) just apparently pulled the plug and did a DNA (did not attend) for no apparent explanation -- perhaps a bit like people have noted elsewhere of the undisciplined activities of previous members of Frank's bands. Someone did call out "where's Brockie?" (for northern hemisphere viewers this is an Australian habit of turning many names into shortened familiar diminutives) to which Dweezil replied somewhat diplomatically about there having been a parting of the ways.

I just thought the Enmore 2007 show was a positively crackling representation of what it was like to see Frank Zappa in his hey-day (or any day)-- some of the occasional players such as Vai and White were still the same but the rest of them were able to virtually produce pretty complex music note for note (in a respectful, rather than a copyist fashion) so it was like being there, but only 30 years later in the modern day. This was what I felt was missing with the State Theatre show -- it was only when I got home and checked the web when I realised the dimensions of what Dweezil was talking about when he said that they really had to re-jig the whole set list because of the sudden hole created by the departure of a featured vocalist. This is really a major major problem for any band at very short notice. They kind of filled in with this difficult task (as to featured vocals) but it was hardly the same. Okay it was the six of them playing in a new more "pared back" fashion (to be polite and kind) but it was just not as dynamite as the Enmore show in 2007 which was just Three Hours of Power (to paraphrase some heavy metal show). I have to say that at times I think I would have been having more fun watching the somewhat more prankish and more "fun" Sydney Zappa "covers band" (if that's not too insulting to them) Petulant Frenzy play - which they do pretty rarely. And if I really wanted to attract rocks I would say that the version of Village of the Sun (without a dedicated vocalist) struck me at the time as sounding too much like Steely Dan plays Zappa (whoops, duck!). However the positive things about the show - as I thought from the Enmore 2007 show - Dweezil appears such a no-ego self-effacing kind of guy - he invited some Zappa T-shirted guys onto the stage at the end who did a very good job (at least one of them did) of Status Quo hair tossing and later performed some great air guitar solos. Mind you there was also a rather weird stalkerish guy in a green T-shirt down the front who was potentially just weird. And as for the five-year old boy who Dweezil got down on the stage with and made like he (the kid) was playing the guitar solo (but Dweezil actually was). That was a magic and repeatable moment. I note that Scheila and Billie the percussion guy used a camera to take some snaps of this little "lesson" - please post them on the Web that would be great.

So look unfortunately I must say that I thought this was a slightly disappointing performance -- and I now fully realise the reasons for this (MIA vocalist). Unfortunately when you buy the tickets two months in advance you do not know that such things are going to happen. As far as I was concerned I was hopefully going to get a fabulous show like the Enmore 2007 one, but on this occasion did not. If you have never seen ZPZ before my comments should not stop you going and enjoying the (on this occasion slightly diminished) "experience". If you ended up not liking it for whatever reason, you can then always buy the DVD for a peak performance with everyone present and correct. Let's face it, such events cannot always be recreated. And as the ad for a vocalist says, you must already live in the LA area (and might have added, be prepared to travel, even to the Antipodes!). See you next time (maybe).

Hi Dweezil and band. Just want to say that my friends and I really enjoyed the concert at the beautiful State Theatre on 14/04. The sound (and mix) was awesome. Loved all the songs you played (pity Inca Roads wasn't on the set list but I understand the need to introduce newer material to the masses). It didn't worry me not having Ray White there, in fact Scheila and Joe did a superb job on the vox. Please please consider bringing out another DVD of this latest tour. I can't get enough of you guys on my TV. Dweezil - please continue Frank's legacy and come back every year ;-)

Thank you for coming I will never miss a show when ZPZ return to Oz.
I was never able to see FZ in concert. When he came to Paris in 1980 I had just been called in the army for the 1 year conscription that every Frenchmen had to do then. You can imagine my rage and anger towards the French goverment for stopping me from seeing him on stage in Paris.
ZPZ has given me the chance to hear his works live on stage,I understand that it will be imposible for them to give the same shows that FZ would have given on stage. But,it sure was a truly fantastic concert and in the spirit of FZ. It also felt very intimate. Reliving his music on stage from such great musicians was for me a big joy and I can only thank you over and over again for doing it.I hope to see you soon here in Sydney.[attachment=0]Z-cloud.jpg[/attachment]