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Did you attend the ZPZ show at Effenaar in Eindhoven?

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

The show at the Effenaar was simply amazing! Great atmosphere in a sold-out house and superb performances of all the band members. All hail to Dweezil, who played marvelously. A honorable tribute to his father and the SG itself :-)

New vocalist Ben Thomas was incredible. His "solo", an ode to Africa, was very, very good. And then of course the great musical talents of Sheila Gonzalez..., that one sax-solo. Incredible!!

A perfect concert, indeed.

And last but not least, I want to deeply thank Dweezil for autographing my iPhone!! It was a wonderful moment and I am SO, SO happy and proud of it / with it. Thanks Dweezil, for taking the time to sign and hand out them guitar picks. It was the cherry on the cake of a wonderful night!

- Fred

p.s. my friend is also ecstatic about you (Dweezil) singing his EvH sneakers!

All the best and good luck with ZpZ !

What an amazing concert it was. This band is getting better and better and the new singer Ben Thomas is FANTASTIC!

This was our (my wife and myself) 3rd ZPZ performance, the 1st was Amsterdam '06, 2nd Tilburg '07.
We had taken 2 young women along, and it was their first Z experience whatsoever. They enjoyed it as well.

Musically the band had grown tremendously and the late addition of Ben Thomas is a great one.
He adds some youth to the package! Please give him something to do when he is not singing..., he seemed somewhat lost when not actually needed.
Too bad there is no real keyboardplayer at the moment, that could have added quite a bit to the overall sound of the band as well as the arrangements. I really missed Aaron being there.

But in general..., apart from DZ's apparent 'probable unease somehow to do with the piece of chicken he ate'..., a very good show.
Great diversity in tunes that were played, very interesting arrangements, excellent execution.


Hopefully see you next time!

Fantastic concert.
Also visited the 013-concert in 2007. this one was at least as good as.
a couple of my favourite live-tracks played. thank the band for that.
hope you'll visit the Netherlands the next tour. I'' be around.
Walter

Great show, my first ZpZ.
Ben Thomas was simply amazing, even more so given his short tenure with the band. His 'africa' solo was impressive, hilarious and surprising. He managed to get nearly all the vocal intonations right, sounding somewhat like the original singers, but with his own style.

Setlist as I remember (I may miss one or two and the order may vary a bit):
Purple lagoon
Penguin in bondage
Wind up working in a gas station
Magic fingers
Inca roads
Theme from lumpy gravy
Peaches en regalia
Village of the sun
Echidna’s arf (of you)
Don’t you ever wash that thing?
Lucille has messed my mind up
Outside now
Bamboozled by love
King Kong
More trouble every day
A token of my extreme
Cosmik debris
Zomby woof
Willy the pimp

-dennis-

Great show last Saturday! My compliments to all! Ben Thomas is a very good singer, with his own style, but his voice fits in very well with the FZ compositions.
Next time in Holland he should sing Ms. Pinky.... People attending the FZ shows in Ahoy Rotterdam in the late 70ties and early 80ties know what I am talking about! Scheila's sax work is incredible. I really loved the setlist, a lot of my favorites were played. I went with my neighbour and we discovered that our around the corner neighbour was also there: three FZ fans in one street in Utrecht!
I was surprised to see so many young people (and girls) in the audience. DZ is really taking Frank's music to the next generation! Great!
Only comment: For me the drums were too loud in the mix.
Thank you so much and hope to see you again next year!

I don't have much to add to the previous posts, I just like to say that it was amazing.

I'm quite new to Frank Zappa's music, but I enjoyed every minute of the show.

Hopefully you'll be back soon :)

ps. thanks for the playlist

contrary to the former posts, this concert was an evening in minor.

I've seen FZ 3 times live, ZPZ 3 times, and some Shampoo Horn. Let me first state that none of the minor elements in my opinion, regard the sound, nor the craftmanship and musicianship performed on stage.

I agree with other post (and other concerts) that Ben preformces excellent, revives the material in a more than accurate way, and that his improvising is great.

What was wrong with the concert? 3 main ingredients:

1) the songlist lacked a "build-up" and had a mismatch between songs and instrumentals (lyrics are very important in FZ work, so use it). Most of the tempo's were in the same range, so a little dull. I understand that Ben was forced to learn a lot of material in a short time. This one is forgiven...
2) Since Aaron and Ray left the band (and hey, everyone is replaceble) the direct effect is the soundcolour of the band. There was simply not enough variation in the instrumental sound from one song/instrumental to an other
3) Dweezil, please give us a little more speech in between songs

PS: the "Dweezildorf" concert in Dusseldorf two years ago was the best music experience of my life. Without doubt was my expectation level for Eindhoven on the high side of the range...

[quote="hansfeep"]contrary to the former posts, this concert was an evening in minor.

I've seen FZ 3 times live, ZPZ 3 times, and some Shampoo Horn. Let me first state that none of the minor elements in my opinion, regard the sound, nor the craftmanship and musicianship performed on stage.

I agree with other post (and other concerts) that Ben preformces excellent, revives the material in a more than accurate way, and that his improvising is great.

What was wrong with the concert? 3 main ingredients:

1) the songlist lacked a "build-up" and had a mismatch between songs and instrumentals (lyrics are very important in FZ work, so use it). Most of the tempo's were in the same range, so a little dull. I understand that Ben was forced to learn a lot of material in a short time. This one is forgiven...
2) Since Aaron and Ray left the band (and hey, everyone is replaceble) the direct effect is the soundcolour of the band. There was simply not enough variation in the instrumental sound from one song/instrumental to an other
3) Dweezil, please give us a little more speech in between songs

PS: the "Dweezildorf" concert in Dusseldorf two years ago was the best music experience of my life. Without doubt was my expectation level for Eindhoven on the high side of the range...[/quote]


Dude .. "What was wrong with the concert?" followed by an enumeration of three personal reflections no one cares about. And by the way .. you being so full of yourself being right: @1 I'm sure Dweezil appreciates very much you telling him his father's lyrics are important. Tempoes were dull? all in the ear of the beholder. Ben Thomas did a great job! Maybe you should try out, mr. Knowitall.

@2 you're contradicting yourself in the first lines (about Aaron and Ray) then write some nonsense about "variation in instrumental sound" .. wonder what that's supposed to mean.

@3 First you worry about the music being "dull" and without "variation in instrumental sound" and now you ask Dweezil to give you more speech?

Man ... you must be such an unhappy person ... all the best to you, though! Have a good weekend,

Fred

Fred,

as a positive person and a musician, I pointed out what was good and (of course personal) what was not good. I ended even with the remark, that my expectations were maybe a little high.

I think proffesional and serious musicians, are willing to here remarks, so they can improve, even it was already on a high level.

Maybe my English is not that well, so than the words I wrote represent not what I meant (more words from Dweezil > binding lyrics in between). My reading on the other hand is clear, and I regret the tone and words you are using towards me.

I"m sure I will attend future shows of ZPZ, since I know not every performance is the same. And of course is a personal mind set, also a changing mood...

So Fred, a new day, new chances...


PS: 3 reflections no one cares about? Whats te use of a forum you can reflect on concerts then for?

@ hansfeep

Let's shake hands! :-)

- Music is the best


Fred

@ Fred,

most fair of you, and accepted! And hey, I had a great time with my 16 year old son aside me. He was fond of the King Kong part of the show....

Sunny day (that's the current weather here in Nijmegen) to you!!!

ZpZ in Eindhoven were great. Over the years I've seen this band evolve. This night was my fifth time I saw them perform. I was fortunate to stand right in front with my son Killian, stage left near Scheila. I was lucky to see a video from the Paris concert beforehand, so I knew how the stage setting was. I gave my son the choice which side of the stage he preferred. He, being a drummer, and also a percussionist and guitar player wanted to be near Billy and Joe. So that was decided. Fortunately we teamed up with another father-son combo (son is called Jordi, father's name I forgot, sorry) so we could get refreshments etc. without losing our great first row places.
The band kicked off with the Purple Lagoon; a great surprise to me. Great rendition. Next was Imaginary Diseases. Nothing wrong with that. Then Penguin in Bondage (from one of my favorite albums); enter Ben Thomas.
When I first read DZ's blog about Ben I reacted: "Why the hell not someone we already know?" But later I thought: "Who ever knew Napoleon Murphy Brock, Terry Bozzio, Steve Vai, Scott Thunes, Mike Keneally (you fill in the rest), before they became a member of Frank's band? So let's give the guy a fair chance even though he was hired at such short notice."
Ben, you can really sing and perform. You proved to be a great addition to this band. I'm glad Dweezil didn't go for the guy in the leather jacket who didn't even know how to sing Inca Roads. Hell, I could sing the lyrics, but you would't want to hear me sing.
Later during the show Ben was sitting behind Scheila and I gave him the thumbs up. It made him smile and I think he appreciated it.
Anyway, because I can use only 60,000 characters I cannot comment on each single song, so I'll limit myself to the highlights (in my personal opinion). One question to Scheila:"How come Manny the camper wants to buy some white FISH?"
Magic Fingers; almost couldn't believe my ears. Just wonderful. Inca Roads, Ben's final exam, great. Lumpy Gravy: another pleasant surprise. Peaches; of course. Grammy material.
Then the large and lengthy Roxy part. GREAT!
With Lucille the band took the foot off the gas, right when we needed it. Outside now with a great solo. Bamboozled with the Lonely Heart sequence. After that King Kong. Great solo performances. Ben with a GREAT African/beatbox contribution. Scheila played a familiar bit during her solo. It took me a full day to figure out what it was. After the Amsterdam show she confirmed that it was the beginning of the Sanford & Son TV series.
More Trouble was a solid wall of sound (Phil Spector eat your heart out). Token ending (more nostalgia for the old folks).
Of course we cried, whistled and clapped for more and got more: Cozmic Debris (which wasn't on the playlist), Zomby Woof (you could have done the original version, Ben) and Willie the Pimp.
Overall impression: The band has gained strenght and unity. Moreover they seemed more at ease, especially Dweezil. Many songs were played in segue, like Frank used to do. Sound was good where we were.
Special thanks to Scheila, who decided my son had to have her playlist (he was totally surprised by this. An everlasting impression you made), to Pete, who took the time to have a short but interested conversation with Killian and myself consecutively (is that an English word?) and Dweezil for being as relaxed as I have never seen him before with ZpZ and for taking so much time for the fans, autographing all kinds of stuff and handing out exotic guitar picks.

In the near future I hope to give my impression of the Amsterdam show and add some pictures (my Amsterdam pictures are way better than the Eindhoven pictures).

I hope I didn't bore you with this extensive post.