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Did you see ZPZ at the Palace Theatre in Pittsburgh, PA?

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

Ok I was totally there, in the Loge section right along the railing, an ideal seat to be sure to behold the show. The show was amazing, but in the balcony the vocals were muddy and hard to hear in the mix. Some hecklers failed to convey this message to Dweezil (They yelled "your soundman sucks", to no avail) and largely just annoyed Dweezil. So I want to apologize for the yinzers, but the vocals were assy sounding. That being said, the instruments were lovely. When Dweezil bends over his neck and breaks off a solo, its transcending. Please post a setlist here, I heard a song, the one that Dweezil introduced as "Strictly Genteel" but then the drummer corrected him and said the proper title (which went unheard in the charlie brown teacher way the vocals sounded) but then they played a jazzy light little piece with horns, it was freakin amazing. So post that title for me, i need that. So all in all, I think at the next venue, send Assy the sound guy into the balcony section and walk around, listen to vocals, make sure they are bright. (The singing was great BTW, just mixed wrong) And yes I am a sound engineer, so I do know what I am talking about,so chill trolls. Dweezil if you read this personally, thank you for this and many more tours. I will always attend these shows.

I've experienced ZPZ four times and this had to have been the absolute best - and all the other performances were spectacular! Is it sacrilege to say "this might be the best Zappa band ever"? What FZ lineup/era covered the same breadth of the Zappa catalog? Everyone was great but Joe Travers, in particular, was on fire. The new guy on keys also impressed. ZPZ and Dweezil are an inspiration. The work ethic, great execution, divine improvisation - they really do Frank proud. I anxiously await my next ZPZ show.

There were some complaints about the sound from those in the balcony but from where I was sitting (third row), it was crystal clear.

The show was amazing. Ben proved to be a great singer. Everyone else rocked! I loved it. Btw, Blessed Relief, from the Grand Wazoo is the mystery song(for the poster above). My only small gripe is that they only played one encore tune. The concert was still plenty long but I was expecting a couple more encores:) I'd see these shows every weekend for life if I could!

Thank you for that title Handman. God that was so great.

Of course the band was amazing, and we mostly had a good time. I won't bore you with the details of how good they are -- if you're reading this, you already know. But I will comment on a couple of negatives. Firstly, the sound was bad, in both the sound check and the performance. Yes, the yinzer that pointed that out during the show was rude, but Dweezil errantly just tried to pass that off as a bad room. It wasn't problems caused by the the room, it was the balance. No one's vocals were loud enough, and the sax was hard to hear during solos. That's not the room, it is the guy behind the board. As a band leader that is very particular about every detail, playing very complex music, I would suggest that he don a wireless, venture into the seating area and listen for himself, during the soundcheck. The problems can be easily corrected by the soundman, once they are identified. Secondly, please don't call it an Under 21 show, and make a sales pitch to try to get young fans there, and then describe your interactions with groupies in a graphic manner. Everyone knows that there is a sexual component to some of Frank's music. And everyone is entitled to their own morality regarding this. However, it is disrespectful to the audience to present that material in an "Under 21" show, and just poor business if you are trying to expand your market base to include teenagers (and younger), etc. Even if you are okay yourself with exposing children to these things, you need to recognize that a significant portion of the people that buy tickets are NOT. Then do the right thing, as a person, and as a business man, and leave that material out of the show, or, don't label it as an "Under 21" show, so that people will know what to expect when deciding whether or not to buy tickets for their children. (This was the one part of the show where I was glad that the vocals were incomprehensible, sitting next to my fifteen year old. I can't imagine how the guy who brought his eight year old explained to his son what he heard . . .). So -- impressive playing, but the experience was soured by a couple things that are so unnecessary and easily remedied.

MRK, why would you bring yourself and your 15 year old to a Zappa show if you had moral convictions about the subject matter. Which by the way was considerably toned down compared to a bonafide Frank Zappa show. Is Frank's music new to you? If so then I fully understand why you were shocked. But anyone with a cursory knowledge of Zappa has to know they are going to hear a few off color remarks and/or concepts. I for the life of me can't recall anything said other than Dweezil having to field off a so called "groupie". He did say He wasn't interested. What did you think the song "Easy Meat" was about? My 16 year old was with me, and we had a blast. But I am a registered Libertarian Atheist, so I'm not really hung up on the sexual exploits of others. Lighten up MRK, you'll live longer.
P.S. well said about the sound quality, it was horrid. I've read a few reviews from the shows after ours, and the sound was bad there too. Dweezil.... please fire that guy.

Dweezil - I have also posted on your Dweezil Zappa World site and would like to say again how disappointing the sound was in the Palace Theater. First row in the balcony and we couldn't hear or understand any of the vocals all night... or Schelia's saxophone or Chris's keys...or Billy's mallet work...or YOUR guitar!...Jamie's guitar cut through like a knife...and Pete's bass and Joe's drums were way up in the mix. I spoke with your soundguy and he offered some excuses about the height of the balcony, not being able to "fly" the speakers, etc...I think the PA was under- powered for that size room. I had seen the G3 tour in the same venue and needed earplugs because of the volume. But didn't even pull them out of my pocket Friday night. The playing looked fantastic and what we COULD hear was great, but we missed 50% of what Frank's music is about...THE LYRICS. I would go to another DZPZ show anytime because the band is SO TIGHT and the guys are so down to Earth. But please make sure the sound is right next time. Come back to Pittsburgh anytime, try another venue if needed (http://www.librarymusichall.com/ Carnegie Library Music Hall) ...remember YCDTOSA.