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Did you attend the ZPZ show at Warwick Arts Centre in Coventry, UK?

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

What an amazing evening. The band were amazing and Dweezil was incredibly gracious to sit on the stage at the end of the gig signing autographs, answering questions and even recording a video message to my friend Leah who was unable to attend the gig.

Seeing Dweezil performing with his father was technically outstanding, and quite moving. The band were tight and of an incredible level of proficiency. Ben's vocals were perfect, and his on-stage persona added much to the performance. The doo-wop duet with audience members was fantastic. Chris' work on Inca Roads on both vocals and keyboard were staggering. I could listen to that performance over and over. Scheila's opening sax solo was masterful - how she can play that long, that loud and with that complexity is beyond me! Pete's is possibly the coolest bass player I ever saw, standing Jesus like, bolt upright with eyes closed and fingers doing double duty. Awesome. Jamie exuded a quiet, cool confidence as he picked his way from one rythm guitar part to another. However, it was nice to see he open up the taps on his face melting solo later in the set. A guitarist's guitarist if ever I saw one. Joe's drums and Billy's percussion provided a tight and solid layer to underpin the entire performance Billy's vibe solo was awesome.

To be able to see musicians of this quality performing such complex arrangements for nearly three hours straight, and to see how gracious and warm their leader is, is staggering and humbling. To see it in your local arts centre and being able to stand at the front was great. To have Frank's spirit presiding over proceedings in video form is the cherry on the cake. Frank, I am sure, would be very, very proud of these guys.

Sorry if this sounds gushy, but I was utterly blown away. Please come back next year.

Ade.

I brought my 15-year-old nephew along to this show; he’s proving to be a bit of a multi-instrumentalist so I thought ZPZ would be the ideal showcase to which he could aspire, and have been feeding him selections of Frank’s back-catalogue over the past few weeks. He was massively impressed that a group could consist of such multi-talented individuals, and insists he hung on every moment of the performance, sensing he was in the presence of genius.

From a personal perspective, my favourite “Gumbo Variations” began the concert, so was concerned that all else would be diminishment: I needn’t have worried. Picking out highlights, the magnificent “Cosmik Debris” bluesed its way into a glorious extended sequence, and once the “Apostrophe” album was done, “Inca Roads” crashed onto us like an Andean avalanche! “Fifty-Fifty” also benefitted from extra material (not to mention a singular guest vocal appearance), and who could fail to love “What’s the Ugliest Part of Your Body?” containing as it did astonishingly fluid, seamless solos from such a lovely bunch of musicians? And I think that was a casing point: the enjoyment, enthusiasm and palpable friendliness of the band spilled out into the audience such that, by the end of the evening, there wasn’t one person who wasn’t on their feet applauding with rapture at the spectacle they had witnessed. Well done to Dweezil and the band – you should all feel justly proud!

I hadn’t intended to pick out any one of the band for particular praise as to do so might cast a shade on others, whereas it is true to say that everyone shone brightly. But I must add a word of congratulations to Ben Thomas whose vocal performance was immense. For someone to perform lyrics as idiosyncratic as Frank’s and to carry it off with such conviction was nothing short of miraculous. He brought wit and pantomime to a show which already had everything!

One last comment: we loved the video jamming with Frank, which was treated with due taste and reverence. The image of him playing “Muffin Man” along with you guys will live in our memories for a long time to come.

A longer walk has taken me to the middle-lands of the country, nearing the lands of industry and workplaces covered in soot and metal.
I approached a seat of learning and looked for a place to rest, and found a large hall filled with strange people. I was about to turn and leave, when yet again I heard the strains of a music that I had begun to recognise. I moved closer and suddenly I was standing right at the front with a full view of the delightful people making this music.

The music started and again I felt my body move and quake. The feelings in myself that the music aroused were very unlike what I had felt at chapel the previous Sunday. I was amazed at each musicians deftness and ability with their instruments. But what’s this? The young lady saxophonist had slightly shrunk! What was the meaning of this? How did it happen?

Clearly this group of musicians have a truly educational purpose, with another long treatise on the use of punctuat’ion. And yet more! A searing examination of the nature of current Urban planning! Their indictments of modern town planners so accurately described in how they played their instruments. And a lesson in translation, led by the upright young singer – an excellent teacher as the young lady next to me was able to speak back fluently! Mow mow mow!

I moved and grooved (I ask for redemption). But I had an idea! I had some small amount of poultry left from my travels. A duck that had come from Chernobyl (and glowed) I happily offered to the band to help them on their way. I did ask for a sofa to sit on to rest my weary feet, but not one was available.

And then it was over.

I need to keep on travelling. My foot really does smell very strange……….

Pastor John D'oh!

In an era of musical pap, this evening was especially wonderful. Seeing and hearing exceptional musicians playing compositions from one of the great artists of the 20th century was unforgettable - I must admit to being slightly moved at hearing my all-time favourite, Inca Roads, played impeccably by the band with Frank on the big screen behind. Dweezil, you were brilliant - effortlessly cool in a way that made me ashamed to be in the same hall - while Ben Thomas was a soulful North Sea Oil Rig of deep, grumbling sound. And Scheila you are a serously good sax player (and a seriously hot latino biscuit! grrr).