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First of all, let me begin by expressing myself in explicit detail, by summoning all of my innermost thoughts, opinions and carefully constructed hypothesis using as much intelligent and well selected vocabulary, writing skill and creativity as I can muster, to give you, the reader, a recounting of events so extraordinarily detailed that you will feel like you were there, even if you were not.
Make yourself a cup (or pot) of coffee, or pour yourself a drink, don your most comfortable attire, make your way to your very favorite reading spot, where the lighting, level of comfort, ambience and environment is at it’s absolute peak, and prepare yourself for a lengthy, inspired and fascinating read, that will transport you to a place you thought not possible to reach by mere printed words, on an electronic page.
Are you ready? Comfortable? Relaxed? Answering service switched on? Doorbell switched off? Interruptions and distractions abated? Good. Then you are ready.
Allow me to begin. Here are my summarized thoughts regarding DZ on FZ…..
Wow!
Thank you for reading.
Regards,
Jeff
********************
But seriously folks…..
Truly, wow! I am fortunate to say that this was my fourth opportunity to witness the brilliance and wonderment of the music of Frank Zappa, as interpreted through the wonderfully capable hands and astute mind of, who for my money, is one of today’s premier, touring and performing guitar players; Dweezil Zappa, where I will heretofore refer to, as he does to himself, DZ.
I have the utmost respect for this gentleman, and I do mean gentleman. Not as a woman thinks of a man as a gentleman, although he may be that as well, but rather as a man having high respect for another man, who displays extraordinary talent and skill, while being humble and respectful himself, with enough ego to be confident in his own abilities to deliver a solid, unabashed performance, yet wisely admit there is much more to learn and always room for improvement. DZ seems to be the sort of person I respect most in life, in exuding the characteristics I just described. Extremely skilled and dedicated, yet always striving to better himself. This is just a quality I respect in all people, men and women. Few reach that level. Less even try. It’s something to aspire to with the proper motivation and discipline.
I’m here to comment less about the music itself, since there are so many more of you who are far more knowledgeable than I, but rather convey my impressions of music and musicians that I have barely scratched the surface of familiarity with myself, but am increasingly more hungry to learn.
I am 43 years old. I never had the good fortune or opportunity, (or informed desire back several years ago), to see Frank himself perform live. While he was still with us, I vaguely knew of him, but only via the narrow slice of more mainstream-ish material allowed to slip through the cracks of commercial radio and the odd television interview. I’ve commented in the past about my previous misconceptions, which DZ has since corrected through this endeavor, so I’ll try not to repeat myself too much in that regard. At the age I became somewhat more aware of FZ in the short number of years prior to his departure, I really only saw a man who shelved his prior rock and stage antic silliness, for more serious compositional / orchestral work, (which at the time, given my musical shallowness, sounded more like an orchestra tuning up, rather than actual enjoyable music), who more and more was a cleaned up, clean-cut, suit wearing prognosticator, getting in the face of “the man” through hearings, testimonials, etc., rallying against artistic censorship, corporate, political or otherwise.
*Editors note: I am the king of the run-on sentence.
Those were my thoughts, while Frank was still around. I was not tuned in, or knowledgeable about much of the music at all. My (regretful) loss. I have since become better informed and am happy to say that I am fully dialed in.
Last summer I saw the ads for ZPZ, and had my doubts about it’s authenticity and sincerity, I reckoned (to one of my concert buddies) that this is, sadly, as close as we will ever get to seeing Frank himself, as that ship had long sailed. So we did. Off to the great white north, for a 2 hour trek up the QEW from Buffalo, to the sparkling, CN Tower spired city by the lake……Toronto. The Hummingbird Centre is a world class, acoustically designed marvel, worthy of orchestras, symphonies, philharmonics and the like, and a wonderful place to witness more complex music worthy of such a space to really hear the detail and subtlety of what is being presented. In short, a great place for my inaugural ZPZ and just plain old Z, experience. I’ve written about that previously, but let me briefly revisit that by saying I was utterly, totally and completely blown away. And hooked for life. I followed that with a late Fall 2006 ZPZ stop at the University at Buffalo, Center for the Arts, mainstage, which is another high quality, acoustically designed venue. My growing interest and enthusiasm was not only fulfilled, but healthily boosted.
I think it was a stroke of brilliance to make this initial foray into potentially choppy waters with some heavy-weight guns, to really spur fan interest by enlisting the former Frank era ringers like Steve Vai, Napoleon Murphy Brock and Terry Bozio. Great choices for that opening season to get everyone’s’ attention. Now that it’s taken off so nicely, the focus rests more squarely on the material and core band. Having said that, Ray White is an unbelievable vocalist and is a fantastic special guest for the sophomore season’s festivities. I have high hopes that some form of this unit will proceed for some time to come with DZ at the helm.
Through a unique set of circumstances not really relevant to this discussion, I found myself in Charlotte, NC this summer where I attended a concert by my first love, The Allman Brothers Band, which just happened to be the day before ZPZ played Asheville. My initial thoughts before heading out on this little summer road trip adventure, was to drive up to Raleigh the next evening to catch another ABB show. I see a lot of ABB shows. 70 and counting. But, (major but here), as much as I would have enjoyed another dose of Gregg, Derek and Warren, I opted for some musical diversity and decided to head west into the beautiful North Carolina mountains and see DZ and company do what they do so well. As I entered the theater, I had a wee bit of self doubt that I had made the right decision or not. I knew “my boys” would shortly be taking the stage in Raleigh, and I had a brief moment of regret. That moment of regret lasted for about a handful of notes as ZPZ sailed into their set. If I had more technical musical knowledge, I would have called it a bar, or a measure, or something more intelligent sounding, but suffice it to say, after a very few opening seconds, I was exactly where I wanted, and needed, to be. As former Buffalo Bills football coach, Marv Levy used to say; “Where else would you rather be, than right here, right now?!” My answer was, no where. I was where I wanted to be.
I thought that may be my best one-two punch opportunity to see two killer, and diverse shows for the 07 summer season, (and it was), but also my only opportunity to see ZPZ for this year. I was pleasantly surprised when they returned to Buffalo in November, and I swiftly purchased tickets, as soon as they became available.
I thought the venue, (The Town Ballroom), was an odd choice for the show since it is basically an old, somewhat grungy, small and acoustically substandard space for such an ensemble, but there was no way I was going to miss it, even if it were held in a bathroom stall. I’m not sure who selects venues; bands management, promoters, or whomever, but it may be completely dependent on availability and tour scheduling logistical considerations. In any event, it did not matter and provided other benefits beyond mere sound quality.
Although a venue like the acoustic marvel, UBCFA, is technically superior, it is a bit stuffy and sterile, and makes for a limited (rock) concert experience. You must sit. You can not consume beverages (or anything) within the confines of the theater space. It is, although comfortable and aesthetically pleasing, somewhat restrictive and limiting.
The Town Ballroom is the former Town Casino, which had its’ heyday back in the 30s or 40s, fell into decay and disrepair, and remained closed for many years. It was partially restored and renovated, but is still a bit of a hole and has a fair amount of grunge. Perfect for a gritty, hard rock affair, but again, seemed an odd choice for such large band with many intricate facets to its’ music that could be easily swallowed into the muddy acoustics of the space. But it worked. In fact, it worked like a MoFo.
I had the good fortune of staking out a spot, just to the (my) right of DZ, and about 6 feet or so from the stage front barrier. I never thought I’d witness the magic from such a close proximity. (My mother used to always tell me that close proximity was a redundant error in the use of proper English, but I see it used (apparently incorrectly) all over the place, and it sounds right to me, so I used it anyway) Hey if I’m going to be dumb, it may as well be all over.) (See, I’m beginning to learn enough to make silly puns.)
Another bonus was the fact that this was an all ages general admission show, where I had unobstructed sight lines all evening. Typically, even though I define and defend my little territory, some freak of nature, nine foot monster, worms his way directly in front of me, and I spend the rest of the show staring at his back, or bobbing left and right to find a sliver of open air to see some portion of the stage. Luckily and thankfully for me, that did not happen.
And, I was able to freely amble to and fro, from the side venue service bars, and bathroom facilities, AND sip my adult beverage whilst enjoying the evenings performance.
The crowd was certainly into it, and I’d have to agree with DZ’s most recent post regarding younger folks at shows, that in addition to the graying old time hard core fans, there were quite a few youthful folks as well. It was an all ages show, but still impressive in the young turn out. I suspect some of them were there as the result of their parents enthusiasm at being able to bring their offspring to a show to expose them to their passion. Which is totally cool, however younger folks become exposed.
Joe Travers at one point appeared to vehemently complain to DZ about the venues’ lack of lighting changes, to which DZ informed the crowd that due to the set up, the band members would be blinded if a more typical light display were employed. I didn’t really understand that, but they were there, did the sound check, and would know best. The band, due to the smallness of the stage, were tightly packed together, and bathed in, unchanging white spotlights for the entire show, which, to me, was perfectly acceptable. Although gimmicks and gadgetry can be entertaining, when a band of this caliber takes the stage, all I care about is the music anyway. And the band, on this night, was as the Brits would say; “spot on.” The band, music and audience had a mutually beneficial chemistry that really created a special vibe, for a thoroughly enjoyable evenings’ entertainment.
This ain’t no disco, as someone once said. And it wasn’t. It was just a damn solid, long set of incredible musicianship and improvisation.
The setlist was nicely diverse from the 2006 shows, and again, exposed me to some new material, worthy of further investigation.
This may be the subject of another post, and I don’t want to deep dive here, but I want to touch upon a point, and would be interested to hear the bands’, family trust and/or DZs take on. Allowed recording of live shows. Whatever the stance is, is the right of the organization, and I certainly would respect it. Everyone should have a measure of control over their work and who benefits from it and how.
I don’t see “tapers” at ZPZ shows, presumably because it is not allowed. I am not a “recordist” myself, but know some friends who are, and I enjoy the fruits of their labor, when they bestow their gifts upon me. The ABB and family are my main musical interest, and probably what I follow the most, and in that “family”, recording is allowed and even encouraged. Not unlike the Grateful Dead and numerous other so called jam band communities. Many of these bands even set up websites where fans for a minimal fee ($10-$13) can down load a soundboard recording of any live performance. I personally love this because I have a ridiculous quantity of the shows, many of which were very special for one reason or another, whether musically or otherwise.
To me, (and I’m not in any way connected to this business to have real knowledge or understanding), for bands with modest record sales, and not top 40, these fan recordings would only benefit the band due to the spreading of the music to folks which may otherwise not gain exposure. A dedicated fan, such as myself, will enthusiastically purchase anything the band commercially releases anyway, so the band isn’t really losing any potential sales, hindering their own income. I trade the recordings, for fun , musical and even social benefit, but if I’m into the band, I buy every damn thing they produce commercially also.
I know DZ wants to expose, educate and spread his fathers’ music and legacy, and I would think allowing audience recording would help to facilitate and further that effort.
This is my humble opinion only, but I, like DZ, would like to see this incredible music reach a wider audience. Now, if the band had opposing points of view, and personal reasons they do not want this type of activity taking place, I would completely respect that.
I would be curious to hear DZs, and the organizations’ thoughts on that topic.
Anyway…
DZ, the band, management and family are a class act. I truly mean that. What they present, and how they present it, is professional and top notch. The use of video, interspersed sparingly throughout the performance is both wonderfully nostalgic and tasteful. It’s not overdone at all, and adds a nice touch to the live band and works perfectly. If you close your eyes during Franks’ guitar solos or vocal sections, you can not tell (at least I can’t) that he’s not right there, as they say, as a special guest. The mix is amazing.
I love DZs guitar playing. This guy is gooooooood. He obviously has inherited talent, but his discipline and dedication to push himself is a testament to his work ethic. Natural talent or not, you don’t become that good without a lot of hard work and sacrifice. He has really evolved as a musician and continues to do so.
I eagerly await the day when DZ decides to expand, and work on projects beyond ZPZ, and he begins to write and create his own compositions, and that a large dose of FZs style and creativity guides and enhances his material. How could it not? DZ will be a monster in his own right. He may never achieve the status, or popular acclaim his father had, but he will be his own man, be proud of his work and hopefully achieve a level of success that he himself is happy with. I will certainly be paying attention. True musicians play for the love of the music anyway, and if success, fame and fortune happen along the way, it’s a nice bonus, but I suspect they would do it anyway. As long as you can pay the bills, doing what you love in life can not be assigned a monetary value.
What endears me to DZ, aside from his music, is his humbleness, respectfulness, decency and reverence for his father, his fathers’ work and the well being of his family(s). His wife and kids. His Mother and siblings. His band and crew. His traveling roadshow. That comes across in his speech, his writings, his persona and his actions. He does not seem to have, those awful negative qualities, that so many famous entertainers seem to lose themselves within. This is the same way I feel about the ABBs Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes. Monster talents, but regular folks. Very cool.
For the past year, I have been very enthused about DZs efforts and igniting my interest and passion in FZs music. I still consider myself a newbie, with much to learn, but I’m slowly working my way deeper into his catalog. I love the new releases that have been appearing sporadically over the past year, and look forward to future projects and recordings. I purchased the “Buffalo” cd while in Asheville over the summer and loved it, (especially being a Buffalo native). At this most recent Buffalo show I purchased the DVD, The Dub Room Special and Wazoo. I am greatly anticipating some free time when I can dive into those.
They say timing is everything, and last year when this music resurfaced through DZ and the family trusts’ efforts, I was in dire need of some thing new (to me) and different that was interesting and of very high quality that I could really sink my teeth into. ZPZ has filled that void, and raised Zappa music to the very top echelon of my musical tastes. With such a vast catalog of material, it will take me a while to collect and immerse myself in, which is nice because it gives me these little nuggets and gems to look forward to as I go deeper. Like a time released capsule for my musical needs.
Dweezil closed the Buffalo show by saying; “See you next year.” I truly hope I do.
Rock on…..
Jeff
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. It could've been my first concert (I'm 13).