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Having seen Frank Zappa and The MOI play several times in the early 1970s, and once later in Maple Leaf Gardens (a bloody awful venue), it was a real pleasure to learn a few years ago that Dweezil had decided to pick-up the baton, so to speak, and continue to bring his late father’s music to the Fans of FZ.
My (now 17-year old) daughter and I attended the Vancouver concert and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We had taken in the previous two Wet Coast concerts, and each has had its strengths.
For the first at the QE Theatre, it was the simple pleasure of hearing FZ’s music played live again… although I was blown-away by Terry’s drumming and Stevie-Ray’s “stunt” guitar riffs. The second in the more cultured Orpheum Theatre featured a guitar duet with Frank (who was projected on the back stage screen) and Dweezil. It brought tears to my jaded eyes.
The third and most recent Vancouver concert at the Granville Island Stage was the most intimate rock show experience I have had in decades, short of taking in bands playing at the Vancouver Folk Festival. (Did anyone see the Grande Monthers a few years ago?) There is a certain risk in playing in such close proximity to your audience, but the band was tight and seemed to enjoy the more personal contact with the audience than the GIS provides.
Peaches en Regalia has always been one of my favourite FZ tunes, instrumental or otherwise. And I thoroughly enjoyed the “straight” version, and could hardly stop laughing at the “high mutated” second version which followed. (Frank would have been proud of that rendition, I am sure!) When the time comes to bury my well-used body, I want Peaches to be blaring out of the loud speakers as they lower my coffin!
It was a delight to also hear Billy the Mountain, which resulted in the word of the night being F*ck. (I don’t know if your profanity screening software would stop this post if I used the full spelling, so I won't take the chance.) My daughter now wants to hear the full original version. My only question to her will be: “vinyl or CD?” I look forward to hearing the original again, and then down-loading the MP3 version of the concert to rehear the 2009 version!
Finally, and in case DZ or the rest of the band is reading this message, please be assured that your future Vancouver concerts will be well attended by residents of the Lower Mainland. My 15-year old son has (finally!) expressed an interest in hearing Dweezil play, so I can guarantee you that one more ticket will be sold next time around. I might even be able to convince some of his guitar-playing buddies to tag along!
I also expect that it is not an easy task to prepare the MP3 versions of the concerts for later downloading, so my warmest thanks to DZ and his crew for taking this extra step in Audience Enjoyment.
Music IS The Best! Thank you for such a wonderful musical experience.
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