My wife and I attended the ZPZ show at
Meadowbrook Music Festival last night, July 27th, 2007. Sat 2 seats away from Ray White's brother, as a matter of fact, and had a nice chat with him before the show began.
To give you an idea of where I'm coming from, I graduated from high school 3 months before Dweezil was born. That makes me a Zappa fan from
Freak Out, forward. And it also suggests that, on the whole, I'm most fond of his output from
Freak Out through
Uncle Meat. I did, however, follow his career to the end, even though I have to admit being only a sporadic comsumer after (approximately)
Overnite Sensation/Apostrophe. That was at a time when jobs & family seem to have gotten in the way and other interests -- like computers -- developed, and I only occasionally purchased new Zappa releases after that. I offer this as explanation for why there were a few songs performed with which I only had passing familiarity, or hadn't heard at all.
Anyway -- on with the show, which opened with
My Guitar (Wants to Kill Your Mama). Can't say that this would have been my request for an 'older' song, but it's a good song, nevertheless. And it sounded like I would have wanted it to sound like, like live performances I've heard from Frank's band, recorded many moons ago.
At this point, I'll make a general comment about all the Zappa material I heard interpreted last night: ZPZ is a band of crackerjack musicians who captured the spirit and essence -- the nuances -- of Frank's music in a most satisfying way. If not precisely note-for-note, they were soundalikes to the casual listener -- close enough that it doesn't matter that you're listening to Dweezil's or Ray White's vocal, rather than Frank's or Ray Collins'. The honks and squeaks are in the right places, as are the snarly, bent guitar double stops. If you're not one to listen to a track repeatedly through headphones, trying to pick out all the subtleties of the arrangement, you'd probably think that these were dead-on, perfect. And they were very, very close. Often times, there's one little part buried deep within a track, that makes the whole thing for me. That's what I listened for last night, and, on the whole, was able to discern. Dweezil's crew have done their homework, and have squeezed an amazing amount of sonic diversity out of 8 players. Bravo, lady & gentlemen!
I'm an emotional guy, and music is one of the things that really moves me deeply. So it's no surprise that, as the crowd was enthusiastically enjoying
My Guitar, I found myself fighting back emotions, hearkening me back to a different time. Fortunately, it was a still, muggy night, and I could pass off the moisture on my cheeks as sweat running down from my forehead. It's kind of hard to explain a 56 year-old man with tears in his eyes when everybody else is smiling & grooving to the music...
There would be more intense moments, as a couple of songs in, Dweez commented that they were going to play something for us older fans, something that hadn't been heard performed live in quite some time, at least prior to the present tour. This turned out to be
Brown Shoes Don't Make It. It was there in its entirety, with all the subsections, surf music interludes, and "If she were my daughter, I'd..." musings. And it even included with
America Drinks and Goes Home to finish it off with those wonderful 'peanut butter & baloney sandwiches'. Coincidentally, this is one of those areas I alluded to earlier, where one insignificant detail in a song is really important for me. In this case, it's the final piano chord, which was, I believe, played by session musician Frankie Capp on the original
Absolutely Free recording. I didn't sound quite right to me last night. It may have been structurally-correct, but perhaps it sounded different to me because there additional instruments adding timbre to it. A prig's detail, to be sure, but hey -- I paid for my ticket!
It was a treat to see the band 'backing up' Frank, as he appeared in two full songs -- one of which was
Cosmik Debris -- and part of a third on the video screen behind the drum kit. This was very successfully accomplished and the band stayed closely in sync as they played with video. It was fun watching Dweezil's facial expressions during these performances.
Anway, if anybody's still reading, a few general comments:
- Dweezil does a passable job with Frank's vocals. I don't think his voice is as strong or resonant as Frank's was. (At times, I thought he mic should have been brought up a bit more in the mix.) There is some evidence of heredity at work, though, and I was very satisfied. I'm not suggesting that it's his job to
BE Frank Zappa, and it's by no means a criticism. It's a comment, as if I were talking to my best friend, describing the show.
Guitar-wise, I think he's done a terrific job emulating the elder Zappa's style and tone, particularly the mid-range bite & razor-sharp attack that characterized Frank's soloing. My impression is that Frank may have used a wah a little more than Dweezil does, but that's more picking nits, and I could be wrong, anyway. Dweez is an extraordinary guitarist in his own right, and I'm guessing that there were more-or-less equal parts of him and Frank in his solos.
In all, I applaud what he's trying to do. It would be easy to be a cynic and say that he's touring on his father's reputation to make $. But I don't think that at all. I think he's doing this for all the right reasons -- to keep the musical of Frank Zappa alive and to introduce it to subsequent generations. Dweez seems to be a likable, humble guy who is justifiably proud of his heritage and is pleased to honor Frank and keep his memory alive in this way. We should all be so lucky to have devotion like that from our sons.
- While all the band members are important and have much to contribute, I'd single out Scheila Gonzalez for comment. She adds a much-needed occasional female voice, and handles a number of woodwind instruments that are integral to the material. She's an vital part of this machine, and appeared to have as much fun making the music as we had in listening to it.
- I'd say similar things about Aaron Arntz, who was mostly hidden, visually, but often apparent, aurally, from my point of view. He was responsible for miscellaneous keys, trumpet and (I think) the occasional deep-pitched vocal, which would be conspicuous by its absence in several areas, were he not there to provide it.
- Frank Zappa music sans marimba just wouldn't sound right, and Billy Hulting did an admirable job wielding the double mallets, gong, and other miscellaneous percussion. The marimba was another area which I felt could have benefited by being brought up a bit in the mix.
- Ray White. All I can say is 'Wow'! What a great voice this guy has! He also has a wonderful smile & stage presence and seemed to enjoy being there, entertaining us.
I don't mean to slight the others whose names I haven't mentioned. They all did a great job on some very challenging charts. I've just singled out what I found my eyes and ears most attracted to last night.
As I think I recall reading on a FZ album, many years ago: "They are all musicians."
Good luck on the rest of the tour -- see you next year!
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