Kid Cid Posted June 12, 2006 Share Posted June 12, 2006 OK, it's gonna take me a while to get to the point here so please bear with me. I started playing guitar in the first grade. I took a few years off to play amongst other things: percussion (marching band and drum corps just about anything you could bang on), clarinet, saxophone, flute and a bit of piano. Through all that I've kept up with the guitar. So to be consertative, let's say I've played for about 30 years. During that time, I've played professionally and I've had the opportunity to play with some of the biggest names in the business as well as with some of the most amazing musicians (not necessarily the same people). So at this point you can call me a bit jaded. I've pretty much seen and heard it all. My musical tastes run from classical through jazz, blues and rock. They touch briefly on bluegrass and country. That's why I don't find much redeeming value in most of todays new bands and I find even less in the rap music genre. So with that being said, last night I had the distinct pleasure of going up to the Tower Theater in Philly to see a show titled Zappa Plays Zappa. Actually, let me rephrase that. Last night I saw the single best concert I've seen in the last 15 years. Frank Zappa's two sons Dweezil and Ahmet have put together a band of ultra talented musicians to play some of their father's music. There's a reason that Frank Zappa is looked upon as a musical genious. Once you get past the outrageousness of the lyrics, you find some of the most tightly written, intensely driven, amazingly complicated, sometimes downright experimental, ever written. It takes consumate musicians dedicated to their art to even begin to play this stuff. I couldn't do it that's for sure. So to hear these guys playing the likes of "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow" and "St. Alphonso's Pancake Breakfast" with all the gusto and perfection of an original Frank performance (I was lucky enough to see him perform a Halloween show in Hartford back in the 80's) really got me going. But that wasn't enough. They brought in one of Frank's original band members to play the drums. A little ball of spastic energy by the name of Terry Bozzio. (if you're old enough you may remember his wife Dale Bozzio, Playboy Playmate and lead singer of the band Missing Persons). They played a piece that Frank wrote especially to challenge Terry Bozio titled "The Black Page". Once Frank figured out that a human being could play the things he was commiting to paper, the world was really in trouble. See Frank was an amazing guitar player in his own right but he wrote some things that even he couldn't play. Dweezil is no slouch either. However, if you look at Frank's albums, many of them have a person listed in the credits as a Stunt Guitarist. Last night Dweezil and Ahmet also had the Stunt Guitarist join them on stage to perform some of those things that normal human being just can't seem to get the hand and fingers to do. His name is Steve Vai. Very few things make me go "wow" any more. What I saw last night went far beyond that. Jaw dropping, stunned silence was closer to the mark. All I can say is that is run, do not walk, to get tickets for this show. For those few of you that may be interested. The band: Dweezil Zappa - Guitar Steve Vai - Stunt Guitar Terry Bozzio - Drums Napoleon Murphy Brock - Vocals and Horns Joe Travers - Drums Pete Griffin - Bass, Aaron Arntz - Keyboards & Vocals, Scheila Gonzales - Horns, Keyboards & Vocals, Billy Hulting - Melodic Percussion Jamie Kime - Rhythm Guitar The music: Set I Imaginary Diseases Hungry Freaks Daddy Lets Make the Water Turn Black Florentine Pogen Pygmy Twylite The Idiot Bastard Son Cheepnis King Kong Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow St. Alphonzo’s Pancake Breakfast Inca Roads Eat that Question Set II I’m So Cute Trying to Grow a Chin City of Tiny Lights Punky’s Whips The Black Page Peaches En Regalia Montana Village of the Sun Echinda’s Arf (of you) Zomby Woof Encore Camarillo Brillo The Orange County Lumber Truck More Trouble Every Day Token of My Extreme (Outro) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtomicCEO Posted June 12, 2006 Share Posted June 12, 2006 Sweet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brentastic Posted June 12, 2006 Share Posted June 12, 2006 OK, it's gonna take me a while to get to the point here so please bear with me. I started playing guitar in the first grade. I took a few years off to play amongst other things: percussion (marching band and drum corps just about anything you could bang on), clarinet, saxophone, flute and a bit of piano. Through all that I've kept up with the guitar. So to be consertative, let's say I've played for about 30 years. During that time, I've played professionally and I've had the opportunity to play with some of the biggest names in the business as well as with some of the most amazing musicians (not necessarily the same people). So at this point you can call me a bit jaded. I've pretty much seen and heard it all. My musical tastes run from classical through jazz, blues and rock. They touch briefly on bluegrass and country. That's why I don't find much redeeming value in most of todays new bands and I find even less in the rap music genre. So with that being said, last night I had the distinct pleasure of going up to the Tower Theater in Philly to see a show titled Zappa Plays Zappa. Actually, let me rephrase that. Last night I saw the single best concert I've seen in the last 15 years. Frank Zappa's two sons Dweezil and Ahmet have put together a band of ultra talented musicians to play some of their father's music. There's a reason that Frank Zappa is looked upon as a musical genious. Once you get past the outrageousness of the lyrics, you find some of the most tightly written, intensely driven, amazingly complicated, sometimes downright experimental, ever written. It takes consumate musicians dedicated to their art to even begin to play this stuff. I couldn't do it that's for sure. So to hear these guys playing the likes of "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow" and "St. Alphonso's Pancake Breakfast" with all the gusto and perfection of an original Frank performance (I was lucky enough to see him perform a Halloween show in Hartford back in the 80's) really got me going. But that wasn't enough. They brought in one of Frank's original band members to play the drums. A little ball of spastic energy by the name of Terry Bozzio. (if you're old enough you may remember his wife Dale Bozzio, Playboy Playmate and lead singer of the band Missing Persons). They played a piece that Frank wrote especially to challenge Terry Bozio titled "The Black Page". Once Frank figured out that a human being could play the things he was commiting to paper, the world was really in trouble. See Frank was an amazing guitar player in his own right but he wrote some things that even he couldn't play. Dweezil is no slouch either. However, if you look at Frank's albums, many of them have a person listed in the credits as a Stunt Guitarist. Last night Dweezil and Ahmet also had the Stunt Guitarist join them on stage to perform some of those things that normal human being just can't seem to get the hand and fingers to do. His name is Steve Vai. Very few things make me go "wow" any more. What I saw last night went far beyond that. Jaw dropping, stunned silence was closer to the mark. All I can say is that is run, do not walk, to get tickets for this show. For those few of you that may be interested. The band: Dweezil Zappa - Guitar Steve Vai - Stunt Guitar Terry Bozzio - Drums Napoleon Murphy Brock - Vocals and Horns Joe Travers - Drums Pete Griffin - Bass, Aaron Arntz - Keyboards & Vocals, Scheila Gonzales - Horns, Keyboards & Vocals, Billy Hulting - Melodic Percussion Jamie Kime - Rhythm Guitar The music: Set I Imaginary Diseases Hungry Freaks Daddy Lets Make the Water Turn Black Florentine Pogen Pygmy Twylite The Idiot Bastard Son Cheepnis King Kong Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow St. Alphonzo’s Pancake Breakfast Inca Roads Eat that Question Set II I’m So Cute Trying to Grow a Chin City of Tiny Lights Punky’s Whips The Black Page Peaches En Regalia Montana Village of the Sun Echinda’s Arf (of you) Zomby Woof Encore Camarillo Brillo The Orange County Lumber Truck More Trouble Every Day Token of My Extreme (Outro) Cool story kid cid! Although I'm not the biggest Zappa fan, I certainly went through my Zappa phase as a young guitarist. My first band used to play Willie the Pimp, I love that album "Hot Rats". Anyways, I also have the DVD Baby Snakes. Is Terry Bozio the drummer on Baby Snakes? If that's him, he is an incredible drummer. There's this one part on BS where he does this crazy a$$ drum fill, then jumps up on his stool, then jumps back off and into his drum stool to continue the insanely complicated drum piece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Cid Posted June 12, 2006 Author Share Posted June 12, 2006 Cool story kid cid! Although I'm not the biggest Zappa fan, I certainly went through my Zappa phase as a young guitarist. My first band used to play Willie the Pimp, I love that album "Hot Rats". Anyways, I also have the DVD Baby Snakes. Is Terry Bozio the drummer on Baby Snakes? If that's him, he is an incredible drummer. There's this one part on BS where he does this crazy a$$ drum fill, then jumps up on his stool, then jumps back off and into his drum stool to continue the insanely complicated drum piece. Yeah, that's him. Un fricken believable drummer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loaf Posted June 12, 2006 Share Posted June 12, 2006 there was actually a piece in the newspaper yesterday about this. Cool show to see Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FWmaker Posted June 12, 2006 Share Posted June 12, 2006 Brings back memories. I met Frank Zappa in 1987-1989. Did some royalty accounting for him. Definitely a cool dude. Haven't seen Vai in concert yet. But is on my list. Thanks for the heads up on the concert. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursa Majoris Posted June 12, 2006 Share Posted June 12, 2006 (edited) Sounds like something I'd really like to see. Is this tour going on long? Edit: Sun Jun 11 Philadelphia, PENNSYLVANIA Tower Theatre On Sale NowMon Jun 12 New York, NEW YORK Beacon Theatre On Sale NowTue Jun 13 Boston, MASSACHUSETTS Orpheum On Sale NowThu Jun 15 Detroit, MICHIGAN Meadow Brook Music Festival On Sale NowFri Jun 16 Toronto, ONTARIO Hummingbird On Sale NowSat Jun 17 Chicago, ILLINOIS Auditorium Theatre On Sale April 21 @ NoonPre-Sale: 4/20 10AM CDTPassword: FrankTue Jun 20 Las Vegas, NEVADA House of Blues, Las Vegas On Sale April 21 @ 10AMPre-sale On Now - No password, but HOB.com account required.Wed Jun 21 Phoenix, ARIZONA Dodge Theatre On Sale NowThu Jun 22 Anaheim, CALIFORNIA House of Blues, Anaheim On Sale NowPassword: HOBFri Jun 23 Los Angeles, CALIFORNIA The Wiltern On Sale NowSat Jun 24 San Francisco, CALIFORNIA The Warfield On Sale Now Nowhere near here. Edited June 12, 2006 by Ursa Majoris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Cid Posted June 12, 2006 Author Share Posted June 12, 2006 Sounds like something I'd really like to see. Is this tour going on long? June 24 is the last date in San Fran. Complete tour here http://www.zappa.com/zpz/tourdates.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brentastic Posted June 12, 2006 Share Posted June 12, 2006 Sounds like something I'd really like to see. Is this tour going on long? Edit: Sun Jun 11 Philadelphia, PENNSYLVANIA Tower Theatre On Sale NowMon Jun 12 New York, NEW YORK Beacon Theatre On Sale NowTue Jun 13 Boston, MASSACHUSETTS Orpheum On Sale NowThu Jun 15 Detroit, MICHIGAN Meadow Brook Music Festival On Sale NowFri Jun 16 Toronto, ONTARIO Hummingbird On Sale NowSat Jun 17 Chicago, ILLINOIS Auditorium Theatre On Sale April 21 @ NoonPre-Sale: 4/20 10AM CDTPassword: FrankTue Jun 20 Las Vegas, NEVADA House of Blues, Las Vegas On Sale April 21 @ 10AMPre-sale On Now - No password, but HOB.com account required.Wed Jun 21 Phoenix, ARIZONA Dodge Theatre On Sale NowThu Jun 22 Anaheim, CALIFORNIA House of Blues, Anaheim On Sale NowPassword: HOBFri Jun 23 Los Angeles, CALIFORNIA The Wiltern On Sale NowSat Jun 24 San Francisco, CALIFORNIA The Warfield On Sale Now Nowhere near here. I thought you lived around Chicago? Apparently not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursa Majoris Posted June 12, 2006 Share Posted June 12, 2006 I thought you lived around Chicago? Apparently not. Minneapolis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puddy Posted June 12, 2006 Share Posted June 12, 2006 No "Titties and Beer". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easy n Dirty Posted June 12, 2006 Share Posted June 12, 2006 Didn't Adrian belew play guitar on a couple of Zappa albums? Never knew that your old username was a Zappa tune until I saw the set list you posted above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Cid Posted June 12, 2006 Author Share Posted June 12, 2006 Didn't Adrian belew play guitar on a couple of Zappa albums? Never knew that your old username was a Zappa tune until I saw the set list you posted above. Yup. Adrian Belew was a Zappa guitarist before Vai. Anothe notable that played with Zappa is Jean Luc Ponty. LOL, yes, I am the Zomby Woof. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuke'em ttg Posted June 12, 2006 Share Posted June 12, 2006 used to jam in Joe's garage........ i loved whippin out the Zappa to see peoples reaction in high school, when crap like Loverboy, Cheaptrick was blastin at kegs.....Catholic Girl,why does it hurt when i pee, movin to Montana, not many got it.......that's why i liked it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godtomsatan Posted June 12, 2006 Share Posted June 12, 2006 my guitar wants to kill your mama. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaxfactor Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 Wow! It's amazing to hear from other Zappa fans! I'm jealous K.C.! One of my ultimate favorites that Frank absolutely jammed on was Black Napkins. I also liked Flakes, Bobby Brown Goes Down, and Broken Hearts are For geezers. Some funny stuff in there but Frank was a true genious. Very under-rated guitarist to say the least. Never got to see him live but would love to see this tour. I'm not even close though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaxfactor Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 Wow! It's amazing to hear from other Zappa fans! I'm jealous K.C.! One of my ultimate favorites that Frank absolutely jammed on was Black Napkins. I also liked Flakes, Bobby Brown Goes Down, and Broken Hearts are For geezers. Some funny stuff in there but Frank was a true genious. Very under-rated guitarist to say the least. Never got to see him live but would love to see this tour. I'm not even close though. Should be Broken Hearts are For A-Holes. Forgot the censor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursa Majoris Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 Should be Broken Hearts are For A-Holes. Forgot the censor. Great lyrics. Now you been to The Grape 'n' you been to The Chest 'N' now I think you know what you are: you're an a**hole You say you can't live with what you've been through Well, ladies you can be an a**hole too You might pretend you ain't got one on the bottom of you But don't fool yerself girl It's lookin' at you Don't fool yerself girl It's winkin'at you Don't fool yerself girl It's blinkin' at you That's why I say I'm gonna ram it, ram it, ram it Ram it up yer poop chute Corn hole Ram it, ram it, ram it Ram it up yer poop chute Fist f*** Ram it, ram it, ram it Ram it up yer poop chute Wrist-watch: Crisco Ram it, ram it, ram it Ram it up yer poop chute Pud! Don't fool yerself, girl, It's goin' right up yer poop chute Don't fool yerself, girl, It's goin' right up yer poop chute (etc., repeats) Aw, I knew you'd be surprised Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushwacked Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 I got a cheerleader here wants to help with my paper Let her do all the work n maybe later Ill rape her Oh God I am the american dream I do not think Im too extreme An Im a handsome sonofabitch Im gonna get a good job n be real rich An none of the jocks can even tell Im a homo Eventually me n a friend Sorta drifted along into s&m I can take about an hour on the tower of power long as I gets a little golden shower Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaxfactor Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 Great lyrics. You forgot the Aye yi yi yi. Makes me wanna dig out the CD right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaxfactor Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 I got a cheerleader here wants to help with my paper Let her do all the work n maybe later Ill rape her Oh God I am the american dream I do not think Im too extreme An Im a handsome sonofabitch Im gonna get a good job n be real rich An none of the jocks can even tell Im a homo Eventually me n a friend Sorta drifted along into s&m I can take about an hour on the tower of power long as I gets a little golden shower Another verse: Women's liberation came sweeping all across the nation I tell you people I was not ready when I F*cked this dyke by the name of Freddie She made a little speech then, oh she tried to make me say "when" She had my balls in a vice but she left the d*ck I guess it still hooked on but now it shoots too quick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slambo Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 Sounds like a great concert. Steve Vai is definitely an incredible guitar player. I was lucky enough to see Frank in concert in the mid-70's at Winterland in SF, CA. I remember Captain Beefheart opened and got booed off the stage after three songs, funny as hell. Zappa came out and played for over three hours. One of the tightest and best bands I've ever seen live. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moss6 Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 Minneapolis. If the show is well received, guess we will have to wait for the second tour It has been a long time since I listened to Zappa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtomicCEO Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 Should be Broken Hearts are For A-Holes. Forgot the censor. I've been listening to Sheik Yerbouti in my car. My dad asked me what I wanted for Christmas last year, and I told him to just buy me something that he likes that he thought I would like. He got me that album. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursa Majoris Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 I've been listening to Sheik Yerbouti in my car. My dad asked me what I wanted for Christmas last year, and I told him to just buy me something that he likes that he thought I would like. He got me that album. You have a cool Dad. Mine would have got me Beethoven. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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