Dweezil and Ahmet tribute their dad on tour this year:

http://www.zappa.com/chee...tsnew/zpz/


I'm almost kinda tempted to see this...usually I don't think the Zappa boys are worth much more than pretty eye candy, but they're bringing along Daddy's bandmates Steve Vai and Terry Bozzio for a tour of Zappa tributes....it's kinda almost worth getting excited about if you like Frank's music...what would put it over the top?

Anx said:

frank zappa performing with them.

sallysassalot said:

well, let's say, just for the sake of argument, that...umm...frank's dead.

then what?

Anx said:

let dead dogs die.

Aww man! they gotta have my man Ike Willis with them! or Beefheart now that would be too awesome!!!

George Duke! and that xylophone lady Ruth somebody.

sinisterpentatonic said:

ike, george and xylophone lady would be awesome...beefheart's pretty fragile these days, but that would be amazing, huh?

Snap! Napoleon Murphy Brock is gonna be with them.

i did see a tribute band a while back, damn i think it was at least 10 years ago. they went under the name Band from Utopia, it consisted of musicians who played with Zappa at some point. i had a really good time, but i would've love to have seen Zappa there waving his wand across those sounds.

i guess i'm just not into the tribute band thing, family members or otherwise. i was just listening to overnight sensation two nights ago thinking how frank was to rock what miles was to jazz...doing shit that was totally out of this world and managing to pull it off magically! listening to someone try to copy or imitate something does not do it for me.

sallysassalot said:

i feel you. but knowing that Zappa knew these people intimately and spawned a couple of them makes it a bit more interesting. if it was a band that had no ties to Zappa then it would be and you know all of these guys have some great stories to tell about the man. a friend of mine had a chance to chat with the Fowler brothers and as much as he tried to refrain from asking about Frank he finally asked them how was it to work with him and Bruce replied "thousands of tiny little spiders".

Now that I think honestly to myself, Zappa was really not that good. He had this contempt for rock music which was pretty lame, and his lyrics could be really locker room, childish.

2freaky4church1 said:

that's one thing that saddends me whenever i listen to Zappa, those lyrics! most of then are fun, though we all know Frank had an agenda when it came to that. i just wish i could've gotten at least one album full of songs with serious lyrics, just one.

He hated Punk rock too, which bugged me, since I love punk.

Anx said:

I'll check it out just for the music...

Neversin.

2freaky4church1 said:

ya crazy. i agree with the lyrics aspect, but frank zappa was perhaps the most important American composer ever.

Oh, composer, yes..lol

Anx said:

Right now, nothing.

I was this close to hitting the "Buy" button on TicketShyster when I thought, "Do I really want to hear Zappa music without Zappa even though the musicians are good?"

It just didn't sit right although based on the participants it's got potential.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

sinisterpentatonic said:

I don't believe that Frank Zappa ever cared about becoming a serious lyricist.
Lyrically his take was a totally parody of the culture using its own stilted language.
The guy wanted to be a serious composer in the modern classical arena.
Playing "Rock/Pop" music was a way to at least be a musician and eek out a living imo.

And as to his comtemptuous attitude, that's one of the things i've always liked about him

Zappa: All those mediocre groups reap a huge profit, because people really like what they do. The more mediocre your music is, the more accessible it is to a larger number of people in the United States. That's where the market is. You're not selling to a bunch of jazz aesthetes in Europe. You're selling to Americans, who really hate music and love entertainment, so the closer your product is to mindless entertainment material, escapist material, the better off you're going to be. People will dump a lot of money into a bunch of young pretty boys who are ready to make music of limited artistic merit so long as they can sell a lot of it.

Kart: What about your gestures of contempt towards your audience?

Zappa: I don't think the typical rock fan is smart enough to know he's been dumped on, so it doesn't make any difference…Those kids wouldn't know music if it came up and bit 'em on the ass. Especially in terms of a live concert where the main element is visual. Kids go to see their favorite acts, not to hear them…We work on the premise that nobody really hears what we do anyway, so it doesn't make any difference if we play a place that's got ugly acoustics. The best responses we get from an audience are when we do our worst material.
http://www2.gol.com/users...us_all.htm


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

theAudience said:

theAudience said:

Excellent.



Zappa knew that many people are very stupid. However, being one step away from misanthropy sometimes didn't make for great listening.

Neversin said:

me too

I dig Dweezil's playing, so I know he'd do his pops music justice. He and Vai have performed Frank Zappa's music in the past. They do a kick-ass rendition of "Dirty Love". Both of them have played on Frank's records in the past, so it's a cool thing to do, imho.

That is a good question. I have been following this tour for about a year now (since the first announcements for a tour
taking place in the fall of 2005), and it has been a remarkable affair since.

The way that this enterprise is artistically structured indicates a positive experience. They will run the show the way
Frank used to do it - rehearsing a set consisting of somewhere around 80 titles, building arrangements freshly tailored
to the musicians that will be on board. The music will be played by a core-band consisting of, aside from the rhythm section,
two keyboardists, a rhythm guitarist, melodic percussionist and maybe some sparse horns. Dweezil has let it be known
that he is preparing a large role for himself, in the sense that he will be playing the original leads (from various
instruments) on his guitar. As of now, Ahmet will be featured 'on selected dates', whereas the only confirmed alumni
(Vai, Bozzio, Brock) will be playing parts of the show on a nightly basis. This leaves of course room for other
'sternly accomplished guests'. Aside from that, there will be video-footage shown (a revamped documentary perhaps,
but possibly newly discovered footage).


Now, on the business-side, this tour has been a doubtful affair, to say the least. The first incarnation of the
tour should have taken place in the second half of 2005. Promotion started as early as april in that year, and the
tour was billed as having a full cast of alumni on board. Promoters ran with the few names that were put out there,
without there being any legal agreements between the people discussed. For instance, Flo and Eddie made it
very clear that they were in fact available for touring, but weren't contacted nor contracted, although promoters
were using their alledged involvement to sell tickets. Same goes for Brock. The tour's foundations then began to crumble
and the affair was (indefinately) postponed.

During all this, there was no communication from the Zappa Family Trust, regarding the status of the enterprise,
apart from the initial announcement of the tour, and the promotion they undertook in april. All the while various
reports kept coming in that shows were being cancelled, postponed, and overall chaos ensued. People had to cancel flights,
lost tickets due to rescheduling etcetra. Things got back on track with the announcement by Vai that he was indeed
to undertake this tour, as were Bozzio and Brock, who now confirmed their involvement. Then, after some more time,
ZFT finally let it be known that the tour will be happening.

This is not the first instance in which the ZFT tests the patience of the Zappa-community with their business-ethics.
In Zappa-land, all enterprises are dedicated to preserving the enormous legacy that is contained in Zappa's vault.
In the past ten years, countless announcements have been made regarding new projects, that were pulled or died
a silent death. Somehow, they can't match the expectations they create by starting all these projects they cannot
or will not finish. The cynical reception that the announcement of the tour received was further justified by the
mismanagement that ensued. Now that it might be happening, they already lost a lot of the goodwill and momentum that
the idea sustained.

Anyway, I will buy tickets as soon as it is absolutely clear that this is going to take place. Two weeks in advance might
be a start, though I am unfortunately (?) witnessing the start of the tour, right here in Amsterdam. I expect a bit of
a toned down show, in comparison to the overzealous reports from the ZFT-camp (rehearsing for three months, upwards of
80 songs, different set each night, a lot of alumni etc.). Still, it is a good thing that Frank Zappa's music is in the
spotlight again. I sincerely hope that these shows have a broader appeal than just the seasoned Zappa-crowd.

I kinda get Frank didn't respect a lot of the music he made? Is that true

sinisterpentatonic said:

(Warning, Caution: completely offtopic now)
{
Yeah, I feel you on that. I think it was Flo & Eddie who had some "input" on that. I never liked that era very much. Occasionally I thrown in Just Another Band From L.A., but it doesn't do very much for me.

I think that his oldest lyrics (back to the early Mothers days) were sometimes miles ahead of what he wrote later. That's unfortunate, cause it detracts people sometimes from GREAT music hidden behind greasy penis jokes.

Btw, Burnt Weeny Sandwich and Weasels... are great! Put them on my zen these days, and listen to them very often... how fantastic! Sometimes I wish there was more early Mothers material released!
}
end of off-topic

{
just bought:

coltrane - ole, my favourite things; the warner reissues
mahavishnu orchestra - birds of fire
weather report - black market

very cheap, but all are the remastered editions
}
end of completely off-topic section

Cool!

I'm going to see them later this year.
Really looking forward to it.

Only wish he was still alive himself...

sallysassalot said:

Though the tour may not have an auspicious start, it's nice to know that someone out there is trying to keep the Zappa name in the public conscious. I think there are plenty of people out there who have dismissed him as a novelty act with nasty lyrics, when this is sadly a small part of his work that gained him the most attention.

Has anyone out there seen the Project/Object band? I think it was headed up by Ike Willis, and I've only seen a bit on Public Access. They've hit the Jazz clubs around Seattle a couple of times, but I've always been otherly diposed.

sinisterpentatonic said:

What's with the frowny face?


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

After think about this further, it would be nice to hear his orchestral works performed.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

theAudience said:

i'm frowning cuz Zappa called me stupid.

sinisterpentatonic said:

Now you know you're not your typical rock fan.





tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431