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FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW at the BOTTOM

Five years running, Dweezil Zappa and his precision-cut Zappa Plays Zappa band have toured the world bringing us a different slice of Frank’s music to our ears. Past tours have featured players from Frank’s own classic ’70s and ’80s band arsenals: Steve Vai, Terry Bozzio, Napoleon Murphy Brock, Ray White and more. There are no “old guard” members present in the 2010 incarnation — but regardless of which musicians surround Dweezil’s guitar mastery, the fact remains that the genius, adventurous spirit birthed in Frank’s songs is still alive.

The ZPZ band this time around is Dweezil Zappa: Guitar; Scheila Gonzalez: Saxophone, Flute, Keyboards & Vocals; Pete Griffin: Bass; Billy Hulting: Marimba, Mallets & Percussion (and lead vocals for a bit); Jamie Kime: Guitar; Joe Travers: Drums & Vocals; Ben Thomas on lead vocals; and introducing Chris Norton on Keyboards & Vocals.

With no opener, the band kicked into their long set a little after 9pm… they played a super tight, super long set.  Having seen the ZBZ band with Napoleon Murphy Brock and Ray White in the past, I was skeptical of this “new guy” Ben Thomas.  He joined the ZPZ band after Ray White left the tour last year.  After the first vocal belt, there was no more skepticism… Ben can sing (and plays a mean trumpet, harmonica and cow bell, too).  He handled the lows and highs, and carried the tunes in a way that would have made Frank proud.

Throughout the set, each band member got their time to shine… “Echidna’s Arf” was probably the tightest song the band played… lightning fast, and spot on.  Dweezil had killer solos on “Florentine Pogen” and “Pick Me, I’m Clean.”  “Big Swifty” & “Mystery Roach” showed off great solos from Billy on marimba, Scheila on sax, and Jaime on guitar.  Joe’s drum solo at the end of “Latex Solar Beef” could have ended the show, but (lucky for us) they stayed out and finished the main set with “Apostrophe” that featured Pete’s fuzzy, dirty bass groove and solo.

Here’s what they played:

Setlist: about 2 & 1/2 hours

• Purple Lagoon
• Stinkfoot
• Daddy Daddy Daddy
• What Kind of Girl Do You Think We Are?
• Florentine Pogen
• Big Swifty
• Mystery Roach
• Advance Romance
• The Blue Light
• Pick Me, I’m Clean
• Blessed Relief
• Echidna’s Arf
• Keep It Greasey
• Easy Meat
• The Little House I Used To Live In
• Latex Solar Beef (with hints of Willie the Pimp)
• Apostrophe
• Encore: Lonely Little Girl
• City of Tiny Lites
• Cosmik Debris
• I’m the Slime

As in the past, amazing musicians this time out. Some of the highlights were the aforementioned tight “Echidna’s Arf,” “Florentine Pogen,” and the more gentle “Blessed Relief.”  The only song I was craving that wasn’t played was “Peaches En Regalia,” but it was nice to hear some older, rarer Frank songs being trotted out in lieu of the “fan fave” Peaches.  As far as sound quality, near the front it was OK, but I heard from people in the middle and back that it was a bit muddy.  Regardless of that downside, the evening showed off a super tight band who gave their all!  ZPZ band, Eugene loves you!  Come back soon!

many more photos below

The Appropriate Linkage:

• Zappa Plays Zappa’s Site
• ZPZ on MySpace
• Dweezil on MySpace
• Prior Review~ ZPZ w/ Ray White – Jan 2009 (Portland, OR)
• McDonald Theatre

Check out more tour dates below.

~Dan – np: Jóhann Jóhannsson – & In the Endless Pause There Came Sound of Bees

DWEEZIL ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA PHOTOS
all pictures (cc) 2010 Daniel Temmesfeld,
you may use freely under a creative commons attribution

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Tour Dates

• May 30, ’10 Chilicothe, IL Summer Camp Music Festival
• Jun 3, ’10 Mexico City, MX Teatro de la Ciudad
• Jun 5, ’10 Ozark, AR Wakarusa Festival
• Jun 6, ’10 Kansas City, MO Crossroads
• Jun 7, ’10 Denver, CO Paramount Theatre
• Jun 8, ’10 Salt Lake City, UT The Depot
• Jun 10, ’10 Ventura, CA Ventura Theater
• Jun 11, ’10 Santa Rosa, CA Harmony Festival
• Jun 12, ’10 Eugene, OR McDonald Theater
• Jun 13, ’10 Portland, OR Roseland Theater
• Jun 14, ’10 Seattle, WA Moore Theater
• Jun 15, ’10 Vancouver, BC Orpheum Theater
• Jun 17, ’10 Richmond, VA Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens
• Jun 18, ’10 Pittsburgh, PA Palace Theatre
• Jun 19, ’10 Tarrytown, NY Music Hall
• Jun 24, ’10 Woodstock, NY Bearsville Theater
• Jun 25, ’10 Providence, RI Lupo’s
• Jun 26, ’10 Westbury, NY Westbury Music Theater
• Jun 27, ’10 Atlantic City, NJ House of Blues
• Jun 28, ’10 Verona, NY Turning Stone Resort and Casino
• Jun 29, ’10 Niagara Falls, NY The Rapids Theatre
• Jul 1, ’10 Bridgeport, CT The Klein
• Jul 2, ’10 Hampton Beach, NH Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom
• Jul 3, ’10 Great Barington, MA The Mahaiwe
• Jul 4, ’10 Oxford, ME Nateva Festival
• Jul 5, ’10 Moncton, NS Capitol Theater
• Jul 6, ’10 Halifax, NS Rebecca Cohn Auditorium
• Jul 9, ’10 Amsterdam, NL Melkweg
• Jul 10, ’10 TBA, TBA Soon
• Jul 11, ’10 Weert, NL Bospop Restival
• Jul 12, ’10 Antwerp, BE Openluchttheater
• Jul 14, ’10 Tel Aviv, IL Hangar 11
• Jul 19, ’10 Nice, FR Nice Jazz Festival
• Jul 21, ’10 Cambridge, UK Cambridge Corn Exchange
• Jul 22, ’10 Brighton, UK Brighton Centre
• Jul 23, ’10 Wolverhampton, UK Wolverhampton Civic Hall
• Jul 24, ’10 London, UK London Classic Rock Festival
• Jul 25, ’10 Liverpool, UK Liverpool Summer Pops Festival
• Jul 26, ’10 Glasgow, UK Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
• Jul 27, ’10 Gateshead, UK Gateshead The Sage