Zappa plays Zappa

[niceguyhomer]

Went to see Dweezil Zappa last night at Bridgewater Hall and I was completely knocked out. I realise Zappa isn't everyone's cup of tea but he was one of mine and I've always regretted never seeing him live. Last night made up for it and it was one of the best gigs I've ever been to. Bassist Pete Griffin was superb - he was using a Lakland Joe Osborne through an Ashdown rig and had a really nice sound.

The overall standard of musicianship was breathtaking. Anyone else been to see him on this tour?

[xilddx]

I was going to at the Shepherds Bush Empire but I found the £45 ticket price a bit galling, so I didn't bother.

Glad you enjoyed it though!

[AdamWoodBass]

Saw a Zappa plays Zappa concert on Sky. Probably an earlier tour but still really really good!

[niceguyhomer]

[quote name='silddx' post='517370' date='Jun 18 2009, 01:40 PM']I was going to at the Shepherds Bush Empire but I found the £45 ticket price a bit galling, so I didn't bother.

Glad you enjoyed it though![/quote]

Yikes - that's a bit steep. I only paid £27.

[bassicinstinct]

Bought the DVD recently.

Hardly been out of the player since - stunning stuff - over 2 hours worth.

[Born 2B Mild]

I was Lucky enough to have seen Zappa WITH Zappa - Hammersmith Odeon. Got pics somewhere.

[YouMa]

I would love to see this.

[3V17C]

yeah this turns up to watch on skyarts every now and again....very good indeed!

c

[Stingray5]

As mentioned earlier, I also saw the Dweezil gig on Sky TV and would love to have seen it live too.
I have to say I was fortunate enough to have seen Zappa snr back in 1981 at Hammersmith Odeon
when he had Steve Vai, Vinnie Collaiuta, Scott Thunes, etc. with him.
He also brought a very young Dweezil onstage to play a couple of tunes. The lad was pretty good even then!!!

Edited June 18, 2009 by Stingray5

[4000]

[quote name='AdamWoodBass' post='517382' date='Jun 18 2009, 01:51 PM']Saw a Zappa plays Zappa concert on Sky. Probably an earlier tour but still really really good![/quote]

I've got that on dvd. Breathtaking.

[Alun]

Saw them on Tuesday in Bristol - amazing gig

[molan]

I went to see them at SHepherds Bush on Sunday & I'm afraid I was a bit disappointed

Sound wasn't brilliant, bass & bass drum very boomy, and SB is normally a good live sound venue.

I also got bored rigid in the 20 minute 'Dweezil conducts the band' section in the middle.

I saw them last time they were over here (maybe 2 years now?) and, IMHO, they were a million times better. Dweezil's solos were more focussed, band dynamics seemed better and they played a string of tricks with live vids of Zappa himslef which worked incredibly well.

This time around it felt much more like a 'tribute band' to me & just made me remember quite how good Frank was live (I saw him a couple of times with Steve Vai on 2nd guitar).

However I have to say that the audience were getting into it a lot more this time around so maybe it was just me that thought they weren't as good!

[bootleg]

[quote name='molan' post='518126' date='Jun 19 2009, 09:53 AM']I went to see them at SHepherds Bush on Sunday & I'm afraid I was a bit disappointed

Sound wasn't brilliant, bass & bass drum very boomy, and SB is normally a good live sound venue.

I also got bored rigid in the 20 minute 'Dweezil conducts the band' section in the middle.

I saw them last time they were over here (maybe 2 years now?) and, IMHO, they were a million times better. Dweezil's solos were more focussed, band dynamics seemed better and they played a string of tricks with live vids of Zappa himslef which worked incredibly well.

This time around it felt much more like a 'tribute band' to me & just made me remember quite how good Frank was live (I saw him a couple of times with Steve Vai on 2nd guitar).

However I have to say that the audience were getting into it a lot more this time around so maybe it was just me that thought they weren't as good![/quote]


I saw them in Bristol this week, and have to concur. Had seen the Sky Arts concert and was very impressed, but this time they appeared to be going through the motions; the drummer looked like he wanted to be elsewhere, and Dweezil like he couldn't be arsed. Sound was not good, but then the Colston Hall in Bristol is often crap. Not to say there weren't some interesting moments.