Guardian Live review - extended version
Tuesday 25 September 2007
Pop
Zappa plays Zappa
Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
Frank Zappa's music can be a puzzle for anyone who wasn't around to witness his late 1960s-early 90s heyday. Its content lurches between rock, kitschy pop, doo-wop, jazz, blues and quirky, Stravinsky-inspired early modernism, lashed together with lengthy guitar solos and bizarre, often risqué lyrics - not so much a style as a parallel musical universe. And one that attracts a fanatical (and largely male) audience, as demonstrated by the huge crowd for Dweezil Zappa's note-perfect tribute to his dad, who died in 1993.
The Zappa repertoire has proved to be surprisingly robust since that time, with champions including the Britten Sinfonia, Gotan Project, Ed Palermo, the Zappatistas and various bands organised by former Mothers of Invention. Dweezil's line-up, however, is the first to be officially sanctioned by the Zappa family; it's a septet of two guitars, two keyboards (doubling wind instruments), drums, bass and percussion. The young, accomplished band is augmented for half the numbers by "special guest" Ray White, a charismatic Zappa alumnus who raises the temperature with his soulful vocals for The Illinois Enema Bandit and an explosive City Of Tiny Lights. As tribute bands go, this is superior stuff. But it's still a tribute band.
The musicians plays the complex material - from memory - with loving authenticity, as demonstrated by a medley from Absolutely Free, full of satire and bar band pastiche. Percussionist Billy Hulting, presiding over a kitchen-sink array of electric vibes, marimbas, timpani and gongs gives a "contemporary classical" credibility and authority to instrumentals such as Dog / Meat ("This is a hard one!" confesses Dweezil) and G-Spot Tornado. But they're most comfortable rocking out - on tunes like Willie The Pimp, What's New in Baltimore and Dupree's Paradise, a jam that features multi-instrumentalists Aaron Arntz, with a nice line in Herbie Hancock-like space jazz and Scheila Gonzalez on flute and honking saxophones.
Numbers such as Pygmy Twilight and San Ber'dino permit Dweezil, a handsome and relaxed bandleader, to demonstrate how well he's absorbed and internalised his father's guitar style. But he doesn't mind being upstaged by footage of his dad - singing and soloing in sync with the live musicians on numbers such as Dumb All Over and Muffin Man. When father and son get to duet, on the opening Black Napkins and the encore of Cosmik Debris, the audio-video cleverness is so advanced that you don't even think about it. Suddenly, it's as if Frank never left the building.
John L. Walters
Tour continues in Europe until 14 October.
Set list
Black napkins (with Frank)
Absolutely Free medley:
Suzy Creamcheese
Brown shoes
America drinks
City of Tiny Lights
Advance Romance
Dumb all over (w/Frank)
Baltimore
Carolina
Dog / Meat
Dupree’s Paradise
Willie The Pimp
Joe’s Garage
Gas Station
San Ber’dino
Zoot Allures
Illinois Enema Bandit
ENCORES
Cosmik Debris (w/Frank)
G-Spot Tornado
Muffin Man (w/Frank)
Guardian live review, published 28 September 2007