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POSTED BY DWEEZIL ZAPPA AT 2009-12-02 21:36:14
28 November 2009
Snowed In!
Hello Everyone,
We've been snowed in! We played our show in Lake Tahoe last night. Before the show it started snowing quite a bit. One fan said he totaled his truck on his way to the gig. He had a the tow truck driver drop him at the gig. That's some nice dedication!
The show was fun, the crowd was young and there were a few folks who definitely needed to get a room in the front row. They caused a bit of a scene and were a source of entertainment for the band all night.
By the time we finished our show and loaded our gear the police had closed all the roads. Only vehicles with chains could pass. A tour bus towing a trailer full of gear has no business on icy roads. Unfortunately that means we cannot play our show in Eugene. We are currently looking at options to reschedule ASAP. I will keep you posted. Fingers crossed the weather allows us to get to our next gig in Spokane. We now have to drive through Boise to get there.
On the road again...
POSTED BY DWEEZIL ZAPPA AT 2009-11-28 19:04:30
20 November 2009
Hello Everyone,
We just completed our show in Austin. We played at Stubbs which is a BBQ restaurant with a nice outdoor venue attached. The crowd was very enthusiastic and there were a lot of youngsters out there. I even met and held an 11 month old who came with his parents to check out the show. He was wearing some serious ear muffs for protection.
The real highlight for me was being able to share the stage with one of my favorite guitarists on the planet, Eric Johnson. He joined us for Carolina Hardcore Ecstasy and Muffin Man. I play his signature Stratocasters on tour and it was a real thrill to have him up there with us.
We played a lot of new songs tonight. I always get a little nervous when we play new stuff. I had a few glitches on some of the new ones because I stepped on the some of the wrong buttons and got the wrong sounds here or there. I'll be sure to improve my tap dancing over the next few days. Overall I thought we managed the new tunes well. They will keep getting better as the tour progresses. That's just how it goes on the road.
In any case, there was a fun and spontaneous feel to the show tonight and we'd love to come back to Austin anytime. Good night Austin Texas wherever you are...
Regards, DZ
POSTED BY DWEEZIL ZAPPA AT 2009-11-20 10:57:43
18 November 2009
Hello Everyone,
It's been a while since I've had a chance to catch up with you. I'm currently sitting in a hotel room in Austin Texas. We begin our 12 show Fall tour here tomorrow night. We had a chance to rehearse some new songs last week. They are all from different eras. We will be playing at least 8 new songs we haven't played on any other tour. We have a few more we'll keep working on at sound checks.
Which ones are they? You'll all find out after the setlist gets posted tomorrow. Here's a hint though, a few highly requested numbers from Joe's Garage, an instrumental classic from the Helsinki concert, a special FZ arrangement of a song from Reuben And The Jets, another little something from Chunga's Revenge and a couple of other things to boot.
On another topic, I'm sure many of you are concerned about the status of the YCFOSA Downloads. They have obviously been marred by some snafus along the way but that doesn't mean they won't get finished. They will and they will sound every bit as good as the Chicago show you all have. Many people have suggested that I just deliver FOH reference mixes and be done with it. I think that would be a mistake and the inferior sound would further spoil the experience for everyone. I'm not interested in that. At this point it is just me working on all of this stuff and I'm heading into a period of time in between tours where I will be able to really get a lot done.
Once again I apologize for the lengthy delays and I appreciate your patience.
See you on the road.
Regards, DZ
POSTED BY DWEEZIL ZAPPA AT 2009-11-18 18:50:21
15 October 2009
Montclair, NJ Show Rescheduled
Please note that the show originally scheduled for November 5th in Montclair, NJ has been rescheduled for January 16th 2010.
POSTED BY MIKEY AT 2009-10-15 15:53:15
15 August 2009
Hello Everyone,
We're half way through the Progressive Nation tour with Dream Theater and I thought you all might like an update from the road. Mike Portnoy (The Drummer from Dream Theater) created the Progressive Nation tour a few years ago. This year he really wanted us to be a part of it and I thought it would a great way to play for an almost entirely new audience.
Mike has been at the side of the stage every night watching our shows. When we look over and see him he's like a kid in a candy store on Christmas day with 10 extra birthday presents and... but... also... a new car! We've invited him onstage with us a few times. He sang Bobby Brown and played Willie The Pimp in NYC and last night in Toronto he sang Bobby Brown again. It was also a good opportunity to display his FZ mustache tattoo on his leg to the audience via video on the big screen monitors out front. For his stalwart audience he is the effulgent ambassador of Frank's music.
We've certainly done our part as well. The band has played many fine shows on this tour. Even though our time on stage is shorter than our typical headline shows we've been making a great impact. I know we have successfully cultivated new fans on this tour. That was the goal.
Many people were skeptical about whether Frank's music would play to a progressive metal audience. We have demonstrated that it can and does. Our proof is the multiple standing ovations we receive during our shows. I have always believed that Frank's music just needs exposure. I think it can be accepted by any audience especially when they have the opportunity to see it performed live. As you know there is nothing like it.
Slightly off topic but worth mentioning, once again the audience in Montreal has proven their prowess. We played in an arena there and it was quite thrilling to see Frank's music go over in such a big way, in such a big venue. Merci Beaucoup!
That's all for now, see you at the next show!
Regards, DZ
POSTED BY DWEEZIL ZAPPA AT 2009-08-15 18:10:51
14 July 2009
Progressive Nation Tour with Dream Theater
Hello Ladies and Gentlemen,
Summer time is here and I'm sure many of you have rousing and arresting plans. If your entire summer isn't completely booked yet and you find yourself in need of a "music transfusion" perhaps you would like to visit Zappa Plays Zappa on the Progressive Nation summer tour. It's an exciting multi-act tour founded by Mike Portnoy, the drummer from Dream Theater. The concert will feature Zappa Plays Zappa, and of course, headlines Dream Theater.
Mike is a self-confessed hardcore Frank Zappa fan and he has come to several of our shows in the New York area. We were very pleased to be asked to join the impressive line up of the Progressive Nation tour. I'm personally looking forward to the opportunity to introduce Frank's music to any and all with open ears.
Our setlist will change nightly and will be 75 minutes in length. We also have three Zappa Plays Zappa Headline shows 'interspersed' throughout the tour. Keep your eyes open for any additional Headline shows that might get added.
After reading the postings from the Pittsburgh show regarding the venue I wanted to take this opportunity to add some clarity to the situation and assure you that we care a great deal about your experiences at our shows. It is clear that some of you had a disappointing experience because of the nature of the venue. I can understand your disappointment and I apologize for the fact that the venue was not suitable for offering clear views to all paying customers. This was not in any way something that ZPZ had intended to happen.
We have a very professional team that helps us put on these shows. From the initial booking logistics to the day of show logistics with our crew. As you know we were originally scheduled to perform at the REX. Then 2 weeks ago our booking agent received a request of venue change by the promoter. We were assured as we always are that the venue would meet our performance requirements. We don't have the luxury of visiting the venues prior to booking our shows. We have to rely on the promoter's representations and reputation. It is normal for promoters to represent their venues as being suitable and properly equipped for our performance needs because 98% of the time they are. In Pittsburgh this was clearly not the case.
The promoter notified us that he could not do the show at the REX because of roof damage incurred during a storm and that the Rex was being closed until it is safe. He suggested that we play the Diesel instead because it is close to the Rex and is in fact the only other venue in Pittsburgh of comparable size. He also assured us that the Diesel had stage and production facilities that would easily accommodate ZPZ. At the time we had no reason to distrust the promoter and our only alternative to playing the Diesel would have been to cancel the show altogether. So, we agreed to move the show.
It was only when we all arrived on the morning of the show and saw the inside of the room that we realized the promoter was horribly mistaken. Not only was the venue inappropriate for us to play in, but the stage was literally unsafe and could not hold our gear. Our crew - an exceptional one at that - determined that house stage was an accident waiting to happen. They did not want to risk setting up the gear for fear of it collapsing. We had limited options at this point. Remove the stage and set up on the floor or cancel the show. We chose to strike the stage and set up on the floor so we could still perform the show.
During the performance many people had unprecedented up close and personal viewing of the show from literally 3 feet away while many others had obscured views or no view whatsoever. All venues are different and have good and bad vantage points but the Pittsburg mismatch was beyond comparison and totally unacceptable considering all of the fans paid the same price for admission. What is the solution?
I am pleased to offer free tickets to all of the fans in Pittsburg who feel that they have unfairly paid for a show that they had no way of physically seeing once they were inside the venue. This really refers predominately to the fans packed rows deep upstairs, on the stairs and the outer hallway areas. I recommend that you post your name and contact information on the Pittsburgh review section of the ZPZ site if you feel you qualify for this would and be interested in a free ticket for the next Pittsburgh show.
The next time we play in Pittsburg you will have guaranteed free entry. Please retain your ticket stub from the Diesel show.
I hope that this gesture of goodwill will be a positive step towards improving your recent ZPZ experience.
We hope to see you again soon, Pittsburg.
Regards, DZ, ZPZ and Crew
POSTED BY DWEEZIL ZAPPA AT 2009-07-12 21:12:00
8 July 2009
Hello Friends,
It's been a very busy time lately so I apologize for the absence of blogs.
The band has found a new energy in it's current line up. We have been having a lot of fun at the shows. We have noticed quite a bit more new and younger fans at our recent shows. This is a very good thing!
Ben Thomas has been working hard to learn as much new material as possible. We will be breaking out new songs as they are ready. One of my favorite elements he has added to the show recently is his absurd ballet during "The Black Page" and sometimes during "Purple Lagoon." For me it increases the difficulty of playing those compositions because I have a hard time not laughing hysterically at his ridiculous "terpsichorean rejectamenta."
Our European tour was a tightly packed schedule. Unfortunately, I didn't get much time to see things other than the inside of venues in most of the new places we visited. We had amazing audiences everywhere we went and very good attendance as well. We also noticed an increase in women at the shows. That's a good thing.
There were so many highlights. The audience in Poland comes to mind. The folks in the audience were really excited for the show and we could really feel that. Stockholm featured the debut of "Bobby Brown." The audience sang every word loud and clear. It was a site to behold. The Dutch audiences were strong from Eindhoven to Amsterdam. Germany was better than expected. The fans were very welcoming especially Ralph who saw at least 6 shows in Germany and beyond.
The Olympia in Paris has so much rock history. Everyone from the Beatles to Hendrix and of course Frank stood on that stage - theoretically that is, it has been refurbished and moved a few hundred yards since it was first built - still very cool. Prague and Helsinki also had amazing audiences. Helsinki was so cool because of the fact that we played the exact same venue as Frank nearly 35 years later. The Helsinki concert is one of my favorite FZ records. Many of the people who saw the original concert as teenagers were in attendance as well. I look forward to going back there.
Oslo as usual had a fiery crowd. Something in the water? Speaking of that show and water, there were 2 twin surfers from Portugal in attendance there whose contact info I have lost. I would like to get it again in case they are viewing this. Maybe they could post it to the Oslo reviews section on this site and I could contact them from there.
We had the opportunity to visit St. Pertersburg, Russia. It is a beautiful city and the crowd was very appreciative that we traveled there to play for them. I saw a lot of people with Frank Zappa tattoos. In fact I see that more and more these days.
Lithuania was another special place. We visited the FZ statue and met the people who made that all happen. Great people, lovely place.
The UK was really fun. I thought the Shepard's Bush Empire show in London was one of the most fun shows we've played from any tour we've ever done. Amazing audience that night!
I really enjoyed the Scottish crowd as well. Crazy bunch! Dublin was fun too. A lot of good memories. We're all looking forward to returning to the UK soon!
Currently we're in the US. In fact I'm in Columbus, Ohio. Tonight I've been asked to throw out the first pitch in a minor league baseball game. It's been over 25 years since I've thrown a baseball. It's got me more nervous than playing The Black Page.
I'd like to mention that we played a show in Pittsburgh last night and the venue was definitely weird. I'm still unsure why there was a venue change in the first place. The band had nothing to do with the choice of venue. I'm sorry for any of the fans who were unable to have a good view or any view at all. We hope you still enjoyed what you heard. Besides playing the show, the best part of the evening for us was the Pizza cookery from Mathew at Giottos across the street. He has some real skill. Thanks, Mathew, good stuff.
In a few days I get to go home for my daughter Zola's birthday. She'll be 3. I've missed her actual birthday the last 2 years because of touring. I am really looking forward to being there this time. Her little sister Ceylon turned 1 on May 16th. Guess where I was... in Germany. Dammit!
In closing I would like to say that there are many exciting things in the works. The question as usual is how to get it done in a timely manner since I do not have a staff of dozens of employees and expediters. I do have a planned open schedule for a while in the fall and the early part of 2010 so that should help.
After the Prog Nation Dream Theater tour I will be spending a lot of time in the studio finishing up download mixes, CD mixes and DVD editing. I plan to write and record some of my own new music soon as well. Yes, I have even been discussing spending some serious time on the Original FZ Roxy Footage.
Frank's music continues to be a great source of inspiration and it is a very rewarding experience to perform it and share it with all of you. We look forward to seeing all of you out there on the road helping to spread the word.
Regards, DZ
POSTED BY DWEEZIL ZAPPA AT 2009-07-08 13:08:55
11 May 2009
New Lead Singer?
Hello Friends,
Well it's that time again... time to hit the road. Since Australia we've had a plan in place for a new vocalist. It was a really good plan. An exciting plan! Have a great singer from a well known group spend a month learning all of the songs for the next tour and then get together in LA to get down to business. With leather...
His voice on recordings seemed to be quite a nice texture, something that would easily fit right in to our rocking teenage combo. We had 2 weeks of rehearsals planned and we were pretty psyched to begin. Enter our candidate. All smiles, everyone is looking forward to the downbeat, excited to hear the new lead voice in the group. Within a few moments it became obvious that our candidate had not done any of the required preparation for this gig.
We had a few days to work with our candidate and unfortunately the results were not what we had hoped for. A week went by and we started to get very concerned... no complete songs had been learned. It was now very clear that this wasn't going to work.
We then had ourselves a new problem... how would we find a singer for the upcoming tour in less than a week. How would they even be able to learn the required material? We made some calls and rounded up a few terrified singers. Imagine the call, "Hello, are you interested in auditioning for a really tough gig, with a highly critical fanbase - with a 5 week tour that starts in less than a week? Still there??? Ideally you'll need to learn 8 to 10 songs for the first week. You do have a passport, right?"
I told all of the singers that if they could walk in and sing the correct melody to "Inca Roads" without missing an entrance they would have a chance of being hired on the spot. The chances of that happening were quite slim considering we needed them to learn this song in the shortest time possible. For some only a few hours...
A few very talented singers gave it their best shot. We didn't even make it through the first verse in most cases.
Things were not looking so good but then it happened. A young blonde-haired guy walks in to audition, says he's heard the song before but never tried to sing until last night.
Joe rolls the toms and Billy initiates the classic marimba figure, first verse arrives - right notes, right rhythms, no mistakes! The song continues and gets increasingly more difficult. After the solo the vocal entrances are pretty tricky, once again no mistakes. After the interludes and keyboard solo we entered the home stretch - no-one made it this far before. The final entrance arrives and... He completes the entire passage on his own, not realizing it's actually split up into separate phrases between himself and Scheila. Ultimately making it much harder on himself because of the shear lyrical density.
After a slow mo "hollywood" triumphant hand-clapping sequence we hired the guy. Ladies and Gentlemen allow us to introduce you to Ben Thomas, our new lead singer.
He's got a lot of material to learn in the next few days but he's up for the challenge. We'll provide you with more details about Ben Thomas as we learn more about him ourselves. For now the most important thing is that he has a passport and is free for the next 5 weeks - oh yeah and the fact that he walked in and nailed Inca Roads.
