20 June 2006

3:08AM In Vegas

Sitting here at 3:08 AM in my Hard Rock Hotel room in Vegas. The end of the tour is rapidly approaching. As I look back on the tour thus far, it really has been an eye opener for me. The love of FZ’s music is very strong both in The U.S.A. and Europe. The reception from both audiences has been hugely positive & wonderful. The biggest trip was seeing women in Paris, France in the front row singing all the lyrics and melody lines to songs like "City Of Tiny Lites" and "Peaches En Regalia." Same in Dublin, Ireland. This music really reaches out to all kinds. It’s always been known that Frank is more popular in Europe, but I can honestly say that the U.S. seems back in full force.

I’m very proud of Dweezil and this band’s accomplishments. We have delivered to every city music that is rich in texture, dense and complicated, yet with a love and respect that is being portrayed to the audience in a way that it’s unavoidable not to notice. Dweezil has really come a long way and it’s apparent that as every show goes by, he gets tighter and tighter as a player. His solos search in a manner reminiscent of Frank but with a technique that is his own. Working with Terry, Steve and Napoleon has made this tour very special and I feel so fortunate to have had this opportunity. It’s a dream come true for me to be playing this music. Now it seems that we’ll be playing it some more as new dates are being booked for Fall. Plus the tradition continues in NYC for Halloween!! We will have to learn some more music for the fall shows, try and tackle some other essential pieces and hopefully some Halloween specialties.

I raise my glass……Here’s to the end of the tour, its success, and the bright future ahead for Zappa Plays Zappa.

Music Is The Best!
Joe

POSTED BY JOE TRAVERS AT 2006-06-20 03:28:00