Comments on: Zappa Plays Zappa – Manchester Apollo

By: Mudshark

Mudshark — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 12:40:36 +0000

Saw ZPZ at Shepherds Bush (London) last night. What a blinding gig! I saw FZ on the ‘Broadway The Hard Way’ tour back in ’88 (I think) but this was better. No knob gags, no Republican/Democrat propoganda – just pure music! And it was (for me) the music from the best FZ/Mothers era.

By: SeanT

SeanT — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 21:59:15 +0000

There has been much talk of this tour over at my site, Progressive Ears but I thought I would come over here to post my review. You guys were not kidding about this show! That was a helluva evening of music. I mean I knew what we would be in for, but it exceeded expectations as well. For me the set with Bozzio was the highlight. Is there a more entertaining drummer in rock to watch? I don’t think so. Usually I couldn’t give two shits about most drummers, but that guy totally had my attention. Billy Cobham is about the only other one that does that to me live. I thought Dweezil played great. He really came a long way and played the best guitar of the night, easily. Yeah, even when Vai came out. I found Vai brought very little to the proceedings. He brought his bag of licks and tricks he has employed on every cd since he left Frank’s band and did his damndest to cram them all in his 30 min window. I liked his playing better when he was with Frank, honestly. Now he sorta plays like a big dumb 80s shredder. All his posing and posturing was totally silly too. Yawn. Napoleon was just amazing too, damn, he is TIMELESS. His voice hasn’t changed at all! The band was hot as hell too, the mallet guy was especially impressive. Great setlist! They really played most of my faves. Damn, now I want a DVD to remember this by!!!!

By: nanda chandran

nanda chandran — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 20:28:39 +0000

i saw zpz couple of weeks back on halloween day in nyc at the madison square garden theatre. i’m a huge fan of zappa senior’s 70s works – apostrophe/overnite sensation/one size fits all/roxy and elsewhere. and to my immense satisfaction atleast 70% of the zpz set was from these albums – montana, zomby woof, yellow snow, i am the slime, inca roads, pygmy twylyte etc. dweezil thankfully has absorbed the spirit of zappa soloing than playing note for note. with his flashy white strat and 61 reissue sg, he totally stood out. but steve vai who stepped in for a couple of songs totally outplayed dweezil (i’m not a fan of vai and dont really like the style of his solo work) – after which dweezil seemed to lose a bit of his cockiness. but the heart of the show was napolean murphy brock – with his great vocals he’s what gave the show the zappa trademark. a halloween that i’ll never forget! viva zappa!

By: Mr Fedwell

Mr Fedwell — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 13:03:01 +0000

Saw ZPZ in canton, ohio, great little venue. I was incredible. Incredible musicians, they all worked their asses off. Dweezil stood his ground against Steve Vai (I was amazed at how good dweezil was – never new), Terry Bozzio, was just outstanding, i think he had like 1000 drums, at least it sounded like it. Napoleon was great and really made it sound like the real macoy.

Many layers of music, at times i didnt know where sounds were coming from and you’d look up and the percussionist was playing a sax solo with his mallets or low vocal harmony was coming from that girl keyboard/horn player, hi harmony from the drummer and the bass player (Peter Griffin- Great name) laid down the gravy, like a guy thats been playing for 30 years (and he only looked to be in his 20s). They all looked comfortable and in control. wish they had a dvd.

Mostly old guys in the audience (me at 48 seemed on the younger side) and be prepared to get up a lot, cause them old guys start drinking beer and they gotta piss every 10 minutes.

I rate ZPZ 10 and recommend that you see it if you can

By: Don Faust

Don Faust — Mon, 23 Oct 2006 23:02:31 +0000

Man,i cant wait i might have a free ticket for show in Atlantic City Borgata— I ANT FUCKIN WAIT.

By: dr boca

dr boca — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 07:04:25 +0000

Saw the Zappa band tonite(june 15) at Meadowbrook. That is the tightest band I have ever seen. Everyone is deadly. DZ is one bad MF guitar player. Vai and Bozzio looked like they were having fun. The other drummer (not Terry ) was also unbelievable. The BLACK PAGE !!!!OUCH
I Loved it all. Pleezzzze release this on DVD

By: Scott

Scott — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 04:27:08 +0000

I need to send you some music, I think, Tim… Trucks is seriously beyond everyone else. And he’s YOUNG. Well, not quite as young now as when he first started playing live at age 10 or so.

By: Tim Hall

Tim Hall — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 20:50:50 +0000

I’ve haven’t heard Derek Trucks’ playing, but I’ve never been a big fan of Clapton himself, who I think is vastly overrated. He may have established himself early as a guitar hero, but it seems to me that he’s been treading water creatively for the past 30 years. I think his reputation is due to the fact that he’s the only halfway-decent guitar player the coffee-table MOR crowd ever get to hear. I find his music rather safe and unchallenging.

By: Scott

Scott — Mon, 05 Jun 2006 15:57:03 +0000

Glad to hear this was good — I think they were in NYC before crossing the Pond.

The show I want to see is Clapton. Derek Trucks is part of the band this time around and, well, he’s far and away the best guitar player out there (and Allman Brothers member, ergo “family” to Duane). No one plays slide better than Derek these days. I caught some Youtube footage of Layla in Lille, and it’s spectacular.