| Dweezil Zappa shares fans’ dirty love for dad [message #283269] |
Do, 15 Juni 2006 11:24 |
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Dweezil Zappa shares fans’ dirty love for dad
By Christopher Blagg
Thursday, June 15, 2006
http://theedge.bostonherald.com/musicNews/view.bg?articleid= 143720
Zappa Plays Zappa, at the Orpheum, Tuesday night.
Standing ovations are typically reserved for the end of a
show. There are exceptions.
The ovations came early and often at Tuesday night’s Boston
stop at the Orpheum of the Frank Zappa tribute tour, Zappa Plays
Zappa, as air guitar-slinging fans leaped from their seats at the
slightest provocation. With Zappa’s 36-year-old son, Dweezil,
leading an eight-piece band of Zappa veterans and young lions
through a stirring three-hour set of his late father’s classics,
it was easy to understand their excitement.
The ovation overload even surprised the band, as a
genuinely shocked Dweezil humbly informed the capacity crowd,
‘‘That was the earliest a sitting crowd started standing on our
entire tour.”
The big question of the night concerned the abilities of
Dweezil. Did he have the chops to navigate his dad’s mad genius
compositions?
The short answer is yes. While not flashy, Dweezil proved
himself worthy again and again, starting with prog-rocking opener
‘‘Imaginary Diseases” and continuing through the psychedelic
blues of the final encore, ‘‘More Trouble Every Day.”
That said, it was singer/saxophonist Napoleon Murphy Brock,
a longtime member of the elder Zappa’s band, who commanded
attention early on. Whether honking meaty saxophone riffs,
dancing maniacally about the stage or using his operatic baritone
to boom through his former boss’ hairpin-swerve tunes, Brock was
a constant spotlight-stealer. If his irritating habit of acting
out Zappa’s goofy lyrics grew tiresome, his other abilities more
than made up for that one distracting shortcoming.
Guests popped up in the second half of the show, beginning
with ex-Zappa drummer Terry Bozzio, who brought a punkish
aggression to the proceedings, screaming lead vocals on ‘‘I’m So
Cute” and ‘‘Tryin’ To Grow A Chin.” Guitar virtuoso Steve Vai,
another former Zappa band member, strolled on stage near the end
of the night to the delight of the worshipful crowd and proceeded
to trade licks with Dweezil on ‘‘Peaches En Regalia” and ‘‘Montana.”
A relentless four-song encore capped off the night, with
Dweezil putting to rest any lingering questions from his father’s
obsessive fan base. All he had to do was not embarrass himself,
but Dweezil did much more than that.
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