Zappa plays Zappa
Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2010 11:46 am
I posted a clip from this DVD in the last weekend chatty that I really enjoyed. I've never been into the Frank stuff enough to listen to it regularly, I just did the "research" but it never got it's hooks in me. Since I saw the youtube clip I thought about getting the DVD, so last night, I bought it at Best Buy. I was surprised they had it.
Normally these days I watch TV with a laptop close by, and watching things that I'm not really into lasts about 5 minutes. Then I'm done.
I watched the whole show. It's 2 full discs.
Maybe it was the renewed presentation, I think the dated production and overall sound of the Frank stuff might be a barrier for me in a small way. Maybe seeing the stuff helps too, as opposed to just listening. But I found myself enjoying the music a lot. Joe Travers has a fantastic feel which makes the stuff very listen-able. And just when things get a little too silly, or repetitive, the song will go into some Zappa odd grouping/odd meter figure, or solo section to keep it interesting. There's just enough of the odd stuff to keep it busy. It never chaffed too badly (meaning there's just TOO MUCH AT ONE TIME, like Dream Theater can be in the middle of their tunes.
The contrast of amazing musicianship and humor I found to be super interesting. The humorous tones, as well as the mellow demeanor of Dweezil and other band members is almost deceptive. At a glance one would have no idea that these guys are some of the best musicians in the world. They're up there doing their thing, calm and cool. Then they bust into a 19/16 vamp with runs in the middle of it. It's ker-raze-ee.
Bozzio comes out and plays with the band a lot, even sings. He is an amazing musician, I just can't get into the sound of his drums and cymbals. They're great when he's soloing, but playing along with a band, all his sounds are small and short so it's hard to get any "rock n roll energy". As the band would build into a huge climactic solo, or chorus, Terry's bashing away on his cymbals and they all go Ch...CH...CH CH CH . It just doesn't work. Again, amazing in his own right however. Steve Vai is probably my favorite rock guitarist too, the man just oozes music. It's ridiculous.
BTW Los Angeles folks, these guys are playing Hollywood December 3rd and 4th:
http://themusicboxevents.com/?m=201012
Check out some youtube clips of this show but I would encourage supporting this project if you like it.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss? ... pa&x=0&y=0
Normally these days I watch TV with a laptop close by, and watching things that I'm not really into lasts about 5 minutes. Then I'm done.
I watched the whole show. It's 2 full discs.
Maybe it was the renewed presentation, I think the dated production and overall sound of the Frank stuff might be a barrier for me in a small way. Maybe seeing the stuff helps too, as opposed to just listening. But I found myself enjoying the music a lot. Joe Travers has a fantastic feel which makes the stuff very listen-able. And just when things get a little too silly, or repetitive, the song will go into some Zappa odd grouping/odd meter figure, or solo section to keep it interesting. There's just enough of the odd stuff to keep it busy. It never chaffed too badly (meaning there's just TOO MUCH AT ONE TIME, like Dream Theater can be in the middle of their tunes.
The contrast of amazing musicianship and humor I found to be super interesting. The humorous tones, as well as the mellow demeanor of Dweezil and other band members is almost deceptive. At a glance one would have no idea that these guys are some of the best musicians in the world. They're up there doing their thing, calm and cool. Then they bust into a 19/16 vamp with runs in the middle of it. It's ker-raze-ee.
Bozzio comes out and plays with the band a lot, even sings. He is an amazing musician, I just can't get into the sound of his drums and cymbals. They're great when he's soloing, but playing along with a band, all his sounds are small and short so it's hard to get any "rock n roll energy". As the band would build into a huge climactic solo, or chorus, Terry's bashing away on his cymbals and they all go Ch...CH...CH CH CH . It just doesn't work. Again, amazing in his own right however. Steve Vai is probably my favorite rock guitarist too, the man just oozes music. It's ridiculous.
BTW Los Angeles folks, these guys are playing Hollywood December 3rd and 4th:
http://themusicboxevents.com/?m=201012
Check out some youtube clips of this show but I would encourage supporting this project if you like it.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss? ... pa&x=0&y=0
