Frank Zappa's son Dweezil played last night at Stubb's in downtown Austin. He plays his Dad's music and if you've seen ZPZ before, you know that it is very authentic. In my opinion(and many others), Frank Zappa is a great American composer. His music ranges from extremely complex arrangements with a fair amount of silliness to straightish(?) pop with a great amount of silliness. The music is not for everyone because Frank Zappa made fun of everything. Stubb's main stage is an outdoor venue but with the temperature hovering about 60 F, it was a very nice night for music. The band had to keep their instruments tuned because of the cool, but I didn't hear any audience complaints. Here’s a taste of ZPZ:
Dweezil opened with Zombie Woof and then went something like this:
Hungry Freaks, Daddy
Sheila dances for us like Molly Ringwald
Teenage Prostitute
Dirty Love
Pygmy Twilight with a Roxy Instrumental
Penguin in Bondage
I’m so Cute
Baby Snakes
Trying to Grow a Chin
Here Lies Love(Lowell George originally sang lead on this song back in the Day)
Montana
Let’s Make the Water Turn Black
Harder Than Your Husband
Wind Up Working in a Gas Station
Ride My Face to Chicago
Moggio (Gave Steve Vai performance nightmares)
ThingFish – The Evil Prince (Which was a poke of fun at Cats from Broadway)
Debra Kadabra
Who are the Brain Police
??
Encore:
Willie the Pimp (originally sang by Captain BeefHeart, Eric Johnson joined Dweezil on stage for this!)
Muffin Man
Strictly Genteel
A bit more below the fold:
Dweezil Zappa and Eric Johnson
Eric Johnson is amazing. I once got to play with him at an impromptu jam at a mutual friend's wedding. Eric commented that he had never played with two drummers before and that it was fun. Truly a high point in my life.
I got most of the ZPZ band's autograph, spoke with Dweezil briefly and got a terrorist fist bump from him. He is very cool.
If you like Frank Zappa's music, go see Dweezil's homage, you will enjoy it.