Last Wednesday, Jimbama and I were lucky enough to see the mighty Zappa Plays Zappa nearly one year to the day since last year's mindblowing performance. And somehow, they were even more impressive this time around. I figured nothing could top the 2007 show where they started with "Brown Shoes Don't Make It," my favorite Zappa song and probably one of the greatest pieces of music ever written after "Subdivisions." I was wrong.
Right from the start, they tore the place up. As I mentioned previously, the crowd at the Casino Ballroom is a rowdy one and they were ready to rock again this year. During each break, Dweezil would address the crowd and most of the time, Jim and I weren't able to hear a single word due to the constant murmuring, shouting and general cacophony going on all around us. Thankfully the music was loud enough to drown out the masses and when they launched into "Purple Lagoon" to start things off, the hoots and hollers morphed into astonishment as the group, and especially Dweezil, blinded us with a flurry of notes, all perfectly played at incredible speed. It was insane but it was only the beginning.
They had the same exact line up this year and I can't imagine a tighter unit. The skill each performer has is amazing and together they are unstoppable. They proved their technical perfection when they played the 10 1/2 minute monster that has been dubbed "The Trifecta." Three insanely complex instrumentals in a row, no stopping, each more baffling than the last. The Trifecta consists of Peaches En Regalia, Echidnas Arf and G-spot Tornado and it was a marvel. I was cackling in disbelief as they flawlessly raced through these songs wondering who could possibly be a better guitarist than Dweezil - Yngwie Malmsteen? Old Skool Eddie Van Halen? Bob Zabek? He's certainly better than Eric Crapton.
Out of 24 songs, they only repeated 5 from last year's show and even though I knew less this year, it was still a more mind boggling, wonderful experience. The crowd was ravenous as expected and singing and yelling along as warranted by the lunacy on stage. There was no projection screen with old footage of Frank this year but they did have a skit during "Fembot in a Wet T-Shirt" which evened things out.
If they're coming to your town, I would highly suggest going even if you are not heavily into Frank Zappa because it is truly a spectacle of grand proportions and they always put on a very dynamite show. Here's the setlist:
Set 1: Purple Lagoon, Imaginary Diseases, City Of Tiny Lights, How Could I Be Such A Fool, I Ain't Got No Heart, I'm Not Satisfied, Peaches En Regalia, Echidnas Arf, G-spot Tornado, Pygmy Twylyte, Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up, Flakes, Broken Hearts Are For Assholes, Bamboozled By Love, King Kong > Zomby Woof (Teases), Joe's Garage, Fembot In A Wet T-shirt > On The Bus > Outside Now > He Used To Cut The Grass, Cosmic Debris
E: I'm The Slime, Willie The Pimp
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