Me seeing Dweezil Zappa in Aug. 2024 The Xavierite
Of the artists lost in the mix of time was the late Frank Zappa, an intricate guitar player that experimented with various music genres throughout his career from the mid 60’s to the early 90’s.
Frank Zappa originally surfaced in 1964 and released their first debut album, “Freak Out!” in 1966, an album that defined psychedelic music and even later inspired The Beatles to create “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” due to the nature of music that wasn’t mainstream pop-rock.
Zappa was an artist like no other, as he composed his own original work and did not sign under any label. He was purely authentic to his craft and stayed that way until his passing in 1993, and even then he is treated with respect and praise from the music industry to this day.
As a devoted fan to Frank Zappa, I often find myself looking at his live performances wishing I got the chance to be a part of it. Two of my favorite videos of him were when he played “Muffin Man” live on Halloween in 1977 and “Montana” (A Token of His Extreme, 1974). Watching his live videos was like an at-home concert that took me into a daydream of ever seeing him perform.
I got lucky in the month of April in 2024, as I saw his son, Dweezil, was doing an anniversary tour to commemorate “Roxy & Elsewhere” and “Apostrophe” for their 50 year anniversaries. As I knew I could never see Frank, this was definitely the next best thing as his son is known for honoring his father’s music and making sure the legacy lives on for his late father.
Dweezil did an incredible job when I saw him originally back in Aug. 2024 at The Riviera Theatre with my friend Lana Abdallah, where I may or may not have screamed the lyrics to “Cosmik Debris” and “Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow.”
It was such a beautiful show to honor and respect an absolute music legend who doesn’t seem to be appreciated as much by the younger generation, but totally should be based on Zappa’s witty humor and insane music melodies that you can’t help but enjoy the more you listen.
The show was so spectacular that Dweezil even got a standing ovation to play even more which was very pleased to do so and it made me so happy to be part of such a musical experience that still brings joy to my mind the more I think about it.
The most spontaneous moment of the Zappa show was me buying a stack of stickers at the merchandise stand for $20 and opening them and seeing there was an autographed sticker from Dweezil Zappa himself.
Not sure if it was coincidental, but I will never forget being so excited to see the sticker when I got home and realizing how much this show changed my life. So now I wonder, what Zappa surprise awaits me for part two.
To see so many wonderful people barely be on their phones and enjoy the music was surreal and spontaneous at the same time. Most of the people were getting up and dancing with each other and enjoying themselves more than anything since Zappa shows don’t happen too often, but this year the Zappa fan base got lucky.
Dweezil Zappa and his team announced a part two of Zappa Plays Zappa back in October and of course, I was on the waiting list immediately. The Illinois tour is dated for May 2 in the Des Plaines Theatre and you already know I will be equipped in my Zappa memorabilia hoping that we get the Apostrophe guitar solo as the first show wasn’t spoiled with that, but we got the “Freak Out!” lineup as a surprise instead.
My prediction is that this tour will offer tunes from “Zappa Live in New York” as those song titles make you laugh hysterically, but also groove at the same time or signature albums such as “Hot Rats” as what Zappa fan doesn’t like “Peaches En Regalia” or ‘Willie the Pimp”?
Or just maybe, Dweezil has another Zappa surprise up his sleeve and may play tunes from “Over-Nite Sensation” or “One Size Fits All”, but who am I kidding? Frank Zappa produced over 60 plus albums in his career so really, the possibilities are endless of what Dweezil has planned for the show.
However, I can say that I am excited for whatever he performs and I know no matter what, it will be the show of a lifetime.
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