READ 'EM AND WEEP

Thursday was the half-anticipated/half-dreaded Zappa Plays Zappa show in Detroit. Michael Bill bought tix for us months ago... I have to be in a very specific mood to listen to Zappa & another very specific mood to want to sit in a hot black car for 4 hours. Etc. You get the idea, just me being a baby as usual.

We left at 2pm in my car. He brought his 40 gig ipod since he was in charge of entertainment for the drive. We got to the venue... in Auburn Hills, actually... around 6:30pm or so. We killed a few minutes with light dinner across the street. & eventually wandered in to the smallish amphitheater. I wasn't planning on buying a shirt, but when I found myself with cash in hand & saw a dark green one with ZOMBY WOOF in big yellow letters, I had to go for it. Eek. So now I'm Zappa Shirt Guy. I guess.

The place was packed with douchebags of all generations. Parents & kids. Lots of kids. Too many fucking kids. The show started with a long video of Frank & The Boys from I don't know what year. Then Dweezil etc wandered onto the stage & it was off to the races.


The show was surprisingly entertaining. I only knew a few songs but it was still enjoyable. Terry Bozzio was the first special guest they brought out. He was the highlight for me. "Punky's Whips" is hilarious. And he's such a good drummer. And very, um, fun to watch. His drumming... wow. The dude is a monster. He only played a few songs, which was a strange thing to do. Maybe Dweezil didn't want the superstar guests to pull focus from Frank's Music? Because, seriously, when Steve Vai came out, the whole place went ballistic. We listened to "Flex-able" on the way there, so I was kind of in the Vai zone already anyway. He was energetic & entertaining too but I dug Bozzio more. Um. The whole band was very very good obviously. I liked "Florentine Pogen". "Let's Make the Water Turn Black". Even though it was a big ghosty love-in for the long-dead Frank Zappa, this concert didn't feel like necrophilia until the bit where the band simulated jamming with him via the video screen. That was stupid & it was the only thing that reminded me of Natalie Cole singing a duet with her long dead daddy.


I'll take Dweezil's hairstyle too, please. I'm already halfway there.

The drive home took substantially longer because I made MCB drive. I drove maybe like 2 miles onto the freeway & it was instantly obvious that I just couldn't do it. So I took an exit & we made a pit-stop at White Castle. And spent the next hour trying to get back onto the fucking freeway! I got home at 4:30am. EUGH.



Our seats were waaaay over on Vai's side, so we're not in this amazing clip of Terry Bozzio....