LogFAQs > #932280124

Detailed thoughts on the Dweezil show:

Dont Eat the Yellow Snow Dweezil came out to this song. Surprising way to start the show. I remember from back at the Roxy & Elsewhere show they just started immediately with Penguin in Bondage so I was almost certain they would start this show with Peaches but they didnt. Ive heard a couple of bootlegs of 80 shows in which Frank started with this song so apparently Dweezil was trying to emulate that. Excellent way to start the show obviously, any serious Zappa fan knows this song and its just so feel-good. In those bootlegs, Frank went into the Nanook Rubs It vamp after this song to do the band intros, but Dweezil instead, went into
Peaches en Regalia Nothing to say about this, solid performance of this justly famous Zappa tune.
Willie the Pimp This was fucking awesome. Dweezil probably played the best solo Ive EVER heard him play in this. An epic-length, super intense solo. The approach of the rhythm section was quite different from the approach of the rhythm section in the studio version; they didnt stick as closely to the Willie vamp. Perhaps my only complaint about this was that the keyboardist/guitarist/flautist/percussionist did the vocals. His imitation of Captain Beefheart was passable but not great.
Son of Mr. Green Genes This sounded pretty much like what you would expect this to sound like. Similarly to the studio version, Dweezil played a solo interspersed with composed parts (in the studio version, I always find it difficult to tell which parts of the solo were previously composed and which were improvised, honestly). I love this tune so this was great to hear.
Little Umbrellas Nothing to say about this, just a perfectly faithful version. Really good tune.
The Gumbo Variations As expected, Scheila Gonzalez played a tenor saxophone solo, which was awesome. She did a great Ian Underwood impression, ending the solo with a bunch of Ian-ish, wild free licks. It then immediately went into a Dweezil solo, which I thought was kind of weird. Obviously, there was nobody in the band who was going to play a violin solo, but couldnt Dweezil just have one of the other band members take a solo? Anyway, Dweezils solo was great much longer than the solo Frank played, either in the original version or the remixed Rykodisc version. Again, the rhythm section kind of abandoned the Gumbo vamp during parts of the solo. We then got drum and bass breaks and the ending theme.
It Must Be a Camel Interestingly enough, before they played this tune, Dweezil made quite a big deal about how much he loved it, saying that nothing else composed in the past 50 years has sounded like it and that in 100 years, there will still be nothing that sounds like it. Hes probably right! I do love this tune so I appreciate Dweezil giving it some love. Again, it was an extremely faithful version.
Montana Before this started, Dweezil pointed out that this arrangement was the late 70s version I havent heard such a version, but to my ears it didnt sound any different than the Over-Nite Sensation Montana we all know and love. Anyway, remember how in my writeup for the last show I attended, I pointed out how Dweezil and special guest Richard Hallenbeek did a guitar duel that was sort of short and bad? Well, now it seemed like Dweezil wanted to make up for that guitar duels lameness with this solo. It was nearly as awesome as the Willie solo. Another solo that went on for ages but stayed super intense and interesting throughout. And of course, the song itself is great too.
Teen-age Wind Not much to say about this. I love this song so it was nice to hear. It seemed like at one point, they quoted one of those Mystery Rehearsal Tunes that appear on several bootlegs.
Who Needs the Peace Corps? Before this started, Dweezil pointed out that they were going to play the 1970 instrumental version. Again, I havent heard any of these versions, but it sounded cool. Dweezil played a good solo (yes, apparently this song had a guitar solo at one point!) over a complex vamp.
Im Not Satisfied Nice song choice. This is one of my favorite songs on Freak Out!
My Sharona/Thirteen Yes, the classic The Knack song. I dont come to a Dweezil show to hear this but it was enjoyable enough. In the middle of it, they played a riff from a version of Thirteen that Frank rehearsed in 79 and 80, as can be heard on several bootlegs. (According to FZShows, [a version of] the riff also appears in Tink Walks Amok, but personally I can't hear it when I listen to the track.) Afterwards, Dweezil explained that they played My Sharona because 1) Frank and his bandmates quoted it very frequently throughout the years (true enough), and 2) Frank stuck the My Sharona bassline in one of those rehearsal versions of Thirteen so Dweezil turned this concept upside down and stuck the riff from Thirteen in My Sharona. (Sidenote: Dweezil didn't explain how the whole My Sharona running gag started, but Arthur Barrow used to be in a band with Knack drummer Bruce Gary called Loose Connection and therefore started sneaking My Sharona quotes into Zappa songs [you can hear this in The Blue Light, for instance]. Another fun fact: right when Frank was at Village Recorders recording Joe's Garage, The Knack was recording My Sharona at the very same studio!)
Penis Dimension This was the arrangement of the Wazoo version with the solo section, though it also contained lyrics like the 200 Motels version. It was good. Scheila played a tenor saxophone solo in the solo section.
Bamboozled by Love This was the arrangement of the original slow version, as can be heard on Tinsel Town Rebellion. This was a lowpoint, just because there was NO solo by Dweezil or anyone else. Without the solo section, youre stuck with a rather boring blues song in my opinion (though they did do one of the verses in the fast 88 style, which was cool). At one point, they quoted a Zappa tune I couldnt identify it might have been Tink Walks Amok. Cool aspect, but it wasnt enough to redeem the whole song.
Brown Moses Awesome song choice. One of my favorite songs on Thing-Fish (not that theres many particularly great songs on that album but still >_> ) and they did a great job with it. Very nice to hear those vocal harmonies.
Im a Beautiful Guy This was the start of a string of You Are What You Is numbers (too bad they didn't play Society Pages before this). Great choice, I love this song.
Beauty Knows No Pain Another song I love but this version was kind of lacking the punch of the YAWYI version for some reason. Maybe it was because Dweezils guitar was mixed a bit low, so it didnt have that biting guitar sound Steve Vai added to the YAWYI version.
Charlies Enormous Mouth Yet another song I love (can you tell that I love YAWYI?) but this was also lacking something in comparison with