Saturday, August 9Th, 2008 at the Paramount Theater in Peekskill we arrived excited to see Dweezil Zappa and his fine band recreate the brilliance, not to mention whit that his father Frank brought to stage and record. As we made our way to our seats I thought of the 1978 Late show Halloween night at the Palladium on 14Th Street in NYC excited with nervous anticipation. This was the last time I saw Frank Zappa Live and alive. We had excellent seats and the Paramount is such an intimate venue. Dead center and up close, who could ask for more at this point in life.
Little did I know what to expect ahead. From the first notes out of Dweezil and band I was transported back to Halloween 1978. That special time in my life, with "not to shabby seats in the orchestra," at Frank's annual treat for the tricksters, there I sat mesmerized (more that slightly inebriated) at Frank's skillful and passionate guitar work. Dweezil, along with his bands' fearlessness to plunge deep into Frank's compositions were like machines with persona. Could they be "artificial Intelligence . I thought to myself, Dweezil and Co. are not only incredible musicians, they are brave soles! Especially when Dweezil was talking about all the "notes" that he and band have to concentrate on in the Jazz form HELL music.
So here I sit some 30 years later listening to Frank's son, recreating his father's music. This is beyond a mere tribute, this boy is a conduit, he is spiritually communicating with his father. Genetics are an amazing thing, I'm thinking, hell this is beyond that genetics thing, we are experiencing something miraculous here at this moment in time. I remembered that Frank never took any mind expanding drugs in a time when the counterculture viewed drugs as a way of life.
I guess I never wondered back then what it might be like to attend any concert, let alone a Zappa concert NOT under the influence??? Well, I can attest that Frank Zappa's genius was that his music was a mind expanding experience without side effects! Telepathic, transcendental, intoxicating without the Alcohol or weed. Dweezil proved that! Especially towards the end of the show that evening.
Surely it was a long haul for the band and Dweezil, on that road for several months, and here they are the last show of the tour. Emotions and expectations were no doubt high. That said, it was an emotional rollercoaster during the orchestral riffs of Sofa. I was feeling it, my youth was top of my mind, moments later, Dweezil's eyes welled up and tears burst to the point of him and band having to stop playing. The entire theater rose to their feet to cheer him on. As he regained his emotions and composure that powerful riff emulated long after the show was over. As I write this I keep playing Sofa 1 and Sofa 2 over and over and over and over. It has become a soundtrack for me.
The energy form Dweezil and his band and the graciousness conveyed as his father Frank would have done. On that Halloween night in 1978, I had the chance to meet Frank after the show. He was an amazing person, so attentive to his fans. So gracious, he extended backstage passed to all of us that stayed to see him leave the Palladium that night. He sat and talked with each and everyone of us, never in a rush to get out of there. There was a guy that brought his entire Zappa collection in a milk crate for Frank to sign, and that is what Frank did - he signed each and every one of them (with the exception of the LPs that Warner Brothers screwed him on). Talking, laughing and joking all the way.
Dweezil extended that same graciousness that his father did, when at the end of the last bow fans rushed the stage with tickets, CDs and Programs to sign. there seemed to be hundreds of people there and he patiently signed and shook hands all the way.
He was a good boy, although, he never cut my lawn, he was a good boy especially when he played that guitar and his father's music! FRANK IS PROUD!
This is the Central Scrutinizer — signing off...
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