Actually, the 21st would have been Franks birthday, but tonight one of his offfspring (Dweezil) was in town with some members of the old band to relive some of the old man’s glory. How could I, a long time Zappa disciple, NOT go?

It was like the high school reunion I never had. So many faces from the past. Sort of eerie….

As for the show, well ….. I wasn’t expecting much. The body of work that Frank put out over the years is astounding in it’s breadth and depth. Not many musicians are interested in it, or even capable of it. I figured we see a sort of watered down representation of it, you know…”We’re Only In It For The Money” kind of vibe.

Luckily, I was wrong. The opening bars of Inca Roads slammed into me with a force that literally brought tears to my eyes. The band was a mixture of old band members like Napoleon Murphy Brock, Terry Bozzio, and Steve Vai along with many new faces that were chosen according to a strict selection process. Overwhelming to experience the raw talent of superb musicians striving to achieve perfection with such challenging material.

That’s Dweezil above, sounding so much like his dad, and below you’ve got Napoleon on sax and little Stevie on guitar.

Oh, and little Terry Bozzio, that cute little drummer…

Freeaking insane. Three straight hours of incredible music. I hear he’s coming back soon. It was too bad that some of his biggest fans weren’t able to see the show. Hame, Paddy, and Lump…..I was thinking of ya.