Amazing show by Dweezil Zappa and his band of Lunatics

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Dweezil Zappa & Band at the Rialto Theatre, Tucson, AZ on January 12th, 2025

Review and Photos by Fred Kuhlman
Promoter: Danny Zelisko Presents (https://dzplive.com/ )
Venue: The Rialto Theatre, Tucson, AZ (https://www.rialtotheatre.com/ )
Date: January 12th, 2025
Tour: Return Of The Son Of…  Celebrating 50 Years of Apostrophe(‘) and Roxy & Elsewhere

Growing up in the middle to late 60s there were 3 styles of rock music that were prevalent, Pop, Psychedelic and Avant Garde.  Frank Zappa fell into the later.  Frank was unconventional in his approach to music and the industry.  He had a distrust of authority after being arrested and the police kept or conveniently lost most of the recorded music from his studio, Studio Z in 1965.  He also like to experiment with different styles of music and created some of the most unique music of that era.

Frank was a man of multiple talents, including song writing, musical conducting, playing multiple instruments, singer, sound engineer and record producer.  During his very short 30-year career he created 60 albums both with the Mothers of Invention and as a solo artist.  In 1980 I was lucky enough to see his band at the Celebrity Theatre where he introduced us to his newest guitarist and in my opinion one of the greatest guitarist ever, Steve Vai.  Two of his albums from the 70s are celebrating their 50th anniversary, Apostrophe(‘) and the double live album Roxy & Elsewhere.  From these albums come some of Frank’s greatest hits, “Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow” and “Nanook Rubs It”.

Dweezil Zappa & Band at the Rialto Theatre, Tucson, AZ on January 12th, 2025

Dweezil Zappa is the son of Frank Zappa and is carrying on the legacy of Frank’s music to a new generation.  Dweezil, just like his father, is the ring master of a bunch of extremely talented if not slightly crazy musicians.  Dweezil is joined by his merry band of musicians, Zach Tabori on vocals, guitar, percussion & drums, Bobby Victor on vocals & keyboards, Kurt Morgan on bass & vocals, Ryan Brown on drums & vocals and the multi-talented multi-instrument Sheila Gonzales on sax, keyboards, duck call, etc.

The show started with 3 songs from the Apostrophe(‘)  album, “Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow”, “Nanook Rubs It” and “St. Alfonzo’s Pancake Breakfast”.  Then Dweezil had all of the band member come out front and they performed a bizarre dance interpretation to one of Frank’s songs.  We got to vote for the person that did the best dance moves, Sheila won.  We also got to hear classic songs, “Montana”, “Punky’s Whips” & “Uncle Remus”.  The show was almost 3 hours and included a 2-song encore.

Later, Dweezil told the story about how Frank had been attacked at a London concert and how he was thrown off the stage by an audience member.  (Note: This occurred 1 week after the massive fire at the Casino de Montreux in Switzerland where the band lost all of their equipment).  Frank suffered multiple fractures, head trauma, back injuries and a crushed larynx.  Frank was wheelchair bound for 6 months.  During that time Frank wrote even more music, including a song, “Lost Zappa Song” that Dweezil’s uncle helped Frank with.

Dweezil Zappa & Band at the Rialto Theatre, Tucson, AZ on January 12th, 2025

This was my first show of the year and WOW it was amazing.  If this is how the years is going to go, then I can’t wait.  This show represents my 3rd reason why I believe people go to concerts, “The band’s performance is much better than on the albums & and you get to see and hear things never on an album”.  Another feature of going to live shows is that sometimes the band does something that is unexpected.  Like when Sheila performed 3 different songs, “Hotel California”, “Living On A Prayer” & “Freebird” using a duck call.  Also, when during “Punky’s Whips”, they shouted out “Strawberry Boots” and a person in the front row lifted his feet and was wearing Strawberry colored boots.  Dweezil lost it, stopped playing and had to turn around because he was laughing so hard.  At the start of the show, Dweezil couldn’t come up with a saying for Tucson, but after this, he said Tucson will be known as the “City of Strawberry Boots”.  For the remainder of the show, the band at different times would jokingly shout out Strawberry Boots.

A lot of people don’t understand how difficult it is to perform Frank’s music.  Like progressive rock, it has multiple time changes and at times very difficult fast meters.  Also, the band members are required to sing different parts of the song at the same time.  Then add in the tempo of the words spoken that would even make a rapper frustrated.  Overall, it is an experience that can at times bewilder the listener as to how the hell they did it.  But even with all of the weirdness, it all seems to come together and makes beautiful music and stories.

If you like different kinds of music, then this might be a show to see.  Personally, this was my 3rd time to see Dweezil and his band.  I loved each show, but I have to say that this was the best one yet.  If you get the chance to see this show then I very highly recommend it.  It is really fun and you get to see some amazing musicians.

Dweezil is producing different clips from his shows sharing them on their YouTube Channel and Facebook Reels.  Check them out and his other social media sites to see if he is coming to a city near you.

Dweezil Zappa Social Media sites:
Website: https://www.dweezilzappa.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DweezilZappaOfficial/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dweezilzappa/
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thedweezilzappa
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/discover/dweezil-zappa


Dweezil Zappa & Band

Photos © Fred Kuhlman 2024, All Rights Reserved (with Dweezil Zappa permission)



Setlist:
The Deathless Horsie
Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow
Nanook Rubs It
St. Alfonzo’s Pancake Breakfast
Approximate x3
Inca Roads
Montana
Cosmik Debris
Lost Zappa Song
Echidna’s Arf (Of You)
Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing?
Kazoo (Munsters, Hotel California Livin’ on a Prayer & Freebird)
Punky’s Whips
Fanfare from 200 Motels
A Pound For A Brown
Medley (strawberry boots / Facts of life)
Cheepnis
Broken Hearts Are for Assholes
Zomby Woof
Oh No
Trouble Every Day
Encore:
Uncle Remus
Muffin Man

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