Happy Birthday....... FRANK ZAPPA!

[Bennyboy]

I actually saw him on his birthday at the Circle Star Theater in San Carlos in 84.

What a shame, we could really really really use his take on things right now, I think.

12/21/84 (Fri) Circle Star Theater - San Carlos, CA

Set 1: Stick Together, My Guitar Wants To Kill Your Mama, Willie The Pimp, Montana, Tinseltown Rebellion, More Trouble Every Day, Penguin In Bondage, Hot Plate Heaven At The Green Hotel, Brown Moses, Drowning Witch, Black Page #2, Bamboozled By Love, He's So Gay, Bobby Brown, Joe's Garage, Why Does It Hurt When I Pee?, In France, Marqueson's Chicken, Dinah-Moe Humm, Whipping Post


Lineup: Frank Zappa, Ike Willis, Ray White, Scott Thunes, Chad Wackerman, Alan Zavod, Bobby Martin.

[Initech]

1. Man, I wish Zappa were still alive.

The political Zappa from "Broadway The Hard Way" would be going hog wild!

[Bennyboy]

2. A little Guitar music for you all...

Stevies Spanking http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5ORGWfJiTI With Steve Vai...

[Va Lefty]

3. "Watch out where the huskies go, and don't you eat that yellow snow"

[Bennyboy]

4. Jesus thinks you're a jerk!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WapeHpEcpk4

[AllegroRondo]

5. Great Googly Moogly!

that must have been a great show.

[evlbstrd]

6. Happy Birthda, Frank!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcA0e7eyrXY&feature=related

[Amerigo Vespucci]

7. Holy crap...I saw him at the Circle Star too!

It was in the mid-70s and it was the "Roxy & Elsewhere" band with George Duke, Ruth Underwood, etc. Tom Waits was the opening act. I remember someone coming out at the beginning of the show and saying "Frank personally chose his opening act and we want you to sit back and enjoy his set," and it was Tom Waits solo.

I had second-row seats. I remember the guitar centerpiece that night was a pretty long version of "Stink Foot."

I also saw Zappa at the Boston Music Hall with Chuck Berry as his opening act in 1972. It was the Flo and Eddie band and probably the filthiest show I've ever seen in my life. He did a bit that, to the best of my knowledge, has only shown up on bootlegs...the one about "God's Girlfriend & The Magic Pig." I had a blind date with me that night...my brother's next door neighbor. She could have been the little sister of Carole King as she looked on the "Tapestry" album cover. She wore a white turtleneck sweater with a big peace medal on a leather strap and DID-NOT-SAY-A-SINGLE-WORD all night, especially when Flo and Eddie really started spewing the filth. My brother got us to the show late...I walked in just in time to see Berry do "Johnny B. Goode" with all of the duck-walks...at this point Chuck was still dangerous and he hit every note with perfection. Later he stopped giving a shit. I saw him years later, once again at the Circle Star. He did a double bill with Little Richard. Richard was perfect, and the audience loved him. Berry copped an attitude and did a 20 minute set, 12 minutes of "My Ding A Ling" and ragged versions of "School Days" and "Roll Over Beethoven." But at the Boston Music Hall in 1972, Chuck was still Chuck.

The last time I saw him was on the "Bongo Fury" tour at the Berkeley Community Theatre. Beefheart was his opening act but they never took the stage together. At one point Zappa tied his hair back into a ponytail and said "This is SERIOUS music" and RIPPED into a pretty meciless version of "Black Napkins."

So yeah...HAPPY BIRTHDAY FZ.

:toast:

[Bennyboy]

8. Who you jivin with that Cosmik Debris????......

Look here brother....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ie2uVMtc3Hk

[Bennyboy]

9. Bump for the Grand Wazoo!