Zappa at the Roxy
Discussion
Don't know if there are any Zappa fans on this forum, but the contents of this DVD will be better even than what's inside that Nazi gold train - scheduled for release on 30th October:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPIwdlnoKyA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPIwdlnoKyA
Oh yes. that looks rather good. Havnt had any new Zappa for a while (The Dub Room was the last one which has some ace stuff in it !) although I think I still have Baby Snakes sitting unwatched somewhere.....
What I really want on DVD is the documentary that 1st got me into Zappa. It was mid 90s and pretty much opened with King Kong @ BBC. There is also a stunning version of City Of Tiny Lights featured. those two tracks utterly blew me away !
I still have it on vhs in the loft somewhere.
What I really want on DVD is the documentary that 1st got me into Zappa. It was mid 90s and pretty much opened with King Kong @ BBC. There is also a stunning version of City Of Tiny Lights featured. those two tracks utterly blew me away !
I still have it on vhs in the loft somewhere.
Chimune said:
Oh yes. that looks rather good. Havnt had any new Zappa for a while (The Dub Room was the last one which has some ace stuff in it !) although I think I still have Baby Snakes sitting unwatched somewhere.....
What I really want on DVD is the documentary that 1st got me into Zappa. It was mid 90s and pretty much opened with King Kong @ BBC. There is also a stunning version of City Of Tiny Lights featured. those two tracks utterly blew me away !
I still have it on vhs in the loft somewhere.
That was my entry route too - spring '93, and then again in the winter with an hour and a half of extended concert footage after it. It's not on DVD as far as I know, but is on youtube as BBC Lateshow/A&E Special or something similar.What I really want on DVD is the documentary that 1st got me into Zappa. It was mid 90s and pretty much opened with King Kong @ BBC. There is also a stunning version of City Of Tiny Lights featured. those two tracks utterly blew me away !
I still have it on vhs in the loft somewhere.
Although my FIRST first exposure to Zappa was videotaping Does Humour Belong In Music off the TV when I was about 11, and thinking that the guitar chords in Zoot Allures sounded like they came from outer space - had never heard anything like it. Couldn't recreate them on our Yamaha FC10 Electone though.
Chimune said:
Oh yes. that looks rather good. Havnt had any new Zappa for a while (The Dub Room was the last one which has some ace stuff in it !) although I think I still have Baby Snakes sitting unwatched somewhere.....
What I really want on DVD is the documentary that 1st got me into Zappa. It was mid 90s and pretty much opened with King Kong @ BBC. There is also a stunning version of City Of Tiny Lights featured. those two tracks utterly blew me away !
I still have it on vhs in the loft somewhere.
I've got it on VHS somewhere as well. I knew very little about Zappa before watching this documentary apart from hearing his praises sung by my guitar playing ex brother in law. I really enjoy Dweezil's efforts with ZPZ as well.What I really want on DVD is the documentary that 1st got me into Zappa. It was mid 90s and pretty much opened with King Kong @ BBC. There is also a stunning version of City Of Tiny Lights featured. those two tracks utterly blew me away !
I still have it on vhs in the loft somewhere.
Chimune said:
Oh yes. that looks rather good. Havnt had any new Zappa for a while (The Dub Room was the last one which has some ace stuff in it !) although I think I still have Baby Snakes sitting unwatched somewhere.....
What I really want on DVD is the documentary that 1st got me into Zappa. It was mid 90s and pretty much opened with King Kong @ BBC. There is also a stunning version of City Of Tiny Lights featured. those two tracks utterly blew me away !
I still have it on vhs in the loft somewhere.
That is what also opened my mind to Zappa, King Kong is awesomeWhat I really want on DVD is the documentary that 1st got me into Zappa. It was mid 90s and pretty much opened with King Kong @ BBC. There is also a stunning version of City Of Tiny Lights featured. those two tracks utterly blew me away !
I still have it on vhs in the loft somewhere.
Haha, amazed that so many people saw that doc!
Thing is all that farting about at the beginning of King Kong leads you into thinking these a
holes are just taking the piss. Bloody Hippy's!
Then it just goes into the song with a massive gong hit and you are bang into a brilliantly serious bit of jazz fusion.
I've got loads of versions of kk on various albums and none of them are even close to that performance. I want it on DVD! Now !
I remember finishing the doc and thinking, hey my dad has a Zappa album in his vl collection. The Red one with the crazy dood climbing out the hole the ground (hot Rats)
I put it on and was blown away again. Twice in one night!
Thing is all that farting about at the beginning of King Kong leads you into thinking these a
holes are just taking the piss. Bloody Hippy's!Then it just goes into the song with a massive gong hit and you are bang into a brilliantly serious bit of jazz fusion.
I've got loads of versions of kk on various albums and none of them are even close to that performance. I want it on DVD! Now !
I remember finishing the doc and thinking, hey my dad has a Zappa album in his vl collection. The Red one with the crazy dood climbing out the hole the ground (hot Rats)
I put it on and was blown away again. Twice in one night!
Chimune said:
Haha, amazed that so many people saw that doc!
Thing is all that farting about at the beginning of King Kong leads you into thinking these aholes are just taking the piss. Bloody Hippy's!
Then it just goes into the song with a massive gong hit and you are bang into a brilliantly serious bit of jazz fusion.
I've got loads of versions of kk on various albums and none of them are even close to that performance. I want it on DVD! Now !
I remember finishing the doc and thinking, hey my dad has a Zappa album in his vl collection. The Red one with the crazy dood climbing out the hole the ground (hot Rats)
I put it on and was blown away again. Twice in one night!
Hot rats is a great albumThing is all that farting about at the beginning of King Kong leads you into thinking these a
holes are just taking the piss. Bloody Hippy's!Then it just goes into the song with a massive gong hit and you are bang into a brilliantly serious bit of jazz fusion.
I've got loads of versions of kk on various albums and none of them are even close to that performance. I want it on DVD! Now !
I remember finishing the doc and thinking, hey my dad has a Zappa album in his vl collection. The Red one with the crazy dood climbing out the hole the ground (hot Rats)
I put it on and was blown away again. Twice in one night!
It's up on Amazon USA at the moment as Bluray only:
http://www.amazon.com/Roxy-Movie-Blu-ray-Frank-Zap...
But it should be released on DVD too, with the option of a bonus CD for a few extra quid whichever version you choose:
http://www.jambase.com/Articles/126353/Frank-Zappa...
Incidentally, the trailer voiceover is in the style of an old Hollywood movie, and the cover design is a tribute to the poster for It Conquered The World which is mentioned in the song Cheepnis:
http://www.amazon.com/Roxy-Movie-Blu-ray-Frank-Zap...
But it should be released on DVD too, with the option of a bonus CD for a few extra quid whichever version you choose:
http://www.jambase.com/Articles/126353/Frank-Zappa...
Incidentally, the trailer voiceover is in the style of an old Hollywood movie, and the cover design is a tribute to the poster for It Conquered The World which is mentioned in the song Cheepnis:
stevejh said:
I've got it on VHS somewhere as well. I knew very little about Zappa before watching this documentary apart from hearing his praises sung by my guitar playing ex brother in law. I really enjoy Dweezil's efforts with ZPZ as well.
Dweezil & ZPZ are playing two UK gigs in London next month, performing One Size Fits All. If it's anything like the last two visits, it should be epic. The Roxy tour was absolutely note-perfect. I took Mrs. Ade, who wasn't familar with Zappa's back-catalogue, and she was blown away. The DVD is listed on Amazon for release at the end of this week, although it's listed as NTSC format (possibly erroneously). I pre-ordered it from Amazon France a few weeks ago as I had a voucher and it was cheaper than Amazon UK at that time (listed as PAL and All Regions, so who knows what's going on).
Rumoured to be online on iTunes too.
Didn't know that Gail Zappa passed away a few weeks ago, only 70.
Review of the premiere screening of the movie from a Zappa website:
from our roving Zappateer in LA,
Reporting from the ROXY premiere!
It. Was. Amazing.
This film is an unbelievable accomplishment. GREAT audio, truly amazing performances, shockingly good video restoration, and a triumph of concert movie editing. Even though it compiles footage from over three shows (sometimes even in the middle of songs), you would never know. It really feels like an intimate experience of being there on one of those legendary nights. Totally immersive.
After the film, there was a discussion/Q&A panel featuring Ahmet, Joe "the Vaultmaster" Travers, John Alberian (who did most of the edit and restoration), someone else who I'm sadly blanking on, but was instrumental in the correcting of the original footage, and Ralph Humphrey and Bruce Fowler themselves! They spoke at length about what a beast this was to actual put together, and confirmed the main reason for the delay was horrible, horrible technical problems when it was recorded in '73, leading to almost un-fixable sync issues. It took literally until the last two years or so for the right people to come along and the technology to catch up to what they needed in order to make it look and sound good enough to release. But man, did they ever do wonders with it. It looks like it was shot yesterday, and sounds incredible.
SPOILERS:
Highlights: Rhythm section only performance of "Cheepnis" leading into the full version, a jaw-dropping solo (and all around excellent rendition) of "Big Swifty", "RDNZL", actually getting to see the audience participation section of "The Bebop Tango".
Notable absences: "Village of the Sun" and "Pygmy Twilight". Joe answered a question about why those were omitted, and he said that the footage and performances were simply not up to par. He mentioned long sections of amazing solos where there was only one camera on, and the whole time it's just showing Frank's foot. Things like that. He also said that the Roxy album version of "Village of the Sun" is chock-full of overdubs, and for good reason.
[copied over from zappateers]
Rumoured to be online on iTunes too.
Didn't know that Gail Zappa passed away a few weeks ago, only 70.
Review of the premiere screening of the movie from a Zappa website:
from our roving Zappateer in LA,
Reporting from the ROXY premiere!
It. Was. Amazing.
This film is an unbelievable accomplishment. GREAT audio, truly amazing performances, shockingly good video restoration, and a triumph of concert movie editing. Even though it compiles footage from over three shows (sometimes even in the middle of songs), you would never know. It really feels like an intimate experience of being there on one of those legendary nights. Totally immersive.
After the film, there was a discussion/Q&A panel featuring Ahmet, Joe "the Vaultmaster" Travers, John Alberian (who did most of the edit and restoration), someone else who I'm sadly blanking on, but was instrumental in the correcting of the original footage, and Ralph Humphrey and Bruce Fowler themselves! They spoke at length about what a beast this was to actual put together, and confirmed the main reason for the delay was horrible, horrible technical problems when it was recorded in '73, leading to almost un-fixable sync issues. It took literally until the last two years or so for the right people to come along and the technology to catch up to what they needed in order to make it look and sound good enough to release. But man, did they ever do wonders with it. It looks like it was shot yesterday, and sounds incredible.
SPOILERS:
Highlights: Rhythm section only performance of "Cheepnis" leading into the full version, a jaw-dropping solo (and all around excellent rendition) of "Big Swifty", "RDNZL", actually getting to see the audience participation section of "The Bebop Tango".
Notable absences: "Village of the Sun" and "Pygmy Twilight". Joe answered a question about why those were omitted, and he said that the footage and performances were simply not up to par. He mentioned long sections of amazing solos where there was only one camera on, and the whole time it's just showing Frank's foot. Things like that. He also said that the Roxy album version of "Village of the Sun" is chock-full of overdubs, and for good reason.
[copied over from zappateers]
He's the man or was at least. Never got the chance to see him but listen to a lot of his stuff. The 'shut up and play your guitar' series is great.
I managed to persuade my then wife to be and still current to leave the church to Watermelons in Easter Hay. Was a scream looking at the oldies faces!
Bongo Fury and Sheik Yerbouti top it for me.
Also worth trying to catch the BBC2 documentary released, I think, just before he died or very soon after. I had it on vid but lost it. However, now available on good old youtube- www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuhoavP4k4c
I managed to persuade my then wife to be and still current to leave the church to Watermelons in Easter Hay. Was a scream looking at the oldies faces!
Bongo Fury and Sheik Yerbouti top it for me.
Also worth trying to catch the BBC2 documentary released, I think, just before he died or very soon after. I had it on vid but lost it. However, now available on good old youtube- www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuhoavP4k4c
Trophy Husband said:
He's the man or was at least. Never got the chance to see him but listen to a lot of his stuff. The 'shut up and play your guitar' series is great.
I managed to persuade my then wife to be and still current to leave the church to Watermelons in Easter Hay. Was a scream looking at the oldies faces!
That's awesome. I want Watermelons in Easter Hay played at my funeral. I managed to persuade my then wife to be and still current to leave the church to Watermelons in Easter Hay. Was a scream looking at the oldies faces!
I've read a few biographies of FZ but none of them gave any satisfying explanation of how awesome he was on guitar. It was either totally natural and instinctive, or must have taken decades of practice. Either way, one of the most underrated greats.
Trophy Husband said:
I managed to persuade my then wife to be and still current to leave the church to Watermelons in Easter Hay. Was a scream looking at the oldies faces!
Was that with the opening monologue, including the 'Who gives a fk anyway?'. Nice. I don't think that track exists without the opening Joe's Garage monologue, although it possibly may do on the Frank Zappa Plays The Music Of Frank Zappa album, which I never bought.
The whole of Inca Roads on You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol 2 is my Zappa mecca - contains a bit of everything and an amazing guitar solo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTj1ueHLJfc
JuniorD said:
That's awesome. I want Watermelons in Easter Hay played at my funeral.
I've read a few biographies of FZ but none of them gave any satisfying explanation of how awesome he was on guitar. It was either totally natural and instinctive, or must have taken decades of practice. Either way, one of the most underrated greats.
There's a clip somewhere of Dweezil playing Watermelon..., which he'd never performed live before. He broke down in tears during the performance. It's an incredibly moving piece, and I'm asking for it at my funeral as well. Walk-in music will be the more upbeat Alien Orifice.I've read a few biographies of FZ but none of them gave any satisfying explanation of how awesome he was on guitar. It was either totally natural and instinctive, or must have taken decades of practice. Either way, one of the most underrated greats.
Incidentally, Dweezil at Royal Festival Hall 2 weeks ago was as close as you'll ever get to a Zappa gig; incredible, note-perfect musicianship. Unlike The Grandmothers who also played in the UK that weekend. Not only dancing on Zappa's grave, but pissing all over it as well, by all accounts.
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