themediamademecrazy.com

this monday, i caught the zappa plays zappa show at the berkeley community theater up in norcal. it was awesome! dweezil was accompanied by ray white, and they played for about 3 hours. the performance was supplemented with videos featuring frank, in a very nat king/natalie cole sort of interaction. it was powerful to watch dweezil turn and play with his father. although the videos highlighted the difference between the two men. every time i see frank wail out a solo, he seems to get lost in it. i only got that feeling from dweezil 2, maybe 3, times, on tracks like carolina hardcore ecstasy and pygmy twylyte. but overall, the show felt great, the crowd was a mix of ages, all of which were excited to be there. thanks to dug for the tickets and his tommy-two-thumbs set list.

NOTE: before the show, we were watching meerkat manor, an anthropomorphized soap opera featuring meerkats in the kalahari on animal planet. the main troop (whiskers) encountered a rival troop known as the zappa, whose dominant male is named frank. it was delightfully perfect!

Dog Breath
City of Tiny Lites
Advance Romance
Dumb All Over
What’s New in Baltimore
Carolina Hard-Core Ecstasy
Son of Suzy Creamcheese
Brown Shoes Don’t Make It
America Drinks and Goes Home
Pygmy Twylyte
Dupree’s Paradise
Heavy Duty Judy
[raccoon improv]
Dupree’s Paradise
Uncle Remus
Willie The Pimp
Joe’s Garage
Wind Up Workin’ In A Gas Station
San Ber’dino
The Illinois Enema Bandit
Wild Love
Yo Mama
encore:
Cosmik Debris
G-Spot Tornado
Muffin Man

http://www.zappaplayszappa.com/

prince’s half time show was the most amazing thing i’ve seen on television in a long time. it was beautiful, shocking, revolutionary, soft and wet. i’ve been raving about it for 24 hours and i’ve gotten some repeated comments:

1. “you know they fill the field with prince fans so that they can get footage of girls crying…”

duh. that does not negate a phenomenal performance. he had over 50,000 people in the stands singing along, not to mention the audiences at home, and around the world. i’m aware of the techniques, (raises into snobbish tone) i have a degree in television theory.

2. “half the crowd went to the bathroom anyway.”

well then they are damn fools. to walk away from a show like that. prince is a living legend, that’s like saying, “no thanks, i’m not interested in seeing ravi shankar, sir paul mccartney, and bebe king perform for free. i’ve got to use the restroom.”

more importantly, i am always affected when i know that the majority of the homes in the united states are watching and listening to the same thing that i am right now. only the lucky ones can feel the way i do too.

sometimes you’re happy
and sometimes you cry

half of me is ocean
and half of me is sky.

–Tom Petty “Walls”