Prior to “Be-Bop Tango”, Dweezil remarked “If this is The Egg… then the stage must be the yolk”, and delved into the long exploration that to the untrained ear would be considered a musical mess when it was easily the highlight of the night.
The horror movie inspired “Cheepnis” had Dweezil a little chatty while “More Trouble Everyday” received a standing ovation from the crowd. He returned to playing the xylophone parts of the song on his keys, doubling as a percussionist, a role he shared with drummer Ryan Brown. Chris Norton played daredevil during “Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing?”, standing on his swivel chair and juggling, with moderate success.
During “Dummy Up”, there was a fair amount of “Albany-style twerking” between Thomas and saxophonist/flutist Scheila Gonzalez, who rolled up and mimed smoking a high school diploma. “Pygmy Twylyte” was almost too short but provided an aire of familiarity for some of the uninitiated audience members who are familiar only with certain covers provided by Zappa’s jamband descendants.
Leading off Roxy with “Penguin in Bondage”, baritone Ben Thomas channeled Frank’s voice greater than expected – it was almost spooky how much he sounded like him. Tonight, it would be a look at the past and a glance into the future of Zappa’s music through the lens of the band that is keeping the sound alive and fresh for the next generations. Dweezil Zappa noted after “The Torture Never Stops” that the album is “40 years old and it’s still from the future”, a bold statement and reflection on Frank’s influence that has hardly ceased since his untimely death in 1993. For fans of Zappa’s intricate material like “RDNZL,” “The Black Page,” or “Inca Roads,” this album is a must-have.ĭiscreet – 2DS 2202 Stereo Vinyl 2 x LP 1974 US Pressingīacking Vocals – Debbi, George, Lynn, Froggy, RubenĢ.One of Frank Zappa’s classic albums, Roxy & Elsewhere, was on display for a packed house on Tuesday, February 25th at The Egg in Albany. All the pieces were premiere recordings, except for “More Trouble Every Day” and “Son of Orange County,” a revamped, slowed down “Orange County Lumber Truck”/”Oh No.” Compared to the man’s previous live recordings (Fillmore East: June 1971, Just Another Band from L.A.), this one sounds fantastic, finally providing an accurate image of the musicians’ virtuosity. Other highlights include “Penguin in Bondage” and “Cheepnis,” a horror movie tribute. The sequence “Echidna’s Arf (Of You)”/”Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing?” stands as Zappa’s most difficult rock music and provides quite a showcase for Underwood. The band is comprised of George Duke (keyboards), Tom Fowler (bass), Ruth Underwood (percussion), Bruce Fowler (trombone), Walt Fowler (trumpet), Napoleon Murphy Brock (vocals), and Chester Thompson (drums) - drummer Ralph Humphrey, keyboardist Don Preston, and guitarist Jeff Simmons appear on the non-Roxy material. Only three tracks (“Dummy Up,” “Son of Orange County,” and “More Trouble Every Day”), taken from other concerts, are 100 percent live. Three-quarters of the album was recorded live at the Roxy in Hollywood and extensively overdubbed in the studio later. But the temptation for more challenging material was not long to resurface and, after a transitional LP (Apostrophe, early 1974), he unleashed a double LP (reissued on one CD) of his most complex music, creating a bridge between his comedy rock stylings and Canterbury-style progressive rock. After his affair with jazz fusion (Waka/Jawaka and The Grand Wazoo, both released in 1972), Frank Zappa came back in late 1973 with an album of simple rock songs, Over-Nite Sensation.