Rock and Roll Guru

An amazing night at Summerfest got kicked up a notch as I entered the Potawatomi stage to see Zappa Plays Zappa. Last year I missed their tour in two different cities by less than twenty-four hours each time, and that was not gonna happen again.

In an incredible display of respect for both his father and the music, Dweezil Zappa squirreled himself away for several months to master the many nuances of his dad’s music before taking to the road last year with a crack band.

As if channeling papa, Zappa opened the set by messing with the audience as he briefly launched into Zeppelin’s Kashmir.

For anyone who is not a true Frank Zappa devotee, dude was not just about “Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow”, although that song clearly depicted his demented genius. He was a brilliant songwriter, gifted musician and masterful arranger, as well as a hilarious satirist. Additionally, and I mean this in the absolute best possible sense of the word, he was one sick mamma jamma. Frank Zappa was the Dr. Seuss of rock & roll, and Dweezil does him proud!

As expected, the show featured some of the great one’s classics along with a trip through some more obscure stuff. “Joe’s Garage” put a huge smile on my face, in part because I have a twelve-year-old daughter who walks around the house singing it. Other highlights of the 90-minute show included dead-on versions of “Bamboozled by Love” and “I’m a Beautiful Guy.”

The set closer brought an extended jam on the definitive Zappa tune, “Cosmik Debris.” My wife often quotes the song when she asks me, “What kind of guru are you anyway?”

What a delicious treat to see the sons of two Rock and Roll Hall of Famer’s, both of whom are musical forces in their own right, on a beautiful summer night on the lake in Milwaukee.

A magical night indeed.