Dweezil Zappa

How many lead guitarists does it take for one to sufficiently experience Jimi Hendrix? Well, according to the Experience Hendrix Tour that rolled through the Mondavi Center in Davis, California, on Feb. 22, the correct answer is seven. Now gone for 46 years, the music and legend of Jimi Hendrix, still recognized as among the top rock guitarists of all time, still survives and flourishes.

Dweezil Zappa does his daddy proud night after night performing extremely technical music at a very high level. From a young age, he promised his father that he would be a guitarist, but I’m not sure that anyone but Frank could believe that he would be as good as he actually is. Dweezil is one of the best guitar players alive, and people need to start giving him the credit that he deserves.

When guitarist Dweezil Zappa, son of guitarist, composer, bandleader, actor, social activist, and pseudo-comedian Frank Zappa created the Zappa Plays Zappa project in 2006, he intended it as a tribute to his father’s legacy, a one-off that might reconnect some old fans and breed some new ones in the process. Eight years down the road his project is more popular than ever.

The second-born child of independent music pioneer and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Frank Zappa first took the stage with his famous father at the tender age of 12. He was entranced by the elder Zappa’s “control over the music [that] almost seemed like a magic trick.” By the mid-1980s, he was contributing his own riffs to Frank’s albums such as Them or Us and finding an artistic identity of his own as an actor, MTV VJ, and Grammy award-winning musician.

Saturday Vibes. The festival is well into full swing at this point. Rowdies who enjoyed late night shows in the wee-hours of the morning such as the Gigantic Underground Conspiracy will start to peek out of the holes at around 1PM. As much as I’m sure it was a blast, I had to save my energy for my earliest start of the weekend so far for a set.

This was a night to be excited about. The night was filled with two heavy hitting, classic, amazingly talented bands. I was even thrilled to be going to the Paramount Theater in Denver to see this show because this underrated venue just does not have the caliber shows that it deserves. Every time I go there I am reminded by how magnificent it is. It was the perfect place for these two power houses to take the stage.

Hey kids! Sorry this review is so late, but life always gets in the way once you return from a fest huh? Anyway, I moved to another state so that was a bit disruptive, then I got almost entirely finished with this little piece here, and the house got struck by lightning! And wouldn't it just figure that the two things that got smoked were some files I had open on another computer (including this review) and my beloved stereo! Heartbreak all around. I digress. Hope everyone had a great summer and are finding some cool musical events for the upcoming lovely fall weather.

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