Zappa's music isn't tiring

By Mike Myer

The Daily Aztec, 13 September 1977

A rock fan can follow some groups for long periods of time, but some groups tire in the listeners mind.

Frank Zappa proved in a Friday night concert at the Open Air Theater that he can continue to return year after year, tour after tour, with material as fresh and energetic as anything most groups will ever put out. ^[1]

The current version of Zappa's rockin' teenage features only one man who ever graced Zappa's stage before, drummer Terry Bozzio.

His fierce, wild-eyed enthusiasm is indicative of the style of music now played by the original Mothers.

Where his groups once played a jazz-rock form loved by jazz enthusiasts, and earlier still had played a rhythm & vocals oriented music, his current love is obviously rock 'n' roll.

Except for the fact that the concert opened with "Peaches en Regalia", one of the all-time greats from the jazzy period, the show flowed with rock.

From his re-worked 1967 hit "Big-Legged Emma" to the Flo and Eddie period hit, "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy", Zappa held nothing back in satisfying the rock element in his audience.

Zappa is now more musically than vocally oriented, though, and so he spent most of the show (if not soloing or conducting the band) sitting on a stool, center stage, from where he would sing, rap with the audience or just listen.

For many years Zappa had brilliant keyboardists in his bands. Ian Underwood started the trend with the original Mothers, and George Duke and Don Preston continued in later bands.

Then Zappa went through a period where his overall sound was guitar-rock oriented and so the emphasis on keyboards was forgotten.

But now Zappa is back with not one, but two good pianists.

Peter Wolf and Tommy Mars handled the keyboards and some of the vocals in the two and a half hour show.

Zappa played "The Torture Never Stops" and "Black Napkins" from his most recent album Zoot Allures, but the greater part of the show was new material.

But when Zappa comes out with new rock material, it is nothing plain. It was some of the best stuff to come out of the supposed rock music scene these days.

The commercial hooks were even there, not necessarily meaning the music will sell, considering the lyrics range from "I want to be dead" to "Titties and Beer".

But the sell-out crowd was wildly enthusiastic and Zappa's band, made up of young but talented artists rather than the older fat cats Zappa has employed in the past, responded with equal enthusiasm.

Patrick O'Hearn especially shined on bass, dancing around Zappa and second guitarist Adrian Belew. Watch for O'Hearn to make a name for himself after his days with Zappa.

The band's impending new record, Lather, (pronounced Leather) if it follows in the style Zappa showcased here, will one of the more important releases of 1977.

1. Zappa had a concert in Open Air Amphitheater, San Diego State University, San Diego, California, on 9 September 1977.