Live: Frank Zappa

By James Hamilton

Record Mirror, 22 September 1973

THE ACOUSTICS of Wembley's Empire Pool, last Friday, conspired with an overly harsh amplification system to render at times the jagged compositions of Mr. Francis Vincent Zappa into an unfair approximation of musique concrete. Those parts of the mainly instrumental programme which overcame this problem tended to be the passages played by the composer/conductor himself on wah-wah guitar, by keyboard virtuoso Mr. George Duke on clarinet, and by French jazz violinist M. Jean -Luc Ponty on electric fiddle.

Joining Messrs. Zappa and Ponty in a wah-wah pedal equipped front line (who had also a nice line in high -kicks and dips) were multi -instrumentalist Mr. Ian Underwood on electric clarinet, saxophone and synthesizer, and tonsured Mr. Bruce Fowler on electric trombone. A notable contribution was made by Mrs. Ruth Underwood's much amplified percussive specialities, while Mr. Ralph Humphrey and Mr. Tom Fowler played, respectively and respectably, drums and bass. In common with the appearance by Mr. Zappa and his Mothers orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall about four years ago, the programme consisted chiefly of new compositions with several repetitions ("We're gonna leitmotif like crazy", to quote Mr. Zappa), a few old favourites such as "The Dog Breath Variations" and "Son Of Mr. Green Genes" ("The hits keep on comin' ", to quote again), and the celebrated "Brown Shoes Don't Make It" as one of the two vociferously demanded encores.

In common with last year's concert by Mr. Zappa's Grand Wazoo orchestra at the Oval, the highlight of the evening was provided by a shuffle: of the two played, it was impossible to identify the new "Kung -Fu Shuffle", but both were excitingly performed with much emphasis placed on M. Ponty's electrifying fiddle.

Had the aforementioned acoustic problem not marred their presentation, the more complex parts of Mr. Zappa's new work might have been received with the universal acclaim which greeted the "hits" and the rambling acidic electricity of the "shuffles".

My only personal regret about the evening is that, since fate robbed me of the chance to see Mr. Zappa with Messrs. Flo and Eddie, I have yet to attend a concert which featured Mr. Zappa's greasy love songs & cretin simplicity more than his serious music.

Note. This review is for the concert on September 14, 1973. According to FZShows the setlist was: soundcheck intro, T'Mershi Duween, Be-Bop Tango (q: Holiday In Berlin), Cosmik Debris, Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue, Kung Fu, Penguin In Bondage, Dog Meat, RDNZL, Inca Roads, Echidna's Arf, Don't You Ever Wash That Thing?, Be-Bop Tango Reprise, T'Mershi Duween reprise, impovisations, Dupree's Paradise (q: Holiday In Berlin, T'Mershi Duween, incl. Nowhere riff), Brown Shoes Don't Make It (q: Sweet Leilani), Chunga's Revenge, Mr Green Genes.