» Zappanale #9
Zappanale 09 - 1998
Hungry freaks, who can't get enough of their hero, musician and mastermind Frank Zappa on CD, LP or other sound carriers, make a pilgrimage to the "Zappanale" once a year from all over Germany.
On August 7th and 8th, 432 listeners were present in the monastery barn in Althof near Bad Doberan to listen to six acts. The entrance ticket stated the start at 7 p.m., it started shortly after 8 p.m.
CRUISIN' FOR BURGERS (D) entered the stage and gave a great debut. They were (unfortunately) the only band that used a vibraphone, the other bands got the sounds from the sampler. The band's instrumental ability became clear, not only to be able to interpret Zappa classics in a lively way, but also to throw in solos and rhythmic and melodic snippets that gave the performance kick and humor. The band was attuned to each other, which became particularly clear when they gambled away, the band found each other perfectly.
After the audience called for encores, the band left the stage after a good two-hour set and after a short break, SHARLEENA (NL) entered the stage armed only with a violin and, at maybe 14 years old, delighted the aging Zappa crowd.
During the CRUISIN' FOR BURGERS show, I had already seen her and other kids in the audience, who completely amazed me by being able to sing along to all the lyrics and to move all parts of their bodies perfectly in rhythm with the difficult rhythmic figures in all directions. Now I knew why. (I'll come to the other kids.)
The DANCIN' FOOLZ (NL) are a tight-knit show band that illuminated Zappa from a different angle than CRUISIN' FOR BURGERS. Their instrumental parts weren't nearly as long and technical, they devoted themselves more to the "lyrical" Zappa with a singer who always put himself in the foreground. In no way was their show bad or unappealing, but as a not only Zappa fan, they couldn't convince me as much as the openers, who had played complicated rock with their instrumental skills and had kept the door open to jazz.< /p>
Nevertheless, the Dutch did a very good job. Certainly her different, text-heavy orientation lies in the fact that her foreground figure is a singer who does not play an instrument. After a long playing time and encores, it was over at 2:15 in the morning.
The misery of "Zappanale" is the idling over the second day. You can indulge in lying down and snoozing all day long, or imitate some fans who already gave up in the morning...
However, the day came to its evening and around 8:30 p.m. OSSI DURI entered the stage. The baby rock band from Italy has their youngest member on the drums (12 years old), now I knew why several kids in the audience were so familiar with the songs they had performed the night before: they were on the subject.
OSSI DURI must get the baby bonus, someone in the audience said to me, the crazy and ulterior motive-free slapstick they threw off on stage was impressive and caused the audience to burst out dancing. Grinning faces and envious musicians looked at the boys, who looked like they liked Tekno or HipHop and didn't even know how Zappa is spelled.
The guitarist delivered mighty rocking solos, the drummer didn't stop pounding, even when his box had to be repaired in the middle of the game. The boys danced, made noise and rocked so much that it was a pleasure. Of course, their Zappa interpretation wasn't flawless or played perfectly, nor did the band (and their mentor) care about that. The aim here was to have fun and understand the desire to play and have fun. A mighty fat Italian went on stage to present a (half) striptease and the band called Sharleena on stage to make noise with her in an uncomplicated and self-confident manner.
After the encores and the changeover break, FAST & BULBOUS(I) brought a studio band onto the stage, which was clearly influenced by Keys. The singer sat at the keys and shaped the set with his nasal organ and his work, which was based on jazz rock. The drummer had his eyes closed, the bassist stood still in his corner and the guitarist struggled to fill 50% of the stage with very little body and soloing.
Here too it was clear that the boss determines the sound - and the boss was the keyboardist. Most of the solos and melodic work was determined by him, but the guitarist still had room for his own solos and melodic cornerstones. Unfortunately (to my ears) the songs were intoned rather strictly and conscientiously, the lust and youthful freshness of OSSI DURI was completely missing here and the grown-up band had to compensate for the lack of wit with musical F
