Category: update

I’m not retracting anything that I blogged about Bogus Pomp, but I feel like rounding that sentiment out after receiving a heartfelt email from BP member David Manson.

I’m going to paraphrase this from my email reply because I think it gets to the matter directly: “We see a tiny tiny slice of a band’s existence when we see them perform. As fellow musicians we know the real deal of how much work and sweat and often tears goes into making that tiny slice happen.” I found that making the change from rabid fan to performer was the hardest part of Zappanale 16 and the same difficulty with transition from fan to performer bit me in the ass right here on this blog. I’m sorry if it sounded like I singled BP out. They are brothers in arms and I owe them better.

Bogus Pomp is up against the same forces that faced Zappa, and then some. They play briliant, powerful, and often complex music with very little commercial potential. It has great meaning to a small but rabid fan base, and offers the musician the chance to be part of what could be the ultimate gestalt experience in the history of modern composition: To create the power of rock with the capabilities of an orchestra and the direction of a compositional genius. Not many people get that chance, and too few get the chance to see it happen live. With everything else aside, I was honored to have the chance to see Bogus Pomp perform and I think that didn’t come across well enough in the aftermath of the trip to Germany. I saw what I saw, and heard what I heard, and the good far outweighed the bad.

OK, so if you were looking into information on Don Van Vliet (Captain Beefheart) you may have noticed that his band was named “the Magic Band”. They truly were magic. An amazing blend of precision slide guitar, thundering bass that often borders on atonality, acrobatic drumming, and a very tight interplay. John “Drumbo” French is a master on the drums. His parts fill a lot of space but hold things together without a lot of downbeat emphasis. Some would say “none”! he also has an incredible voice and is the best that I have heard in emulating the Captain’s power and delivery. I have heard a few recordings by the 21st Century Magic Band and they are off the hook. Fantastic stuff, played by the originators. That band includes Zappa and Beefheart alum Denny Walley, Beefheart alum Gary Lucas, and has had Beefheart alum Robert Williams on drums (so Drumbo can sing and play harp), as well as drummer Michael Traylor. The gigs have all been in Europe. And by the difference in reactioon to Doctor Dark in the States vs. Germany, I can see why.

Bass player Mark “Rockette Morton” Boston is a player who I have spent a lot of time listening to. Learning his parts might actually be impossible since some of them involve notes that I am sure aren’t on my bass. He played bass with steel fingerpicks and I get the feeling that there were some intonation issues with his bass. Maybe just blown out strings, but there is this tubby quality that I can’t duplicate. But I do love his playing. When the parts call for it he can play very straight, and his time works well with the band. But there are a lot of parts where the bass is its own lead line. I think that I subconsciously absorbed that as a youngster.

So that is the deal on the current Magic Band. Lots more info just by trying your hand at Google, or doing a little creative web surfing.

Jack is a luthier and electronics whiz/designer from Massachusetts. We met when I sent him a box of parts and he turned it into a bass! Then I bought one of his “Bass Purity” preamps on the used market and it turned out to be his prototype unit #000001. A while later I saw one of his Model J basses for sale, and that bass is the one I took to Germany. It has ruined me as far as acquiring gear because nothing else plays and feels as good to me. Thanks Jack. You played a role in this trip.

I’d love to put a URL for him here but his website is currently down. When it goes up again I’ll add a link.

Click here for Z16 pics

This is a new link as of 12/05 and is not at dot.mac any longer! Weeeeeeeee!

Sandy took most of these because I was too wigged out by the music to be trusted with a camera. Plus, she was off sightseeing most of the time.

With all of the anticipation over, and the jet lag over, and the food lag over, Sunday was like a fun day at the county fair. More folks to meet, chat about music, where we are from, where the good food is, and ….. The Arf Society doesn’t go easy on the lineup for either of the three days on Zappanale.

The first act was the Zappin Buzz band, from Switzerland. These giys play in a straight hard metal style, and were the most insane act of Zappanale 16. They had actors working out to some of Frank’s raunchiest material. The “Broken Hearts are for Assholes” routine included actual assholes! Nuff Said! By the end of the set they were in nothing but thongs and it was about 17C outside and breezy with light rain. That, for those of you keeping score, is true dedication. Jim Cohen saw them off appropriately bu dropping his pants in tribute. God Bless America!

Sunday includes the NDR Big Band and the band Bogus Pomp from Florida. One person I met asked me “NDR? Do you know what they usually play?” and when I said no they said “SHIT!!! The worst SHIT!!!”. They play for TV and Film and Radio and they manly play old standards, swing music, and probably traditional German music. I also heard that when they first attempted Zappa they were … hmmm…not so good at it. Well, wherever they got the magic beans from, they got them for real. They played some excellent arrangements and medleys and managed to really deliver them with power.

Bogus Pomp was the feature act and they have quite a reputation. I’m not going to completely rain on their parade. They are really good. They have all of the parts they need to knock out the hardest Zappa material, and they have a killer mallet player. I think that some of the band guys were taling a litle smack because it was going around that they were saying things like “all of this is just a lead up to us, and we are the best band here”. So even if they were, the hype was not being appreciated. And the truth is that they came out a little flat and sounded like they were reading charts, not playing music. The upside is that by the halfway point they seemed to have it worked out. I really enjoyed their set but I have one concrete gripe: The guys in the band wearing Bogus Pomp T-shirts! C’mon! Can you get any cheezier than wearing your own merch at a gig? My feeling is that if you are the best, the crowd will tell you that you are the best. Maybe it is a holdover of my punk rock ethic, but wearing your own merch just screams “poser!”

….to be continued soon….

edited for spelling

My main observation about this gig is that you can only control your instrument and feel, everything else is out of your hands. We had a cold and we crowd, who had just heard the diametric opposite of what we do, and they dug it. Can’t beat that with a stick. Because of the delay we not only had time for our full set, but for a second encore. We pulled out a few blusier nuggets, Plastic Factory and Sure Nuff and Yes I Do, to finish things off. I think we ended with Plastic Factory, which is a nice way to go out.

Once off stage the feeling was kinda unreal. I got to sit in on the interview that Peter Van Larhoven was doing with Steve, and then Bill showed up to get some face time in. Peter did interviews which were taped, but also shown on the closed circuit feed during changeovers. He is a very funny guy, which is why I only have funny looking pictures of him. His wife Ing spent some time talking with Sandy and they got along very well. Again, Lots of nice people.

After our set was Metropolis Orchestra. They were excellent and I eneded up hanging out with their guitar player, max, on Sunday. He is like many Italians that I have met from the north, very kind and very opinionated. His reaction to me saying that my grandmother is from Bari was priceless. Something along the lines of “Farmers!”. True. But he would eat well at my grandmother’s house.

The PGSORM kids performed their Pink Floyd set to close out the night. I think that I was too wiped out to get into it. They had a nice selection of tunes, and their version of Interstellar Overdrive was off the hook, but I was starting to crash. They only had beer, not espresso, at that point so I was better of sleeping.

Big, because it is the day that Doctor Dark plays. We get an early start with our now familiar and delicious breakfast at Pagliantini and make our way out into the town od off to the festival. We grab the Molli this time, saving our feet, and show up just in time to see Psychonautilus, a one man act from the UK. Like experiemntal guitar with pre-sequenced beats, and damn the kid is good. Really good. I could listen to a lot more of it if it sounds like that. He reminds me of some of the Bill Harkleroad stuff, but crazier.

The main goal is to grab some lunch because we are having a hard time adapting to the food and the time zone. I’m starting to adapt but I’m really tapped out. Steve is also kinda burnt. We get some good grub in the backstage mess hall and catch some more music before taking the Molli back to town for a nap. I’d love to stay and see it all but I was feeling really cooked. So back we go, naptime ensues, and I get up and decide to take a quick walk to stretch my legs. As I get back to the hotel I see Jim Cohen walking fast and saying “…you need to get in the van NOW, you need to go on really soon…” which was a surprise because it was about 5pm and we were scheduled for 9:30pm! So I go up to roust Steve, because the nice hotel owner would not “wake up the Americans” (I love those folks). Minutes later we are being whisked away … did I say whisked… I mean abducted… and taken to the festival. We catch the last two numbers from the Small Budget Orchestra (they were so good that I bought their DVD so I can see the whole set), and it is time to get set up. As soon as the MBB clears the stage the skies open up. Torrential act-of-gawd style rain and hail (ice from the sky fer crissakes) starts falling and the crowd scurrys for the “big top”. There is a huge tent set up for shelter and shade and it looks like everyone fit. The storm lasts about 20 minutes but the temperature has dropped from about 20C to about 15C, and it is windy! Perfect! So far we are following a well rehearsed orchestra, an act of god, and we are going on 90 minutes early. Check. Business as usual.

We get the intro and off we go. I’ve never been so happy to be a weiner. I’m the guy who keeps pusing for a set list at rehearsals. Sometimes I feel like it is a bit much. Not this time. Having played the set all the way through is highly underrated. But before we get too comfortable… Joe’s amplifier dies. Now, that is funny because it is usually one of his crappy rigs at home that dies, or his effect pedals or cable, but this time it is the ultra-professional backline rig, a clean Fender Twin, that lets us down. No sweat, we switch up the set so that we play the stripped down “Dust Blows Forward” where Joe won’t be missed while the new amp is brought up. The stage crew handles it perfectly and Joe is back with us by the end of the tune. The funny thing is that we were shitting a brick but most folks didn’t notice. Hey! Business as usual.

Napolean Murphy Brock joins us for the beginning of Torture Never Stops. This tune has a few guises:” slow and swampy, a rocker, and a lush horn arrangement. We do it even swampier than Zappa’s 1975 “Bongo Fury” band did it. All downbeat, no real changes… Napolean comes out and does it in what I think I can describe as an “Isley Brothers” groove. I’m floored because I’m the one who wanted this tune in the set since about the first ro second rehearsal I ever did with DD, and this is what it turned into. One of the coolest things I have ever been part of in 30 years of playing music.

The reason for the early start is that some of the members of Wstep do Zappy, and Small Budget Orchestra, co-joined bands from Poland, were in a car accident. We knew about the accident but nobody told us about any schedule change. So I wasn’t shocked, but I was surprised. What ever Doctor Dark lacks in professionalism, we make up for with our ability to adapt to crisis.

When we wake up we are officially IN Germany, not some folks that stumbled off a plane. The hotel has a nice breakfast with soft rolls, home made jam, honey, cold cuts and cheese, and excellent strong coffee. At home I can’t take the caffeine, but for some reason I can take it when on vacation in Europe. Good thing because I drink about 5 cups. Getting up to speed here means slowing down. No hurry. We take a walk to get the feel of the townm learn the landmarks, watch the Molle, and wake up. Zappanale starts with America’s own Jim Cohen giving a lecture on the finer points of Zappa’s “Call Any Vegetable, in German, but it still cracks us up. Jim knows his Zappa and his lecture is well received. In German the word for vegetable is Gemuse, and if I was unsure before the lecture, I was assured after it.

The music doesn’t start until about 2pm, so we walk up to the festival site: the horse racing track outside of town. Steve assures me that it is a 15 minute walk. This is the beginning of an endless stream of 15 minute events that take much longer. The track is easily 30 minutes on foot, and probably more. But we arrive in good spirits and catch the last half of Weirdo Naffin. It sure is weird, but it is good. The following act is Jazzprojekt Hundehagen, who are likewise ass kicking. We had been in the backstage area and wandered back out into the crowd for Italy’s own Grand Wazoo. They are as good as any band I have seen. They aren’t trying for the ultimate polish, they knock out great versions of everything and they do it with a beautiful flow. Their timing is excellent and they get bonus points for opening with Regyptian Strut, a song that I went on a bender with just two weeks back. I think that I listened to the version on Lather about 20 times in 2 days. Grand Wazoo turns out to be just one of the bands that we would keep company with over the weekend.

Next up is Final Virus, a straight up rock band, excellent players, two drummers, and some really great material. The Arf Society got this one right. They didn’t do too much Zappa, but they rocked the crowd right on down.

When we wake up we are officially IN Germany, not some folks that stumbled off a plane. The hotel has a nice breakfast with soft rolls, home made jam, honey, cold cuts and cheese, and excellent strong coffee. At home I can’t take the caffeine, but for some reason I can take it when on vacation in Europe. Good thing because I drink about 5 cups. Getting up to speed here means slowing down. No hurry. We take a walk to get the feel of the townm learn the landmarks, watch the Molle, and wake up. Zappanale starts with America’s own Jim Cohen giving a lecture on the finer points of Zappa’s “Call Any Vegetable, in German, but it still cracks us up. Jim knows his Zappa and his lecture is well received. In German the word for vegetable is Gemuse, and if I was unsure before the lecture, I was assured after it.

The music doesn’t start until about 2pm, so we walk up to the festival site: the horse racing track outside of town. Steve assures me that it is a 15 minute walk. This is the beginning of an endless stream of 15 minute events that take much longer. The track is easily 30 minutes on foot, and probably more. But we arrive in good spirits and catch the last half of Weirdo Naffin. It sure is weird, but it is good. The following act is Jazzprojekt Hundehagen, who are likewise ass kicking. We had been in the backstage area and wandered back out into the crowd for Italy’s own Grand Wazoo. They are as good as any band I have seen. They aren’t trying for the ultimate polish, they knock out great versions of everything and they do it with a beautiful flow. Their timing is excellent and they get bonus points for opening with Regyptian Strut, a song that I went on a bender with just two weeks back. I think that I listened to the version on Lather about 20 times in 2 days. Grand Wazoo turns out to be just one of the bands that we would keep company with over the weekend.

Next up is Final Virus, a straight up rock band, excellent players, two drummers, and some really great material. The Arf Society got this one right. They didn’t do too much Zappa, but they were perfect for the festival. Peter Sonntag is thier bassist and he kicks some serious ass. Reno Schnell is their guitar player and she is also kicking ass. She also is hot and she has many of the Zappa faithful hypmotized. They came for the music, but hey, they know the only thing better than hot looking women is talented hot looking women. The two drummer assault is pretty rocking. Steve and I went up to the side of the stage because we really needed a closer look at this. Bodo Stricker is one of their drummers, very noticeable with the red-dyed horns in his haircut, and it turns out that he is German but born stateside. We saw a lot of music with him over the weekend and formed what I would have to call a “keeping it real” club. Luckily all the bands kept it very real.

I’m going to admit that things get blurry for me here. The bands were great, I found the food tents and started into sampling the best and the wurst (one pun down), and the beer wagons were open for business. I was really looking forward to seeing the Paul Green School of Rock. I made it my business to cheer them, promote them, hoot encouragement at them, and in general greet them all through the weekend. Maybe it was annoying, but I have so much love and respect for what they do.

So the PGSORM plays at 10pm (2200hr, ok?) and that is ok, but they made the same trip we did and we are shot. They have been hanging out in a tent and trying to stay awake all day. They don’t just learn the music, they learn professionalism, because they gave a great show. It was raining pretty good by the time they got rolling but they held a crowd, in the cold and rain, for their whole set. The focus was on the “esoteric Zappa”, and they pulled some of the older material out for this show. Great stuff.

The band that really got the shaft by the weather was Guru Guru, a krautrock ensemble. The crowd was wet, cold and tired, and the changeover pretty much cleared the place out. The pics prove that I was drenched and cold and needed to sleep. Sorry Guru Guru, you wuz robbed.

The travel party is myself, my wife Sandy, Doctor Dark drummer Stephen Chellemi, and his wife Mary Jayne. I’ll save the drama… we all got along great for the whole 10 days so don’t look for any dirt dishing in the ol’ bloggie.

We arrived in Berlin without any drama, but then we had to get our rental car. It needed to haul 4 big Americans, our luggage, and my bass in a flight case. This tunred out to be tricky but we got a 2005 Ford Mondeo 4dr that has a hatchback trunk. We were too exhausted to pack it right the first time so Steve and I rode in the back with the bass case all the way to Bad Doberan. That was a long 2 hours but it was mainly because we were cooked from the trip. I don’t sleep on planes, neither does Steve.

Bad Doberan is a pretty town on the Baltic, and the population must double for Zappanale. They have a small gauge steam train, the Molle (molly), which provides light-rail transit through the town and out to the Ostsee(we call it the Baltic). Being in this lively small town, with the train keeping the time, the cobblestone streets, and the weather providing some daily variety, it might as well be on another planet from home. We find the Arf Society office and meet Enrico. He shows us to our hotel and gets back to the busy preparations for the festival. He is a 30ish guy from Leipzig with a FZ-style imperial. I didn’t have the camera enough, but the next time I go to this fest I am getting a pic of every attendee I see with one. Some were cheezy, but Enrico’s is classic.

We get checked in at the Pagliantini, a pension and restaurant in an Italian style run by a nice Italian man and his family. We hit the beds and pass the hell OUT. Keeping it to a catnap was hard but we had the opening night celebration at the Kamp Theatre to attend. The Kamp is the town green and the site of the town church. The Kamp Theatre is a bar/restaurant/cinema at the edge of the Kamp. They have it all. Good beer, good food, good outdoor tables. After a little walk around town we get to the restaurant just in time for the nightly rain shower, then get a table and order some drinks and food. Their beer is excellent! This might sound like a given, but it was a good way to start things off.

The opening party is very relaxed. A beer wagon is brought in and they close off the street in front of the theatre. Unlike a scene like this back in Connecticut: no yahoos getting rowdy, no idiots with boom box cars, no fights, no sloppy drunks, no shouting…. just a crew having a good chat and some good beer and food. I could get used to this. We meet Peter, from Berlin, and he hangs with us for most of the evening. This is good because we don’t speak enough German to get by, and Peter speaks excellent English. I can understand a little german, and I can order a beer, and I can read some menu-German, but not much else.

Bill Saunders, Nancy Shea, and Travis Moody show up and the party really gets rolling. Bill is the frontman and obstensibly IS Doctor Dark, Travis is one of the two guitar players in our merry band. Bill is immediately hit on for photo ops, handshakes, and hugs from fans. I’ll say that Bill is the third most recognized attendee behind Ike Willis and Napolean Murphy Brock. Joe Nolan is back at the pad, probably crashed out. It turns out that he got there after we left and stayed until 3am, so we don’t need to worry about Joe.

The beer and rumsteck are taking their toll, so we decide to call it a night. The walk back through the town to out hotel is a nice nightcap, but watch out for those cobblestone curbs! Slick!