Excellent late 1970's concert footage from Zappa and his crazy band of extremely talented musicians. An absolute must see for any Zappa fan and an adequate introduction for those unfamiliar with the genius of Frank Zappa. This footage centers around a New York City concert from '77 so it doesn't totally encompass the many complex layers and personalities that Zappa emulated over the years, but it still provides a nice document to one of Frank's more accessible periods. It helps if you're a huge Zappa fan to begin with, which I am, so to me this footage is a treasure. A couple of points, though, just to be a bit objective: Others have mentioned the claymation, which for claymation is really some of the coolest I've ever seen, but I can only watch that stuff for a few minutes before I'm bored with it. It's cool and it's wild and it fits right in with Zappa's strangeness, but it's still only claymation to me. I'd just as soon watch some trippy computer generated psychedelic images to be honest. There's probably only about 15 minutes of it or so in the whole film anyway, so it's no big deal.
I would have also preferred a set list that had more guitar work in it, but we still get some great tracks including "San Ber'dino," "Muffin Man," "City of Tiny Lights" and the amazing "Black Napkins." Take a real good listen to "Black Napkins" and try and tell me this guy wasn't at least as good, if not better, than Hendrix himself. Overall, this is a great film for those that are already into Zappa. For those that aren't familiar with him, this film gives you a good idea of what it was like to see him in the late 1970's (his performances, style and content constantly changed over the years, so Zappa in concert in 1977 is a LOT different than Zappa in '69 or '73 or '85 ... you get the picture). Narrow thinkers and those with closed minds might want to stick with Dave Matthews or whatever else the corporate labels are spoon-feeding you on commercial radio these days. Man, do we need Zappa now more than ever! Can you image the way he'd rip into Brittney and Bush and O.J. Simpson and all the crap we're putting up with in the world today?? Long live Frank Zappa!!
I would have also preferred a set list that had more guitar work in it, but we still get some great tracks including "San Ber'dino," "Muffin Man," "City of Tiny Lights" and the amazing "Black Napkins." Take a real good listen to "Black Napkins" and try and tell me this guy wasn't at least as good, if not better, than Hendrix himself. Overall, this is a great film for those that are already into Zappa. For those that aren't familiar with him, this film gives you a good idea of what it was like to see him in the late 1970's (his performances, style and content constantly changed over the years, so Zappa in concert in 1977 is a LOT different than Zappa in '69 or '73 or '85 ... you get the picture). Narrow thinkers and those with closed minds might want to stick with Dave Matthews or whatever else the corporate labels are spoon-feeding you on commercial radio these days. Man, do we need Zappa now more than ever! Can you image the way he'd rip into Brittney and Bush and O.J. Simpson and all the crap we're putting up with in the world today?? Long live Frank Zappa!!