The Badchild Zappa Stories

Badchild - 25-3-2008 at 09:48

Ok here is where i get to tell you about my Zappa .

First post....

In 1983 i wrote a letter to Frank Zappa C/O Glozter Management wherein i asked if there was any remote chance of seeing FZ in concert in my neck of the woods (which was the East Coast of Canada). I did not get a reply but did get a catalogue and a tour sheet. And lo and behold there was a concert due in Halifax Nova Scotia....a mere 200km from my home. Of course i was in awe and felt that this concert was because of my letter (how naive can you get). It was of course a great show even though the acoustics in the hockey rink were dismal.

scallopino - 25-3-2008 at 14:39

How old were you at the time Badchild? Didn't Frank once say something about the acoustics in a hockey room, something about having a lot of air to move around or something?

BBP - 25-3-2008 at 18:00

For a Dutchie like me, when 200 km is the other side of the country, it's odd to hear the word "mere" right before 200 km. But anything for Zappa!

polydigm - 25-3-2008 at 21:07

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP
For a Dutchie like me, when 200 km is the other side of the country, it's odd to hear the word "mere" right before 200 km. But anything for Zappa!

When driving from Sydney to Adelaide, Goulburn is the first major milestone at 200km with still another 1250km to go. We used to do that drive, and back again after 2 weeks, once every year before finally moving back to Adelaide.

Badchild - 26-3-2008 at 08:19

Quote:

Originally posted by scallopino
How old were you at the time Badchild? Didn't Frank once say something about the acoustics in a hockey room, something about having a lot of air to move around or something?

I was 20/21 i guess. And yes he made many references to playing in big rooms. But beleive me he had the PA system (at least the times i saw him) to move alot of air around.

Badchild - 26-3-2008 at 08:37

which brings us to story number two. BBP if you thought 200 km was a long drive....

Post 2 Pt 1-
Montreal Forum November 1982.

In the fall of 1982 a good friend of mine from Montreal called to say Zappa was playing the Forum and did i want tickets ??? Foolish question to say the least. The concert was in november on a Saturday night. I had him pick up six tickets. He spent six hours in a lineup to get them...

During the week prior to the concert i was in FZ mode and talked about and played his music all the time. So we're at our local bar on thursday night and there are a bunch of us at our table and i say. "Ok people, I got five tickets to see Zappa on Saturday night in Montreal, who is coming with me?" While they're saying "Yeah sure! you've got tickets right!" I whip them out and lay them on the table. It took them a while to catch their breaths as they laid their eyes on these "Tokens of Extreme pleasure". Then all hands went for the grab....

The next night (friday, for those keeping up), we packed up my 1978 Toyota station wagon and managed to leave Moncton at 1 am. The drive to Montreal last 12 hours (about 1200 km back then). We drove almost non stop exept for a couple of pit stops and arrived at noon (we cross one time zone on the way) on saturday. Nobody slept and we listened to FZ the whole way nothing but. I will not dwelve here on the controled substances used....

pt 2 (coming soon)

The Badchild

scallopino - 26-3-2008 at 11:49

As long as they were controlled substances ;-)

Looking forward to part 2.

scallopino - 26-3-2008 at 11:53

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP
For a Dutchie like me, when 200 km is the other side of the country, it's odd to hear the word "mere" right before 200 km. But anything for Zappa!

It must be nice knowing that you could throw a rock into another country if you wanted to. You can't drive or cycle or walk over any national borders here, unless you want to end up in the sea.

BBP - 26-3-2008 at 15:55

It's great! An hour of bicycling gets you in Belgium!
Once, on holiday, at the end of our stay in the Provence, Dad drove all the way from Aix-en-Provence to home. Some 800 km, he took all night and we ended up stopping at every gas station. Must've been exhausting for him...

Anyways: you did swap drivers, didn't you Badchild?

I'm very curious at part 2!! :roll: (taps feet in excitement)

Badchild - 28-3-2008 at 14:18

oK upon further memory research. it turns out that it was 1981 and not 82. Yeah we had three drivers for the trip. But in order to get six people in my Toyota station wagon, someone had to lay down in the back part of the car.....

coming soon....the drive up.....snowstorm in november...the big truck incident.

scallopino - 28-3-2008 at 15:33

Quote:

Originally posted by polydigm

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP
For a Dutchie like me, when 200 km is the other side of the country, it's odd to hear the word "mere" right before 200 km. But anything for Zappa!

How did you cope with the latest heat wave Poly? We had a slightly shorter one here in Melbourne. It was goddamn awful.

[Edited on 28-3-2008 by scallopino]

polydigm - 28-3-2008 at 23:02

Quote:

Originally posted by scallopino: How did you cope with the latest heat wave Poly? We had a slightly shorter one here in Melbourne. It was goddamn awful.

We had the air conditioner going almost constantly - I'm not looking forward to the electricity bill - and we didn't go out much. I managed the odd game of golf with my boys because the three par course we play on has masses of really big trees and we went late in the afternoon to take advantage of the shade.

scallopino - 29-3-2008 at 03:10

It's funny how when it's 27 degrees outside you don't usually say: "Fuck, it's sooo hot!". But at night that temperature becomes almost unbearable.

Badchild - 1-4-2008 at 15:50

BBP - 1-4-2008 at 17:01

Whoo! Great seats! Great solos!
...Ahh... I'm feeling now that I've been born ten years too late...

punknaynowned - 2-4-2008 at 03:00

yes!
thanx mang
very vivid

scallopino - 3-4-2008 at 10:54

Badchild - 7-4-2008 at 13:01

coming soon....the (let me take you to the beach) drive back.

scallopino - 8-4-2008 at 11:29

Hahaha. Look forward to it.

Badchild - 3-7-2008 at 08:30

No no it's not the second part sorry.....

It's not that i forgot.....i just dont have much time these days.....in france you do get a lot of vacation time, but in between you got to work double time.

Huck_Phlem - 29-11-2009 at 06:04

I saw frank in 79 or 80 in Berkeley and that was the best of the two times I saw him play. the other time was a symposium where a friend and I got on the does humor DVD by snorking after a stupid question from the press and he says "what he said"

To this day I have never seen a guitarist play such an incredible solo(s) as Frank Did that night. It seems as every single note was just in the right place. They did the whole You are What you is album so it must have been 79.

[Edited on 29-11-2009 by Huck_Phlem]

DED - 14-10-2010 at 15:13

Quote: Originally posted by Badchild

coming soon....the (let me take you to the beach) drive back.

????
what is soon nowadays