ZAPPANALE #13 – Day One
Where do I begin (to tell the story of how great some
gigs can be)? Let’s start on the tarmac at Lübeck airport, where I meet for the first time my
travelling companion for the weekend, Mr Ian Day. We had arranged to hook-up at
Stansted, but it wasn’t to be. So, there we both are waiting for my luggage.
Waiting and waiting. With 40 others. But it wasn’t there. We were told it would
probably come later that night. Well, I wasn’t gonna miss any of my first Zappanale
for anything like a lack of clothing and masculine hygiene products, so we set
off as soon as we could through the city of tiny red lites (the taxi seemed
like it had to stop every 50 yards before it could get us to the train station).
We did have a little time to buy some now essential toiletries, underwear (I
was tempted to buy some Noblesse pants, but it doesn’t pay to advertise), a
sleeping bag and a couple of disposable cameras, but before long we were on the
train to Bad Doberan. The journey was relatively uneventful, so Ian and me
bonded (call me old fashioned, but if you’re gonna sleep with someone, I think
it’s important to get to know them first!) and within a few hours we were
riding Molli to the racehorse course where the event is staged. Unfortunately, we
had missed Jim Cohen’s German-language presentation on the lyrics of Roxy
And Elsewhere with special guest Pamela Des Barres. I found out from
writer Ben Watson that Miss Pamela was quick to clarify Jim’s
introduction that she was Gail’s friend and
most definitely not Frank’s groupie and,
from another source, that she demonstrated
how Jeff Beck once gave himself head on the dining room table at Frank’s house.
Curse you, Ryanair! I managed to snap Pamela just before she left Bad Doberan, and found
out that she would be back to dance on stage with the Grandmothers on
Sunday. This, and many other meetings, took place during the opening sets by
Germany’s Dwarf Nebula (who mainly performed music from my favourite
era, the mid-to late 70s) and Hungary’s Cosmic Debris (who nearly
outnumbered the audience at this point). Relaying my tale of woe to Bob
Harris, he kindly offered me a pair of his jeans, while the Arf boys
generously furnished me with a couple of shirts. Candy Zappa arrived
during Cosmic Debris’ set and, with great gusto, joined in with their rendition
of Whipping Post from the audience.
Jimmy Carl Black was also there (he kindly
slipped me a copy of Volume Two of the 20 Year Anthology Of The Grandmothers)
and both he and Candy were courted for some while by a satellite TV crew.
Noting a familiar, smartly dressed guy nearby, I asked Candy who the
good-looking Al Pacino-type was. “It’s my brother, Bob!” she exclaimed, and
swiftly introduced us. Clocking his nose and eyes at close quarters, I quickly
realised why he had seemed so familiar!
By this time, I had met Thana
Harris (and her darling young son, Nathan) and Nigey Lennon, and
guided Don Preston to the tent where JCB, Roy Estrada and Bunk
Gardner were hanging out. This was turning into quite an event already, and
I only had time to note that Cosmic Debris had a great female vocalist and
played an extended version of Easy Meat with a “drum solar”. The next
musical event was Thana’s set. A few weeks earlier, I had sent her a disc of
instrumental renditions of the songs she got to sing on the Sleep Dirt
CD to aid her practicing. It was therefore doubly gratifying to witness her
beautiful performance of Flambé with Don Preston on piano (and a rhythm
section of Glen Leonard and Seahag from Project/Object). They were
joined by husband Bob and Mike Keneally for Planetary Tango (from
Thanatopsis), and then JCB & P/O’s Mumbo for an a cappella cruise
through Jimmy’s favourite, Love Of My Life. During Steve Vai’s The
Boy/Girl Song, Bunk Gardner added his horn to Bob’s trumpet, and Rantin’
& Rayven did some fine scat singing: move over Cleo and Johnny. For an
encore, Bob & Thana sang one of their audition pieces for Frank: Somewhere
Over The Rainbow.
This was truly a
spine-tingling moment. By now, Ian (like most of the audience) had fallen in
love with Mrs Harris. He said she seemed wide-eyed and sweetly innocent. Bob
later told me that this was probably down to nerves, as she’d never really played
to an audience like this. But afterwards she said it hadn’t been that difficult
and, hopefully, she’ll be doing it a whole lot more now.
During Euphorium
Freakestra’s forgettable set (I’m sorry, but they were squirting way too
much), I bumped into André Cholmondeley from Project/Object who surprisingly recognised my Dennis
the Menace badge (he’s from British Guyana), and presented me with a copy of
his band’s Absolutely Live CD. He then proceeded to wrestle someone to
the ground (can’t remember who; can’t now read my notes). Then I bumped into
Mike Keneally who told me that he’d had an unbelievably good time playing with
a Finnish band a few nights earlier. I chatted awhile with Napoleon Murphy
Brock’s “missis”, Cathy, who told me that Chester Thompson was currently
overdubbing drum tracks for Napi’s debut album (Balls), due out in
September. Pretty soon, Mike and André were on stage for what was to prove an incredibly difficult
act to top (I would say that two other bands came close this weekend – maybe
even succeeded – but more on that later). Yes, Friday night’s headliners
Project/Object (featuring Ike Willis and Napi) gave us an incredible
performance. Affable Mike was their special guest and was on stage pretty much
for the duration coaxing the band on and finally turning in a scorching guitar
solo of his own during a breathtaking Village/Echidna’s/Wash That Thing
sequence. Afterwards I confessed to André that I had been pretty much semi-tumesced throughout –
especially with Ike & Napi’s great vocal performances, and his 88-like axe solo during Inca
Roads. Couldn’t help thinking what a lucky (talented) bugger he is, standing
up their on stage playing this music with those guys. Other guests included Bob
Harris (who acted as boy soprano during Keep It Greasy and Outside
Know) and Ed Palermo (who added some trusty sax honkings to King
Kong). Strictly Genteel ended the band’s set, but we soon had ’em
back for Black Napkins and I’m The Slime. By this time, I was
sloshing with more than a little 'chemical amusement aid' (lager, that is). Ian had already
retired to our tent, and I myself thought ‘little man, you’ve had a busy day –
you’d better join him’. As soon as my head hit the turf, I was out.