Frank Zappa, Syria Mosque, November 6

By Doug Gebhard

The Pitts News, 15 November 1974

FRANK ZAPPA Syria Mosque, November 6

It used to say on Frank's albums [notice the casualness with which his name is dropped] ..."The modern day composer refuses to die," by Edgar Varèse. Well, as most of us know by now, or goddamn should know, there are no modern day composers! Or at least there shouldn't be, because all there is to expand upon [in classical structure] has been built upon and misused to the point where Pictures At An Exhibition is probably thought to be an ELP song.

Too many people expect talent to drool out of Zappa's songs. Too many expect him to perform perfectly each and every night. And too many listen to older works and even pretend to expect that his show might include such delicacies as "King Kong," or even "Nasal Retentive Caliope Music" ... [keeping on with the personal vendetta against such TASTELESS readers], well, forget it as cheese once said ...

This Zappa concert was as disastrous as his last three albums ... it lacked creativity and a spark that used to mark a Zappa concert or LP from the rest of the contrasting, mindless shit that was being laid down.

I must admit I got a little excited when he did some variations on "Uncle Meat Theme" [I bet you didn't even know that, huh?] during the first show, and I must also confess "Big Swifty" got me hot in the second performance. But aside from that, and the female ushers, I was pretty upset. Ed Townshend and I were to review this show but he is still recuperating from the dry heaves (and name dropping syndrome he fell into with his Roxy piece).

It's too bad that Dennis, clever, from that radio station ever played a raped, distorted, disembodied, dy-hymaned version of "Yellow Snow," because it was at that point ... that very moment in time that Frank Zappa became popular, and at that very precise second, a moment at which he discovered that somebody other than a few starving freaks and musicians, like Jimmy Carl Black, might enjoy ... no, no, no, not enjoy ... hear ... his music or comedy. I'm sorry for him. The modern day imitator has died.

Note. Frank Zappa had two shows on 6 November 1974 in Syria Mosque, Pittsburgh, PA. The band was Frank Zappa, Napoleon Murphy Brock, Tom Fowler, George Duke, Ruth Underwood, Chester Thompson. A recording of one concert (possibly a late one) is in circulation.