PHOTOS: Dweezil Zappa at F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre, 08/03/17
Not even the looming threat of legal troubles could stop virtuoso guitarist Dweezil Zappa from playing his father Frank Zappa’s music at the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre on Thursday, Aug. 3.
While embroiled in a copyright dispute with the Zappa Family Trust over his use of the Zappa name, Dweezil embarked on the Cease and Desist Tour, also known as “Dweezil Zappa Plays Whatever the F@%k He Wants,” and has been performing songs from his early projects, his best-known fan-favorites, and everything in between to celebrate “50 years of Frank.”
“I understand there may be some public confusion about all of this,” he wrote in a recent blog post. “Multiple name changes, etc. I also understand that this drama may be a turnoff to people.
“At the end of the day, I believe my father’s music deserves to be heard, not silenced. I will now be playing it with an even stronger resolve than ever before under the name my father gave me – Dweezil Zappa.”
Dweezil, who played at the Kirby Center in 2012 and twice in 2014 (once on his own and later with the Experience Hendrix Tour), took the stage with his band for nearly three hours after teaching a guitar master class there on Thursday, satisfying the crowd and his mission to keep his dad’s music alive, with or without permission.
Read NEPA Scene’s 2014 interview with Dweezil Zappa here.
Photos by Robb Malloy and Tammy Heid-Malloy/Moon’s Eye Media/NEPA Scene
