Brett Garsed Discussion

Pete · Joined: 16 Jun 2005 Posts: 35

I was fortunate to be able to go to both nights of Zappa Plays Zappa at the Hamer Hall here in Melbourne and who should be a 'surprise guest' for a song on the second night but Brett himself. And they sure didn't take it easy on him haha, throwing him in the deep end of an all out improvisation-fest in Dupree's Paradise.
ZPZ was one of the most enjoyable concerts of my life (especially as a big Zappa fan), everyone was just having so much fun on stage and there was real energy to the music.
Dweezil played some absolutely stunning solos, Steve Vai was in official 'stunt guitarist' mode and didn't disappoint, hell the whole band was bloody brilliant!
Can't recommend the show highly enough. Even took my younger brother along, a complete Zappa-newbie, and he loved the night.
Managed to get my tour t-shirt signed by Dweezil, Joe Travers (drums) and Billy Hulting (percussionist extraordinare).
Fan-bloody-tastic!
Pete

Big Kev · Joined: 16 Jun 2005 Posts: 404 Location: Melbourne

Oh man that's fantastic! I missed it unfortunately. I really wanted to go but a combination of time, money and general lack of wherewithal got in the way. I had no idea Brett was doing a cameo - I might have tried harder to get there if I'd known!

Still, at least I'll be able to check out the vids on YouTube. Wink

Kev

Pete · Joined: 16 Jun 2005 Posts: 35

The ZPZ live dvd is currently on sale at JB HiFi for $29 I believe. Well worth it I'd say, gonna pick up a copy myself tomorrow.

Big Kev · Joined: 16 Jun 2005 Posts: 404 Location: Melbourne

A DVD you say? Yeah, sounds like a good idea for a Chrissy present to me!

Kev

bretto212 · Joined: 16 Jun 2005 Posts: 265

Hey Kev,
Yeah, it was a pretty off the cuff event. I almost didn't make it there at all as I'd contacted Dweezil about the possibility of just meeting him and the band after the show and he suggested I come in for a jam so we agreed on the night of the 29th. For some dyslexic reason I had it in my head that the 29th was a Friday so I missed the first show but luckily could go in for the second show on the 30th but I didn't take a guitar as I wasn't sure if I'd still be able to get up and play.
Dweezil offered me his black strat and I was playing that through Steve Vai's amp setup at soundcheck when Steve turned up and asked me to play "Evo" so he could hear it. He said it was good to hear someone else playing through his rig so he could just focus on the sound and get a different perspective. I was extremely blown away that he'd let me play his most favored instrument and after watching the first part of the gig from the crowd, I went backstage to play and his tech Thomas gave me "Evo" so I got to play Steve Vai's guitar through his amp whilst jamming with Dweezil Zappa and the ZPZ band. My life really sucks eh? Smile

I have no idea what I actually played (which I think was the point. It was a really free jam) and it was difficult to hear anything as all the band are on in-ear monitoring so there's not a lot of stage sound but regardless it was such an amazing privilege to be onstage with those guys. Very cool evening!

Cal · Joined: 16 Jun 2005 Posts: 18

I was at this gig too. We saw you on the way in, Brett, as we did at the G3 gig as well.

When The Dweeze said he was going to introduce a real life Australian soon, I said to myself, "I wonder if it will be Brett?" Then, sure enough, it happened, it was awesome.

It was the cream on what was a totally amazing gig. My mate took his 11 year old kid, it was his first concert. He loved it, cool stuff.
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LuAc&sE77 · Joined: 17 Jun 2007 Posts: 16 Location: Melbourne

I have not been to this forum for a while as I couldn't find the password to log in. Anyway I was very fortunate to have the privilege to give one free ticket to Brett and have him seating next to me. I knew from the beginning of the show that he was going to jump on stage and play with Dweezil. Honestly I couldn't wait to see that more that anything as I went the first night as well.

I really want to take good shots but the personnel in the theatre was pretty aggressive on people's camera so I decided to talk to the person in charge and explain that Brett was going to play and I was with him. It wasn't easy coz she forgot and harassed while attempting the shots. I told her to bugger off and literally said "I can take photo a friend on stage so put your hands in your pocket" Evil or Very Mad

I would have loved to share more photos with all of you in the forum but this is the only snap I have got Embarassed

After the show we decided to have few drinks togheter! That night for sure was a great time!

These other photos were taken at the Carrinbush Hotel where Brett plays quite regularly acoustic guitar supporting his wife Ann-Marita.

I wish everyone a great 2008!

Cheers, Luca Wink