Frank Zappa - Sydney Hordern Pavillion - 1973
Frank Zappa in concert Sydney Australia, from my “Dead ‘N’ Alive” exhibition set.
One of a series of photographs I took in my early days of photography.
All shot on film using a Nikormat FTN. A wonderful hard working film camera.
In those days there was little or no security and no “Crash Barriers”, so I would make my way to the front of the stage and shoot.
Scanned from the original negatives or transparencies.
Zappa ruled the stage. Always in absolute control of his band. You never knew what to expect.
As far as I know, the band in Sydney consisted of most of the following… Zappa then formed and toured with smaller groups that variously included Ian Underwood (reeds, keyboards), Ruth Underwood (vibes, marimba), Sal Marquez (trumpet, vocals), Napoleon Murphy Brock (sax, flute and vocals), Bruce Fowler (trombone), Tom Fowler (bass), Chester Thompson (drums), Ralph Humphrey (drums), George Duke (keyboards, vocals), and Jean-Luc Ponty (violin).
Also available as an image in my redbubble calendar
Greeting Cards
Denzil
Wow! I saw Zappa in Adelaide in the 70s (maybe 1975???) at the old Apollo Stadium ... our expensive close-up seats had been taken by the mix desk, we had to sit in godawful seats side-on, the concert was DREADFUL!!! Zappa played most of the night with his back turned to the audience, constantly repeating a visual joke with a plastic chicken and an enema bag – very esoteric! There was certainly heavy security at this concert, big guys throwing girls off the stage … I was horribly disappointed, as he was my music god at the time!
Love this shot though – what an amazing muso and artist he was. Lucky you!
willb replied
Hehe, Thanks for your comments. It seems every Zappa gig was a unique experience for everyone involved. The only tom-foolery I can remember at this one, was in the audience. Some guy in the bleachers, lit a roman candle or something. Zappa stopped the band mid-phrase and demanded that security chuck the guy out. This was not long after the “Smoke on the Water” incident. So Zappa didn’t like fire very much. Once the audience member was out, Zappa started the band right where they had stopped and finished the tune. Truly amazing.
Denzil
Aaaahhhh, memories!
Casey Herman
Yeah, I can’t remember if it was 1975 (or 6?) that I saw him in Melbourne at Festival Hall, and he was brilliant. And then his son did Zappa Plays Zappa in Melbourne in 2007 and we thought it was the best concert any of us had ever been to (never mind we’d had another 30+ years to appreciate his music. Saw Dweezil again last week … and I guess we’ll go again next time they play here, cos his music is HOT! Dweezil doesn’t need to compose any of his own songs, it’s enough that he can coordinate a band to play his father’s music!
MikeShort
Listening to ‘shut up and play yer guitar’ awsome music, awsome man and an awsome photo. Thank you, Mike