ZBMF

ZBMF

Saturday had us driving to Longwy for a concert of ZBMF (short for Zappy Birthday Mister Frank).

When the announcement popped up on Facebook several weeks ago, I didn’t immediately think of going. Longwy is a 260 km drive from where I live.

On the other hand, a dear friend of mine lost his battle to cancer last week. We had been roommates at Zappanale for a couple of years when the Zappateers were all staying in the same house. Fun times and great memories. I have lost too many friends the last couple of years. There’s only one message: Enjoy life while you can.

As a result, we drove from the northern part of Belgium to the most southern part.
Longwy is a small French village on the French/Belgian border. To avoid COVID hassles or extra tests, we decided to book a stay in an hotel on the Belgian side of the border.

Being on the early side, we checked in at the hotel, had a meal and drove to Longwy to stroll around the town. During our walk, we passed the school where the concert was scheduled. To my surprise, there was a soundcheck going on. I could hear it, but I could not see the band. And I did not recognize the music that was being performed. I did remember some Facebook messages about an incorrect date for the ZBMF concert. Was this the wrong date? Was this a different band?

8 PM, two European / Belgian COVID certificates that could not be read by the kind people that worked the entrance (but they let us in anyway), and about twenty people waiting to get in.

8h15 PM, an open-air primary school playing ground, a huge stage and an Ibanez Steve Vai-model guitar on the stage. The booklet said “ZBMF”, so what about that soundcheck?
The location looked fine. The weather was great and there was an expo showing artwork by Vincent Vanoli (who also illustrated the program booklet)

8h40 PM, guitar player Sterpi (and his digital pre-recorded backing band) opened. This also explained the soundcheck confusion.

He was unannounced and not even mentioned in the program booklet, but Sterpi delivered a fine set of (mostly) guitar instrumentals. Original pieces plus some feel-good cover versions (Santana, Doobie Brothers). Nice summer evening stuff.
http://sterpi.e-monsite.com/

9h++  PM, ZBMF took the stage and played an impressive set for about 50 to 100 people.

Manu Eveno (guitar and vocals), Vincent Milleret (drums), Drayen Labie (7-string guitar), Arnaud Gravet (keyboard & vocals), Stéphane Babiaud (percussion) and Rémi Viala (bass).

Deathless Horsie * I'm The Slime * City Of Tiny Lites * Chunga's Revenge (incl. audience participation) * Catholic Girls * Filthy Habits * Pick Me, I'm Clean * Village Of The Sun * Let's Move To Cleveland * Peaches En Regalia * Cosmik Debris * Zomby Woof * Montana * Dancing Fool 
encore
My Guitar Wants To Kill Your Mama (with Sterpi)

It was pretty amazing how ZBMF was able to get the Longwy crowd thrilled. Performing a fine set of Frank Zappa tunes, adding a bit of Bee Gees, Manu conducting the band and the audience, a snippet of 'Inca Roads' inserted in 'Pick Me, I'm Clean',... Loved it.

We had a great time. Thank you, ZBMF.

And forget about me telling you about the 260 km drive.
ZBMF had to do 600 km to return home...

Zappy Birthday Mister Frank does a great job keeping the music of Frank Zappa alive. The band has not released any albums, although their Zappanale concert from 2016 was made available on DVDR by the Zappanale video team at the time.
On a sidenote, and more than just noteworthy: Drummer Vincent Milleret's Chawata project (or Chawata's Brutal Jazz Orchestra as some might call it) released two albums: "Sadovsky Masovitch" (dedicated to Frank Zappa), and "Portuguese Shower". Both should be considered essential listening for Zappa freaks.

As you can imagine, both the ZBMF Zappanale DVDR and the FZ-dedicated "Sadovsky Masovitch" album are mentioned in The Others Of Invention book series.

If you want to check ZBMF out, visit YouTube, where you can also find Manu Evano's special guest appearance at a 2015 Dweezil Zappa Plays Zappa concert !

Manu with his Gibson SG Frank Zappa signature model. He used the same guitar at the Longwy concert (except for his Ibanez Steve Vai signature model that he plugged in for the encore).

Music is the best.