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Hours of unearthed ’70s footage, along with live performances by Zappa collaborators, will form the basis of Eyellusion's The Bizarre World of Frank Zappa hologram tour
By Jon Chapple on 06 Feb 2018
Zappa pictured in 1977
image © Jean-Luc Ourlin
A who’s who of Zappa collaborators will support the upcoming Bizarre World of Frank Zappa tour, producer Eyellusion has announced, as more details emerge about the company’s second major hologram tour.
Longtime Zappa players Ray White, Mike Keneally, Scott Thunes, Robert Martin and Joe ‘Vaultmeister’ Travers are set to perform as the show’s touring line-up, with guests including Steve Vai, Warren Cuccurullo, Ian Underwood, Vinnie Colaiuta, Napoleon Murphy Brock, Arthur Barrow and Ed Mann set to join along the way. The Bizarre World follows Eyellusion’s successful Dio Returns tour tour, which features a hologram of the late Ronnie James Dio.
The tour line-up was announced at Pollstar Live! yesterday, with LA-based Eyellusion and the Zappa Family Trust also revealing the show will be based on hours of never-before-seen Frank Zappa footage filmed in his rehearsal studio in 1974.
“As a futurist, and hologram enthusiast, Frank fearlessly broke through boundary after boundary as an artist, and in honouring his indomitable spirit we’re about to do it again, 25 years after his passing,” comments Ahmet Zappa, Frank’s son and EVP of business development for Eyellusion. “This mind-melting show we’re putting together celebrates the music, often surreal imagery and humour synonymous with Frank. We will be pushing the limits of what anyone has seen holographically on stage before in a live venue.
“Circumstances, objects, places and subject matter from Frank’s songs and imagination will be brought to life for the first time on stage. We are anthropomorphising Frank’s music, so his own hand-drawn illustrations, classic imagery from his album artwork and characters from his songs can all interact and perform on stage. And let’s not forget, Frank himself will be rocking his fans, alongside his bandmates like nobody’s business.
“We will be pushing the limits of what anyone has seen holographically on stage before in a live venue”
“My father and I actively discussed 3D and holography, and it was a concept he actively engaged in. He actually devoted half a chapter of his The Real Frank Zappa Book to this subject. This is a love letter and a journey celebrating the genius artistry of Frank Zappa. On a personal note, I feel like I am finishing something my father started years ago.”
“When we debuted rock’s first live hologram experience in 2016 and saw the reactions of mesmerised fans in the crowd, we knew we tapped into something huge,” adds Jeff Pezzuti, CEO of Eyellusion. “We’ve been working tirelessly since then to create live music experiences that people could previously only dream of, drawing full capacity crowds along the way. Until now, it would have been unheard of for fans to imagine being treated to a lost Frank Zappa performance backed by more than a dozen of the iconic musicians that played with him throughout his career.
“But this is why Eyellusion was founded: to make the impossible come to life before the eyes of fans, and preserving the legacy of music’s most important artists so it can be passed down to future generations.”
Dates and venues for The Bizarre World of Frank Zappa shows will be announced in the coming months. A promo image for the tour is below:
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