Coz Plays Zappa

NP: John Cage, 4'33"

I normally don't talk about myself here as much as I talk about my opinions about stuff, but tonight I absolutely have to make an exception.

I just jammed, on stage, with Dweezil Zappa.

As I mentioned last week in list.in.to.chicago, the fall Zappa Plays Zappa tour was a pricey ticket, but for your money, you get to vote on songs for the setlist, get a full audio download of the show, and have a chance to win a Hagstrom Swede solid-body electric guitar.

Dweezil explained how this would all work at the outset of the show, as they had given everyone laminates with the download code for the audio when it became available, and those codes would also serve as raffle numbers for the giveaway. "And," he added, "we'll plug it in and see what happens."

Naturally, I let myself fantasize a bit during the early part of the show about what I would do if it were me on stage. Then, after a fairly epic "King Kong," Dweezil reads off the winning code. Surely mine would crap out on the last four digits. Okay, last three? Two? Wait a minute, did I just win? Some guy in the back makes some noise, making me think the "D" on mine is an "O" and I missed it by one character, but no, it's me!

So I get up to the stage, and they check my laminate. Yes, I won the guitar. I hop up on stage, taking care to avoid Scheila Gonzalez's keyboard rig.

"Do you play?" Hell yes!

Dweezil asks me my name and gives me a pick, while his guitar tech gets me situated with the strap and the wireless. We will be jamming in A.

Shit, where's A?

It takes me a second or two to get any sort of bearings, but I find my way and do a halfway credible job for someone who struggles with anything other than pentatonic scales when soloing. At one point, I'll play a little bit of something, and Dweezil will mimic it back, almost trading fours.

The best way to put it is that I don't embarrass myself, and leave the stage to a round of cheers and high-fives as I work my way back into the audience.

After a late night last night, I should be totally exhausted, but I'm still buzzing from this. There was one guy there who got video of it. The ZPZ site should have pictures at some point. Plus, I'll get the download in about a week. Stay tuned.

This instantly makes it into the top five most memorable moments in my life ever, and may force me to think about what the other four might be.