Robert "Bobby" Martin, who as lead singer shaped the sound of Frank Zappa's band from 1981 to the farewell tour in 1988, is going on tour again. Together with the Swiss tribute band FidoPlaysZappa, the musicians will present a snotty-rocking live show on Tuesday, October 03, 2023 at the Maschinenhaus of the Kulturbrauerei. Frank Zappa's music is not dead, it doesn't even smell funny.
The six musicians of FidoPlaysZappa celebrate in many voices and with verve obscure stories of modified dogs, smelly feet, sad Eskimos and all sorts of other curiosities of life. FiDO shamelessly exploit improvisational freedom, break stylistic boundaries with virtuosity, and take full advantage of the musical diversity and compositional humor of Zappa's work. With several inspiring live shows all over Europe and six recordings, the Swiss tribute orchestra has probably earned a place in the Olympus of the worldwide Zappa community in the last two decades: Stylistically confident, virtuosic, humorous and with their very own approach, FiDO continue to intoxicate themselves and their audience with the great work of Frank Zappa after 20 years
Robert "Bobby" Martin has worked with big names (Bette Middler, Paul McCartney, Michael McDonald, Prince, Etta James, Patti Labelle, The Moody Blues and many others). Two songs brought it to the Zappanale 2022 and the spark was jumped between the US-American, who you can neither see nor hear his 74 years, and the Swiss tribute troupe FidoPlaysZappa, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. And actually, it was already clear in the last bars of "Montana", which Martin intoned as a special guest at the Fidos' gig: That can't be it. With the fearless mixture of snotty-rocking live show paired with virtuoso Swiss precision craftsmanship, with which the stage-experienced professionals live out their passion for the music of the Great American Composer, the Swiss Tribute Orchestra knows how to grab every audience.