Frank Zappa Hologram to Perform New Music, Tour Announced

The Frank Zappa Hologram tour is real, and it may well be coming to a city near you, especially if you're on the East Coast of the United States.

The production just announced that its inaugural tour will hit 16 cities in 2019, with the long-awaited debut coming April 19 in Port Chester, New York.

Like other similar hologram shows put together by Eyellusion, Hologram Zappa's band will include former members of the real Zappa's band. But in a bizarre turn — that quite honestly seems like something Frank himself would get a kick out of — the shows will also include new music.

"We're excited to world premiere a handful of Frank Zappa compositions," announced Frank's son Ahmet Zappa in a new release. "These mind-melting concerts we're putting together celebrate the music, often surreal imagery and humor synonymous with Frank."

While the idea of the Zappa hologram was once blasted as "Fake Frank" by Ahmet's younger brother, Dweezil, the Zappa family feud was mutually ended by Frank's four children last spring. Dweezil later withdrew his objections to his father being put back on tour some 26 years after his death and asked fans to give all Zappa-related projects a chance in the future.

"With our best feet forward, we are moving ahead and will faithfully deliver much more of our father's indefinable brilliance, also know as the 'World's Finest Optional Entertainment,'" Dweezil wrote in a statement around the time of the resolution.

Hologram Zappa's band will include Ray White, Mike Keneally, Scott Thunes, Robert Martina and Joe "Vaultmeister" Travers, along with several guests on select gigs, including Steve Vai, Vinnie Colaiuta and others.

Vai, a member of Zappa's band from 1980 - 1983, said he was "honored" contribute to the hologram shows.

"A day doesn't pass that I don't think about Frank," Vai wrote in a statement announcing his support for the hologram project. "Nothing could, or ever will take his place in the hearts of the fans, his family and the musicians that have toured with him and loved him."

Ahmet says the hologram show was created using "hours of never-before-seen Zappa performance footage" from 1974, when the music visionary turned his band's rehearsal space into a sound stage.

The Bizarre World of Frank Zappa Tour

4/19 - Port Chester, NY, Capitol Theater

4/20 - Rochester, NY, Kodak Center Theater

4/22 - Red Bank, NJ, Count Basie

4/24 - Long Island, NY, Paramount Theatre

4/26 - Boston, MA, Shubert

4/28 - Albany, NY, The Palace Theatre

5/1 - Wilkes Barre, PA, Kirby Center

5/2 - Collingswood, NJ, Scottish Rite Auditorium

5/3 - Baltimore, MD, the Modell Lyric

5/9 - Edinburgh, UK, Playhouse

5/11 - Gateshead, UK, Sage

5/12 - Manchester, UK, Bridgewater Hall

5/13 - Birmingham, UK, Symphony Hall

5/14 - London, UK, Symphony Hall

5/16 - Ostend, Belgium, Kurssal

5/17 - Amsterdam, Netherlands, Rai Theater

Photo: Getty Images


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