Out of a desire to see some genuine Zappa-in-action, I tracked down the film "Baby Snakes", which is a document that sits half way between "200 Motels"-ish art film and live concert video. Most of the art film part of it takes the form of claymation videos created by Bruce Bickford. The rest of the movie is footage from a New York performance, heavily spliced with backstage antics and general wierdness.
The first thing that struck me with this movie was the intro where we see Frank rehearsing with his band. The amount of control he has over his band members is extraordinary... Having seen many amateur band rehearsals which are characterized by constant diplomatic debate over the next step in a song or the subjective quality of a certain element of a performance, Zappa's conducting of his band was awe-inspiring. This is the first time I have really felt impressed by Zappa's skill as a composer. Watching this sequence gives me the sensation that every single nuance of each performance is directly, intentionally thought out and executed precisely to his specifications. This guy is IN CONTROL.
One thing that also arises from this opening scene is that it is very much HIS band. HE is in full control, and there is no question about it. I wonder if perhaps there is a conceptual link to be drawn to the facist characters in 200 Motels? Perhaps there is an intended reflection of the dictatorial approach Frank takes to conducting his band. It seems as though there is no diplomacy, and no debate. Frank is in charge and that's all there is to it.
His very dominant personality also comes out in the scenes where he is interacting with his animator, Bruce Bickford. It seems that Frank is always giving instruction, even if it is subtle things, like telling the animator where to sit. It does not seem hostile neccessarily, but just very dominant.
His onstage persona...whew. This guy is definitely a character. His stage presence is reminiscent of a less crude Andrew Dice Clay. He seems to be trying to project a macho persona, but he maintains a kind of politeness amidst his sex jokes. His audience interactions are very direct, he really seems to feel at home with this audience. I found the fact that people were walking up and giving him gifts to be kind of wierd... there is a direct kind of rock star worship going on.
I found it interesting that in the opening titles of the film, he calls out and criticizes the preachers and fake chapels that draw checks from the moronic masses, but yet he seems to have built a cult of celebrity around himself that would rival some of those preachers. Like the mind-washing preachers, Zappa no doubt relies on these masses for his financial sustenance. however to be fair I don't think Zappa is trying to twist the minds of the people quite as much as the televangelists he critiques in the credits.
Musically, the concert footage is really interesting. I definitely feel like Frank's live band is where it is at as far as "the real Zappa". The kind of intense improvisational jamming that happens in this film definitely seems worthy of the establishment of legendary status. I find this stuff much more revealing than his early album work, which to me feel more like abstract dadaist art collages than real demonstrations of musical feats of great interest. Then again, this impression may also be due to the differences between his early and later band memberships. The band on display in Baby Snakes is clearly one that has their musical chops down to a science.
However, while I find their musical skill incredibly impressive and there are moments that arise that are really genuinely interesting, I find that they often veer into a territory that I am mostly familiar with through the work of bands like Dream Theater. Musically very advanced, but in terms of the actual emotional or aesthetic impact, I find a lot of it to be pretty cheesy. I've always valued a good vibe or a soulful riff over a display of technical virtuosity, and this duality comes into play quite often when listening to Zappa's band perform.
The final scenes with the extended use of claymation and extremely abstract musical passages were the most interesting to me. It fel like an extended dive into the most fucked-up, twisted kind of creative psychic purging possible. Every step forward taken was into entirely new constantly shifting realms of the bizarre. At time it was very intense, almost overwhelming. The best part about it however was that despite its constant shifts and hairpin turns into the next "other", there was a cohesive flow throughout it. It never felt random or stochastic, but rather like a tunneling into and through somebody's subconscious mind.
There was also an interesting use of xenochrony for the freakout/disco section of the performance. There is a moment when the audio fades from the live performance to a recording of the band rehearsing, and the scene quickly jumps to actual video footage of the band in rehearsal (it appears to be in the same space that the band was rehearsing at the beginning of the film). The change is so smooth that I didn't even notice it the first time around. I just suddenly realized that the band was no longer on stage. I had to rewind the film to find the point when the transition occurred.
