There will never be another Frank Zappa. But lemme tellya: Dweezil is doing a great job of carrying the standard. The audience at the taping of this performance apparently thought so as well, since they gave the group a standing ovation ... after the first number!

There is certainly plenty of well-earned applause throughout the concert, but it had to be heartening for him to experience it. The man's obviously worked very hard, and the band has also worked very hard, nailing down the thousands of nuances in Frank Zappa's work. City, state and national orchestras playing classical music practice endlessly to perfect their performances, and it's obvious that this group of mostly unknowns has done the same.

I've mentioned it before in another review, but it bears repeating: A professional musician once told me something like, "It's not that professionals don't make mistakes. We do. But we know how to cover them." In the entirety of this performance I saw one flub, and if it hadn't been made obvious by DZ himself pointing it out, I'm sure many would have missed it.

Zappa Plays Zappa is a two-disc set topping out at 4½ hours that was filmed in 2006 at two different performances, one in Portland, Oregon, and the other in Seattle, Washington. It's a testament to both Frank Zappa, the prolific musician who produced, performed and recorded enough music to keep a major orchestra busy for their entire career.

The crowd, dancing, smiling, laughing, and singing along was testament to the performance. DZ, meanwhile, meticulously played his father's notes. No contortions, no facial histrionics, no exaggerations; just solid, damned good guitar work. The musicianship and quality of the entire group is stunning to see. Not just good, not just great, but at times almost overwhelming. The crowd's reaction was at times almost overwhelming to DZ and the group as well, with DZ visibly showing it in one instance, and reacting to it periodically.

I'm not sure I'd have been capable of watching both discs at one sitting under usual circumstances, but fortunately for me, one of the local public radio stations had a fund drive that just ended last week and they played a three-hour block of Frank Zappa, so I felt I was sufficiently Zappa-ed up to be up to the task.

The musicians in the group I'd never heard of for the most part. However, I'll certainly remember them from here on out. They, along with special guests Steve Vai on guitar, Terry Bozzio sitting in on drums for a few selections, and the outstanding vocals of Napoleon Murphy Brock added significantly to the performance. All three of these musicians formerly performed with Frank Zappa.

The combination of talent and the antics of multi-instrumentalists Aaron Arntz and Scheila Gonzalez were a joy to watch, adding plenty of theater to the music. Gonzalez's battery had to have been completely drained, seeing her dance and cavort nonstop throughout.

An absolutely top shelf performance by all concerned. Don't miss it.