It has been a few year since the shadow of the incomparable Frank Zappa has graced a Cleveland stage. After seeing his concert on November 10 at the Coliseum Theatre, many who attended hope he will return very soon.

Frank Zappa and his band, which consisted of Ray White and Ike Willis on guitar, Bob Harris and Tommy Mars on keyboards, Arthur Barrow on bass and Vinnie Colaiuta on drums, performed a mixture of his "hits" and new material.

The new things Frank did, most of which are supposed to be on his upcoming album CRUSH ALL BOXES, were very well done and well received considering most of Zappa's fans have never heard them before. "Dead Girls of London" and "You Are What You Is" were the most impressive of Frank's new songs.

Zappa was always moving. He was either conducting the band through something like "I'm So Cute", making ears sting with his great guitar solos or just singing out in front of the stage and playing with two inlated dolls that somebody from the audience had brought up. While Frank wasn't playing with the dolls, his roadies did "terrible things" to them.

Zappa played a good part of his most recent work. He played many things from SHEIK YERBOUTI. A huge roar came from the crowd whn the band launched into "Flakes" and "Bobby Brown". Frank also played a few things from JOE'S GARAGE with the title track and the song "Stick It Out" being most prominent.

Frank and his band came out for two encores. The first consisted of "Dancin' Fool" from SHEIK and "Ms. Pinky" from ZOOT ALLURES. He then played "I Don't Wanna Get Drafted", complete with an army helmet.

The highlight of the show was a 25-minute version of "The Torture Never Stops". It featured a drum solo by Vinnie Colaiuta and Zappa's best guitar solo of the night. Ike Willis was wearing his actual "ten gallon" hat. One could hardly see his face.

Overall, the concert was a smashing success and hopefully he will return soon.