Dweezil Zappa brought the music of Frank Zappa back through Phoenix for the third round of Zappa Plays Zappa. The tour has become an annual effort to keep the gonzo world of Frank Zappa alive for this and future generations.

This is also a chance for longtime Zappa fans to hear songs they have not heard performed in years. Dweezil is the closest thing to having Frank on stage as we are ever going to see. He has developed an encyclopedic knowledge of his father's music, and enlisted a team of crack musicians to recreate Zappa's exhaustive catalogue.

From the opening moments Dweezil sets such an intimate setting it is as if you are sitting in his bedroom while he plays his old man's records. Unlike your old man, Dweezil's recorded over 60 albums of music that pushed the boundaries of popular music.

The loose, yet fiercely faithful, show eased in with a story from Dweezil. Several executives from Fender guitars had presented Dweezil with a signature Eddie Van Halen guitar earlier in the day. He took the moment to share a story of Van Halen coming to his house to meet his father when Dweezil was just twelve. In honor of the guitar, Dweezil played "Eruption." He nailed it. Then joked it was time to start with the hard music.

With this being the third round of Zappa Plays Zappa shows, the band dug deeper into the vault to unearth a few surprises. The band performed several songs, such as the "Lumpy Gravy Theme," that had never been performed live.

The Zappa Plays Zappa band is a combination of remarkable musicians who receive ample opportunity to show off with Frank's compositions. Dweezil is front and center on guitar. He also takes conductor duties over the band, using the same signs his father used, much to the delight of long time fans. Ray White took the lion's share of vocals with the kind of manic but soulful performance these songs required. The other vocalist, Scheila Gonzalez, was on constant move between saxophone, flute, keyboards and just shaking it. Behind her was keyboardist Aaron Arntz who played off the Zappa mainstay and drummer, Joe Travers.

On the opposite side guitarist Jamie Kime and bassist Pete Griffin were easy to overlook as Billy Hulting played what seemed to be an endless supply of instruments behind them. It would not be fair to single out any one musician as each are incredible and obviously having fun.

Many songs are difficult not to have fun with such as early set highlight "Wind up Workin' at a Gas Station" or "Village of the Sun." Late into the set, the band pored through the song that recently earned them a Grammy, of all things – "Peaches en Regalia."

The longer classical instrumentals drove a few more people out for drinks and the bathroom. Zappa was never one to consider the attention span, or lack of, his listeners. This may provide a difficult point of entry for kids weaned on the three and a half minute pop song. That is precisely why the Zappa Plays Zappa show is essential for the uninitiated. The sheer amount of Frank's musical output requires some kind of reference point to get started with. The Zappa Plays Zappa shows are it.