Banned from Utopia had been booked for Zappa Union in Oslo on March 7 2024, and wanted to do some more gigs in Scandinavia in the following days, so we were happy to book them for Surr Arena (formerly Brewhouse) in Gothenburg and Kulturhuset Studion in Stockholm. The impressive lineup included ex-Zappa musicians Robert Martin (FZ 81-88), Chad Wackerman (FZ 81-88), Ray White (FZ 76-84), Scott Thunes (81-88), Robbie Mangano (Grandmothers of Invention) and Jamie Kime (Zappa plays Zappa).
Eventually, we added Agusa as opening act, and Jamie Kime had to cancel the Scandinavian dates but got an excellent replacement in Mike Miller (BfU, Chick Corea, Brand X etc). All in all, it was great fun with two well visited shows with stellar musicianship on stage, combined with the playful and silly Zappa spirit being present in the room.
Thank you post from PC
It was two awesome days with Banned From Utopia and Agusa, both due to the magnificent gigs, but also a highly enjoyable and professional collaboration.
Seeing six of Zappa’s musicians on stage when Mats/Morgan joined BfU was one of many special highlights, and so was the off-stage fooling around. I hope we can do this again soon…
Many thanks to all who made this happen, including Linda Alexandersson Restin, Anders Allgulin, Yngve Hagberg, Nils Erichson, Eje Gustafsson, Daniel Lyrstedt, Lars Mosslind and Mac Adam!
Backstage photo of BfU by Stefan Ahr
Now we take a break from doing gigs until the really crammed months of september-november, including the 10 year anniversary celebration at Babel in Malmö sept 28-29. 3 bands yet to be announced. Stay tuned…
