Return To Forever Tickets

One of the Top 5 shows I have ever seen! If you can see them, I recommend you do!

The highly anticipated show with the new Return to Forever IV lineup did not live up to the hype. Even before the band took the stage, there was trouble brewing. Following an exciting performance by Zappa Plays Zappa, the shear brilliance and tin ears of a sound engineer took center stage. The overall PA volume was cranked up to provide a constant buzz and hiss even when there was no sound being generated by an instrument. Grand pianos don't buzz on each note. This is 2011, not the 70's. There is no reason not to have crisp, full sound, especially in a decent theater. Zappa Plays Zappa was an excellent experience. Undaunted, Return to Forever IV took the stage bowing to the crowd and each other, a little over the top. The music was focused on electronic based tunes with a couple of acoustic numbers blended in. Being a fan of these guys in various other bands and configurations this performance lacked the creativity and expertise that could have been. It was apparent they had played these songs to death, so why bother there are so many other songs to play. They could have been so much better. For these prices this didn't measure up. Catch them in a different configuration. Zappa Plays Zappa delivered on almost every tune. Frank Gambale joined them for an encore performance of Hot Rats. Great tune and performance.

Great performance, great venue to watch the masters at work. Stanley stole the show, not easy among that crowd!

See these guys, true masters of music and thier instruments. Jean- Luc Ponty is an excellent addition to the mix making RTF even thicker and more beautiful than ever and Frank Gambale is a perfect match for the band. I feel that Frank plays rock and blues in the moments that needed it with much more grace, passion, experience and soul than DiMeola did. Sorry for Al but that is just the way I heard it. There is a reason they put Stanley Clarke in the middle of the stage, hands down the best Bass player in the world and I have seen them all from Sheehan (at the Warfield with Vai which was amazing) to Tony Levin doing improvs with LTE. Together they blend very well with the maestro Chick Corea and Lenny White who are also among the best ever in the world, truly. The group I was with all say that this is the best show they have ever seen and some of us were old enough to see Hendrix a couple of times among many other greats. There was a lot of love from the band as well with some good interaction with the audience which really made the night extra special and unforgettable.

Wow !!! It's really hard to review this show without sounding over the top. This show exceeded my expectations for this long time RTF fan. Jean Luc Ponte was a perfect fit for this band, it sounded so natural to the vibe. All masters of their respective instruments. Gambale filled his role perfectly as well. Opening the show was Zappa Plays Zappa. Superlative as always with this band. Thank you Dweezil for keeping Franks music alive !!!!

It is such a rare treat to see actual musicians who can play instruments other than a Casio and a beat machine and can improvise on a whim. The talent level in this band is incredible, and to watch them feed off each other's energy and that of the crowd was a pleasure to witness. I thoroughly enjoyed their setlist, and they confirmed my suspicion that they were a band that MUST be seen live. Chick, Stanley, Lenny, Jean-Luc and Frank were even more crisp than the live recordings I have from the seventies. Truly amazing. I will be adding them to my "don't miss" list moving forward.

RTF IV is an amazing group of musicians. We saw the concert the night before at the Mondavi Center in Davis and it was spectacular in every way. The Warfield is a rotten venue: It is dirty, poorly-maintained, and has inadequate eating facilities. But worst of all, the sound system was terrible--the musicians were over-amplified causing distortion and a volume so unpleasantly loud that even with ear plugs in it was impossible to enjoy the music. The reefer smoke was so thick that it was difficult to see and to breathe. Many audience members near us were so sloppily drunk/stoned that they were a distraction from the music. I should think these super talented musicians would be outraged to know how their music was presented. I will not attend an event at the Warfield again.

My first time to see Return to Forever and I was blown away by the musicianship and synchronicity. Stanley Clarke plays bass like no one else on this planet. Dweezil Zappa playing his father's music was so amazing - it made me happy and sad at the same time: happy to hear it being played live, and sad that Frank was taken from us too soon. He was a true genius. Thank you Dweezil!

Dweezil Zappa and his band were tight and memorable. They had it going on and I would definitely see again. This was my 8th time seeing Return to Forever and it was weak. The sound was excessively loud and the set list was non-melodic. They have a much better repetoire than they displayed at the Warfield

Excellent concert, you really got your moneys worth with two headliners for the price of one. With Zappa I must say that the student has become the master-he plays as well if not better than his Dad. The eight piece band cranked out a lot of sound; they rocked, they jazzed-Dweezil's solos were mind blowing. RTF was good-but they really needed more stage time-Frank Gambale only took one extended solo-it was killer, but I wanted to hear more from him-the closing song-School Days by Stanley-one of my all time favorite songs-was very well done; great interplay between Frank and Stanley. Chick sounded good, but it seemed as if they were having some technical difficulties with the Keys. Jean Luc Ponty stretched out on a few songs and played magnifcently.