Return To Forever Tickets

I went to this concert with a group of friends, having heard of the musicians, but admittedly not being very familiar with their music. I am so glad that I decided to go! This was one of the best concerts I have attended in years! First, the venue was great! Stage AE in Pittsburgh is a perfect setting for this type of concert, and the concept of designing a stage for both outdoor and indoor concerts is sheer genius. It was a beautiful summer night in the 'Burgh, so the stage was set facing the outdoor amphitheater. Dweezil Zappa and his band took the stage first, and delivered a tight, eclectic set consisting of the music of his late father, Frank Zappa. (Of course any collection of Zappa's music could be considered eclectic.) The band was truly amazing, and ripped through the incredibly difficult music with ease. Kudos to Dweezil for hanging out at the edge of the stage after his set to sign autographs and shake hands. After a brief intermission, Return to Forever began their portion of the concert, which we found out was their first show in the United States after having toured Europe for several months. Let me just say that I was speechless! Each one of the members of the band could put on an incredible show individually, but together they were indescribable! Being a guitarist and bassist myself, my attention was focused primarily on bassist Stanley Clarke and guitarist Frank Gambale. After resolving a technical problem with his amp setup, Frank Gambale played effortlessly and with great precision, making it all look too easy. And what can be said about Stanley Clarke that hasn't already been said? I have a theory that Stanley Clarke is actually an alien visitor to our planet, because the things he did with both electric and acoustic basses were not humanly possible! In conclusion, I'll just say that I had a wonderful time, and this concert was an experience I will not soon forget. Thank you RTF and Dweezil and company for a perfect evening!

Great Show RTF and Zappa what a combination. Thanks for giving Pittsburgh the type of Jazz show we are use to.

Return to Forever IV was AMAZING! The group performed for an hour and forty minutes w/very little chatter in between compositions. Their performance was mesmerizing. Chic Corea, Stanley Clark, and Jon Luponty are every bit as good if not better than the first time I saw them, 34 years ago at the Syria Mosque. These seasoned professional are a joy to watch and listen to. My husband and I LOVED the concert!

It was an honor to see the 5 legendary musicians in Return to Forever IV, who shaped a genre in music, still amaze today with their excellent playing and stage communication. Plus, they were having a blast and were very appreciative of the perfectly receptive crowd who gave a standing ovation before they even played one note! Two wonderful encores were evoked by Chic Corea even though the union riggers were telling him he had to quit! Ha! Don't miss this milestone and memorable concert. Dweezil Zappa did his papa Frank Zappa proud with an equally talented ensemble shifting through stylistic changes and rhythms with ease. To the uninitiated, and I include those that only know Yellow Snow, you ears will be opened to sophisticated difficult music that also can make you laugh at times. Plus, they really could groove. The venue, Stage AE, is well thought out, comfortable, and a real pleasure to see any concert. Catch this historical show and make some great memories for yourself!

I went to one of the best concerts of my life. I grew up loving Frank Zappa but he he died (of prostate cancer) before I got to ever see him. Now his son, Dweezil has put a band together to play his father's music. Zappa plays Zappa was the first time I have heard the music live and through such a good sound system. Then came Return to Forever with jazz greats Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, Lenny White, Jean-Luc Ponty & Frank Gambale. Geepers were they good. The crowd went bonkers.

Okay first time at the AE Stage - nice venue! Glad the weather held I usual love Return to Forever -but they had a lot of technical difficulties Was not liking the dude in the hat! - Did not due any thing for me. I know they just came from Europe so maybe that was it! I enjoyed them more in 2008 at the Plain Dealer Pavilion They just seemed off!

Definitely the most virtuosic musical performance in the jazz-rock milieu to play the Burgh this year. Zappa brings the humor, a rich sonic display (with lots of percussion), and great musicianship. Return to Forever includes some of the best musicians in the world.

A great evening of music from Zappa to Return To Forever. The Return to Forever quintet is a reunion of jazz legends playing the fusion that they pioneered 40 years ago. A true possible "once in a lifetime moment ".

Zappa was better than expected. Quite worth hearing although I don't love the music. RTF was beyond expectations. Started a bit slowly but became extraordinary in a hurry! Stanley has never been better and adding John Luc Ponty to the mix was brilliant! Chick was great and it all worked like they had been doing it forever - taking music they helped create to the next level .... not ot be missed.

The RTF show at Stage AE in Pittsburgh on August 7th was the first of an extended US tour, following a summer tour overseas. It would have been a good idea to have checked out all the gear after arriving back in North America. Sound and public address glitches marred the first half of the show. The Stage AE sound crew cannot be blamed since the live sound for Dweezil Zappa's band was flawless (with even more intricate instrumentation than RTF). The RTF show began with Frank Gambale mostly kneeling in front of his effects board checking cables and a tech squatting in front of and behind his amp examining patches and inputs. Lenny White's drums were way down in the mix early on, perhaps only heard out front through stage monitors. Shortly thereafter, during a semi drum solo during a vamp in one of the early numbers, the drums got turned up inexplicably and were grossly distorted and sounded like 4th of July fireworks, the bass drum and toms were so deep and distorted. The first time Chick played acoustic piano, it sounded grotesque and trebly, like a bad acoustic piano patch through a cheap keyboard with a short in the cable to the amplifier. Finally, Stanley Clarke's wonderful acoustic bass solo on Jean Luc Ponty's lovely composition, Renaissance, was mostly seen and barely heard (again, thank goodness for stage monitiors putting out some semblance of the sound on stage forward to the audience). Throughout parts of the show, Chick could be seen motioning to stage hands and making gestures that seemed to indicate he was not hearing things especially well on stage. Only Mr. Ponty seemed to have had his gear hooked up appropriately and played problem free. By somewhere past midpoint in the show, either the sound guys out in the amphitheater managed to fix the mix and compensate for problems on stage, or the road crew finally got it right and all the instruments could be heard and the balance was good among all instruments. From that point on the band totally rocked! (or jazzed, as the case may be). An acoustic song near the end of the show with Corea on acoustic piano, Clarke on acoustic bass and Gambale on archtop guitar finally got it right with the acoustic instruments. The sound of the bass and acoustic piano were full and beautiful, which only served as a bitter reminder of the earlier shrill piano and the bass solo lost to poor sound reproduction. The music being played was exceptional. Too bad technical glitches and poor sound feeds spoiled an otherwise noteworthy show. Just when everything got sorted out and the band started to really smoke, it was time to end the performance.

I mainly bought the tickets to see Zappa Plays Zappa, as my husband is a huge fan of Frank Zappa, but I was blown away by the musical abilities of Return to Forever IV. I had never heard of them prior to the show and I am so glad we stuck around for them! Dweezil Zappa and Co. put on a fantastic show and Scheila Gonzales was flawless on the sax! I thoroughly enjoyed myself and the venue.

wife and i took our boys (one home for the wknd from phoenix). Zappa was the attraction for these guys but rtf blew them away. Stanley Clarke was crazy good as always, but it was a stage full of legendary players. do yourself a favor and go, then thank me.

THE SHOW WAS GOOD. IT WOULD BE NICE TO SEE THEM HERE MORE.

The venue was super. Even though the place was fairly full, food and drinks were easy to get with minor queues. Both bands were really tight with superb players. Zappa and RTF IV were as good as I remember them from the 70s. Dweezil did a great job channeling his dad's guitar. Jean Luc Ponte was amazing!

I knew Sunday evening's Return to Forever concert was going to be great and they did not disappoint us. Those guys were absolutely BRILLIANT! I hope they will return to Pittsburgh frequently!

I guess I can't say it was for the whole concert, only Return to Forever... ZPZ had phenomenal sound... Stanley looked like he was playing a killer solo, ya just couldn't hear it. Gamble didn't play on two tunes cause his rig wasn't working... Chick had to constantly call the monitor guys over for adjustments... When they got Gamble's guitar working it was buried in the mix. Jean Luc's violin sounded good, but was VERY prominent... There was no clarity between the different toms Lenny was hitting... I don't know if Stage AE was running the sound or if it was people from RTF, but whoever it was, they need to be shown the door... RTF didn't seem very "tight"... It was their first concert in the states coming back from Europe, but places just seemed sloppy. Not as tight as I expected it...

Both bands were indeed excellent! Dweezl gave us a sampling of the George Duke era Zappa.. Opened with "Don't You Ever Wash That Thing?" Cheepnis, Pojama People,Fifty Fifty, Zombie Woof, Big Swifty, Yellow Snow,Nanook Rubs It,St Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast and Father Oblivion ...perhaps later in the tour Jean Luc Ponty will be persuaded to play some violin with them, as there was no JLP scorching violin solo on Fifty Fifty( as captured on the Overnight Sensation album) RTF was great...they played classic RTF songs like Romantic Warriors and Senior Mouse with the arrangements accommodating Jean Luc Ponty's strings...not too much flat out soloing..( I was hoping for a Lenny White drum solo) but Stanley Clarke came close...They played some solo materiel like JLP's "Renaissance." My friend and I were elated to get his wish come true when RTF encored with Stanley's" School Daze"

What a special treat to see these five legends performing at the same time, on the same stage. Pure virtuosity, great sound, all so perfectly executed. This was their first U.S. show after a long tour in Europe, and these guys clearly were having a great time.

the concert was mind awakening.....a dream for edgey jazz lovers, who appreciate more than elevator jazz...the performers were at their best and the audience appreciated every moment....