Gerry Neily is not only the Brew’s transportation and planning writer but our Progressive Rock reviewer. Here’s what he thought of Dweezil, who appeared this weekend as part of Baltimore’s weekend o’ Frank Zappa, which included an honorary performance by Dweezil Zappa’s “Zappa does Zappa” in addition to a bronzed bust dedication.

Dweezil and the band were fantastic, Hi-Town lived up to its role as the gracious host, and a great time was had by all. Even a couple of us old folks in the audience who passed out (and were quickly cared for by the paramedics) had looks of contentment on their faces.

The band played a somewhat more populist set than for last year’s Merriweather audience, which was a bunch of prog rockers geared up to hear Dream Theater, Queensryche and two obscure-but-fantastic Swedish bands who didn’t get there:  Pain of Salvation and Beardfish.

But today, Dweezil never ever dumbed the music down for the mass audience even one iota. The only “hits” they played were “Yellow Snow” (of course, it was also the signature beverage for sale) and “Peaches en Regalia” (my all -time Zappa fave), songs with incredibly sophisticated rhythms and arrangements that belie their popular appeal. Everything they played was that way. They totally avoided the campy, cheap-shot part of the Zappa ouevre, like “Valley Girl” and “Dancin’ Fool” and “Tinseltown Rebellion.”

Oh yes, Mr. 49, they also did “I Am the Slime” and of course, “What’s New in Baltimore?” with new lyrics for the occasion to thank everyone here and in Lithuania for that cool statue.

I think I like Dweezil better than I liked Frank. He treats the Zappa legacy with the reverence of a museum curator rather than the snarly artiste attitude that Frank used to pose, and the music is better for it. But the sign of a genius is when the music lives on beyond you and Frank Zappa fills the bill.

And Dweezil even graciously hoped he could come back and do this again next year.