One of Zappa’s strangest and certainly most memorable performances came in July 1980 in Palermo, Sicily. With anti-American thoughts instilled in most Europeans he was regularly greeted with things being thrown on stage while in Europe, but Palermo took the cake. The military was there along with cops who began spraying teargas into the audience. The incident resulted in three deaths and turned Zappa off touring until 1984. In 1988 he got another band together, made up of his favorite players. He made them learn 100 songs and they then hit the road and recorded their live performances so Zappa could have material for albums at a cheaper price than studio recording. The tour was a success and Zappa managed to get 11,000 people registered to vote at the booths propped up at his shows.
The band soon began having problems with their bass player, Thunes, who Zappa asked to lead rehearsals for him. Zappa liked him, but everyone else hated him. When someone finally brought it up, Zappa asked the band if they would continue touring if Thunes stayed on and everyone said “no” thinking Zappa would find a replacement. Instead he fired them all and that was it for the tour. The band couldn’t “win,” he was in charge! The material he had taped then lead to two albums Broadway the Hard Way and The Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life. Zappa never toured nor played guitar again after that. With two exceptions. In 1991, he visited Prague and Hungary to celebrate the retreat of Soviet soldiers from these countries and had to pick up the guitar once again to be part of the festivities.
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