WHITEHORSE — Canadian fans of the late Frank Zappa’s music lost their chance to hear members of his original band play his tunes when the Grande Mothers were stopped at Vancouver International Airport and sent back to Los Angeles.
Didier Delahaye, a spokesman for the Yukon Arts Centre, where the Grande Mothers were scheduled to play Friday, said two members of the five-man band were refused entry into Canada on Wednesday night.
Delahaye said he has no idea why they weren’t allowed into the country.
When Napoleon Brock and Roy Estrada, both members of Zappa’s Mothers of Invention, were sent packing by Canadian customs officials, the rest of the band decided they couldn’t go on without them.
“At one point, they were talking about continuing gigging with the (remainder) of the band,” said Delahaye on Thursday. “But they decided no, that wouldn’t be fair.”
“Frank Zappa (who was the most vocal defender of freedom of expression in all its forms) must be rolling around in his grave,” he said later in an email.
The Grande Mothers’ booking agent, Todd Jordan, also didn’t know why the band members were denied entry into Canada.
“It’s the fifth time I’ve brought them into Canada and it’s the first time anything like this has happened, so we’re completely baffled,” he said in an interview.
The group was scheduled to play at Vancouver’s Biltmore Cabaret on Thursday night.
“We are confident that it is simply a matter of time before we can cut through the red maple tinged tape, at which point we will be only too happy to present the Grande Mothers at the Yukon Arts Centre,” Delahaye said.
He said he hopes to bring the group to the Yukon in the fall.