This is the worst idea ever, apart from the Doors with Ian Ashbury or maybe the great rock'n'roll swindle...still I 'spose the MB deserve a bit of recognition for the years they put up with beefheart, abusing them, starving them, claiming their ideas as his own etc etc.

But still, MB without CB? Who wants to watch a bunch of musicians?

Saw them at RFH and they were blinding - Drumbo does an uncanny Beefheart impression vocally. Of course it's not the same as DVV in person but you'd still go and hear a Mozart piano concerto even though it's not Wolfie on the keys, wouldn't you?

Agree with Chris. Saw them at RFH and last year at Shepherds Bush. Looked and sounded much more confident this time, with a greater range of material and a smoother structure to the show. The Magic Band without Beefheart does sound like a recipe for disappointment, but was not for me. Seeing such good musicians, very much helped by Drumbo doing such excellent vocals (and percussion of course) performing Beefheart compositions on stage is still a great thrill. I saw CB and various Magic Bands some 14 times between 1972 and 1980. Sure miss the good Captain, but hearing Drumbo and the rest of the MB performing the music Beefheart created live is just so much more exhilarating than playing a CD. Left RFH just as elated and full of those rhythms as had been from a CB concert back in the 70s.