Canadian fans of the late, great Frank Zappa's music lost their chance to hear members of his original band play his tunes this week, when the Grande Mothers were stopped at the Vancouver International Airport and sent back to Los Angeles.

A spokesman for the Yukon Arts Centre, where the Grande Mothers were scheduled to play tomorrow, said two members of the five-man band were refused entry into Canada last night.

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 the pair.

"At one point, they were talking about continuing gigging with the (remainder) of the band,” the arts centre's Didier Delahaye told the Star this afternoon. "But they decided no, that wouldn't be fair.”

Neither Delahaye nor the Grande Mothers' booking agent, Todd Jordan, knew why the men were stopped, though Delahaye said in an e-mail today:

"Frank Zappa (who was the most vocal defender of freedom of expression in all its forms) must be rolling around in his grave.”

"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,” Jordan told the Star.

The group was scheduled to play at Vancouver's Biltmore Cabaret tonight and the Yukon Arts Centre tomorrow.

"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 added he hopes to bring the group up to the Yukon in the fall.

Anyone with tickets to the show will be reimbursed or may hold their tickets for the next concert date.