|
[ Home ] [ f75 Review 1 ] [ f75 Review 2 ]
| |
Fall '75 Reviews
page two
October 29th, 1975 early
The show starts off promising, with Frank showing signs that his fingers are itching to
play tonight. He plays a little solo-ette between the verses in Stinkfoot, and the
"real" solo is excellent - an intensely squealing and screaming blues affair.
Unfortunately, the rest of the tape is a mixed plate that can't really live up to the
expectations raised by this great opening. A nasty cut and some poor decisions by FZ
prevents this tape from being a must-have.
The first of the poor decisions is one we have to live with through most of the tour -
the Freak Out medley near the beginning of the show. What I want after the great Stinkfoot
is more dirty guitar work from FZ, and what I get is Napoleon wailing his way through
those three songs, none of which suits this rocking teenage combo. The other poor
decisions come when FZ chooses not to take solos in either The Illinois Enema Bandit or
Chunga's Revenge, and then cuts the show without giving us Zoot Allures.
The cut comes in the middle of the Carolina Hardcore Ecstasy solo, and takes us right
into Nappy's solo in Chunga's, depriving us of the WOIIFTM medley. But there are some more
good things about this tape too: a long Black Napkins solo, and at least the first half of
it is really beautiful. We also get a long theatrical happening in the Enema Bandit, with
Roy acting as Michael Kenyon against a girl from the audience. This was probably much
funnier live, but is still pretty amusing. And the fragment of Frank's CHCE solo is good,
as is Andre's solo in Chunga's Revenge. Oh, and the sound is really good too, one of the
best from this tour.
--JN
This is a tough one to review, simply because there's so incredibly
much going on. I could summarize it by just writing "This is one of FZ's sickest
guitar shows ever - go get it!", but I will try to analyse it in detail. Believe me,
I've tried to be brief...
The first 25 minutes of the show are nothing short of magnificent. The
opening blues jam is just as greasy as I want it, and FZ's solo in Stinkfoot is a little
blues-epic, if such a thing exists. Not as intense as in the early show, but much longer
with FZ displaying a wide variety of approaches to blues playing. Dirty Love follows, and
then the first of tonight's surprises: Sleep Dirt! Napoleon and Andre have both gotten
more and more comfortable with the chord progression, and bring us two beautiful solos. FZ
does some cool experimenting with the arpeggio in the background, making this perhaps the
ultimate version of this song. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to be at ease with the
not-exactly-modal nature of the vamp yet, as his solo turns out short and rather
uninteresting - quite possibly, this was the reason why the song was dropped from the
setlists from here on.
After being served with so many goodies, it's easier to accept the
Freak Out medley that inevitably follows. But - who'da thunk? - here comes the second
surprise: between How Could I Be Such A Fool? and Ain't Got No Heart, FZ has chosen to
throw in Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up. The vocal harmonies are a little too blurry for it
to be really good, but it's pretty cool to hear because it's so rare.
No sax solo in Black Napkins tonight, and FZ's solo is a little below
my expectations. This can't be said about The Illinois Enema Bandit though, which comes
with one of the best solos of the show. Frank begins with some extremely simple blues
figures, which he builds into more and more complex lines, and ends up in a great,
frenzied workout. Another good solo in Carolina Hard Core Ecstasy and the Money medley
keep us in good spirits until it's time for the really crucial part of the show. Yes, as
enjoyable as the first half of those shows can be, it is this reporter's opinion that it's
the outcome of the Chunga/Zoot combo that determines whether it's a great show or not.
And what we get is is The Monster - and one of the absolute highlights
- of the entire tour: Chunga's Revenge. After a nice solo by Napoleon, FZ starts playing
some cool rhythm guitar, and Andre seems to hesitate whether it's really his turn to solo.
He gets his chance, but FZ steals the attention with his accompaniment. Next, he steals
the show completely with a long workout on his guitar. The rest of the band tries to
follow, and manages to do so through a short, C&W-ish Tryin' To Grow A Chin. But as he
starts getting really far out, the boys give up, and we get several minutes of a capella
guitar soloing. Quite fascinating, though not all of it is great, and we get teases of
Blessed Relief as well as Ship Ahoy. Frank then invites the band again for a little blues
number, where he continues to solo for quite a while. As the tape cuts - after 12 minutes
of continous guitar madness - FZ kicks out a new riff, and it's possible that he continued
for another while.
Tape 2 begins with a drum solo, and then Zoot Allures with more far
out guitar soloing that the band can't follow. My ears might be saturated now, because I
don't like these improvisations as much as the previous. At this stage, I even find the
stupid Swallow My Pride as pleasant relief.
The encores begin with another '75 fave, Any Downers? We do not get
another guitar orgy, just some really heavy riffing and Nappy's and Roy's wailing, which
is cool enough. Then comes the next surprise - an extremely rough proto-version of Packard
Goose. We've heard it recited several times this tour, but this time FZ actually sings it,
in a melody that resembles the final version. He refers to it as a "demo". I'm
The Slime sees FZ freak out on the guitar once again, but we get an unfortunate cut just
as he whips out a ultra-rapid Willie The Pimp. The show closes with a nice San Ber'dino.
--JN
Another Halloween with Frank Zappa, and although this is not an
essential Halloween tape as 77 or 78 is, it still has enough good moments, particularly
Frank's guitar.
The show starts off with the cool blues jam that always sets a nice
mood (well, after a short Pedro's Dowry over the loudspeaker). This has an average
keyboard solo by Andre and a better sax solo from Brock. Frank then comes out to introduce
the band, and includes Marty Perellis.
Stinkfoot has an excellent FZ solo. Say what you will about the band
(and I will), there is no doubt that you can't fault Frank's guitar on these tours. Full
of energy and dark overtones. Best of all the Poodle Lecture that follows is still in its
infancy, so manages to be a) interesting, and b) SHORT. Terry Bozzio's mother is
namechecked, as apparently she was in the audience.
Then comes the Freak Out medley. It's not as bad as it would get in
Europe this winter. It's still not very good, though. I've never been a big fan of
Napoleon at his BEST, and these two tours do not show him at his best. Save your ears,
fast forward this medley. Luckily, Black Napkins follows. It's strictly a FZ solo vehicle
at this point, very mellow. At the beginning, Frank recites some of the Packard Goose
lyrics to the crowd, along with some interesting variations that were never heard.
Carolina Hard-Core Ecstasy has lost the extra repeat that made it so
tedious back in the Spring, and luckily has not lost the energy in Frank's solos. An
excellent rendition, with a Ms. Pinky quote to boot. Then comes what is generally referred
to as 'the GOOD medley'. Indeed, Lonely Little Girl has some really heavy ugly guitar, and
very few "WWAAAAOOHHH"s from Nappy. This one should have stuck around, rather
than being dropped early in 76.
Plus, the medley leads into Chunga's Revenge, one of the highlights of
the show. I tend to think of this tour when I think of this song, with its loud guitar
intro and excellent parade of solos. We start off with a sax solo by Nappy, which appears
to have some sort of echo effect near the end. After a short sax/falsetto duel between Roy
and Nappy (Roy rarely soloed on bass, a fact we should probably be grateful for), Frank
introduces Norma Bell as a special guest (though she played at several shows all through
this tour). Her solo is excellent, and I wish she'd been able to stay for a while longer.
After a return to the theme, we get a Lewis keyboard solo, which is merely okay, before
Frank steps up. Despite two short cuts, this is a great solo, with Frank varying his speed
and style throughout. Terry's shorter-than-usual drum solo finishes it up.
Zoot Allures is always nice to hear on this tour. It's still growing,
and the head is not quite as assured, but the solo is nice, blending into a guitar/sax
duet with Norma. We then have a really awkward cold intro into Honey, Don't...Me? and IEB,
which are in brand new, still finding their feet forms. Honey is fairly faceless, if
sleazier, but Illinois Enema Bandit gets the full Halloween treatment, and becomes the
other highlight of this tape. Frank describes it as a 'bicentennial song', celebrating the
best of what America has to offer. He then gives the standard Kenyon intro, but then
decides that we need a bit of audience participation, which involves getting a young woman
on the stage and haoping Nappy pretend to give her an enema. Best of all, the woman (Fran)
is a radiologist, so is well trained in the art of enema. The song itself, when it finally
arrives, is kind of an anticlimax, though Frank does liven things up in the solo by
alternating guitar licks with more enema talk.
After that, the show winds down with an Advance Romance, oddly placed
late in the evening, with a feedback-drenched but far too short solo. San Ber'dino closes
things out.
Not the best band in the world (Andre and Roy in particular fail to
inspire me), not the best setlist in the world. However, this band had a sleazy, bar-band
sound that we wouldn't really hear again from Frank, and his solos were kickin'. Not the
best Halloween tape, but worthy.
--SG
At this point of the tour, I have become just as tired of the vocal songs as I had
expected. Only Carolina Hardcore Ecstasy, Lonely Little Girl and the less worn-out encore
songs keep my attention. However, I keep getting surprised at how much I enjoy the jams.
Or should I say the solos, because I must admit that the Estrada/Bozzio combo doesn't
inspire me much, but that makes it easier to concentrate on the solos, which are in most
instances very good.
The addition of Norma has spiced things up, though she would be featured much heavier
later in the tour. Her solo in Black Napkins is fine, but it's Chunga's Revenge that
really allows her to stretch out. This is an awesome solo, which awakes memories of Ian
Underwood - starting out really soft, then a sudden burst of frenzy, back to some smoother
notes and then an aggressive ending. A great lesson in dynamics, to which I hope Napoleon
was listening.
FZ has a good night too, at least on his guitar. He doesn't talk much, except for a pretty
funny proto-Poodle Lecture, which is a direct preamble to Dirty Love, rather than the
Garden Of Eden story. Oh, and the Michael Kenyon story, which is pretty amusing tonight.
Beautiful solo in Black Napkins, a routine one in Advance Romance, and a funny one in
Illinois Enema Bandit. He starts playing his solo in parody-style, with exclusively
blues-solo-cliché-chords, then he dwindles of into more typical FZ-blues playing.
Frank's Chunga's solo is pretty typical for this stage of the tour. First some
take-the-ol'-D-major-chord-and-move-it- up-and-down-the-neck playing, then some
play-with-the-rest-of-the-band and finally some freak-out-and-leave-the-
band-behind. All of it is great. And Zoot Allures has FZ going even further out, and the
band don't know how to follow him until he drags them into quick instrumental Tryin' To
Grow A Chin.
Before the show is over, we've also had a good Any Downers, a Brillo/Muffin Man and San
Ber'dino. A good show, but mediocre sound. A tape you could live without.
--JN
A strange sounding tape. I've given it a C+, but it sounds like it
could origin from a soundboard or FM source. If you take your Vancouver 10/1 tape,let your
hungry Alsatian play with it for 20 minutes, put the remnants back together with Scotch
tape and store it on top of your speaker for a year, it would probably sound something
like this.
There are some other noteworthy things about this tape too. It's of course the only
Yugoslavian concert we have on tape, FZ's kind enough to leave out the Freak Out medley,
plus it features the only released piece of music from this tour. It also has much more
Norma Bell than any other tape I've heard, which is cool. The show opens unsurprisingly
with a good Stinkfoot, followed by the first "In the beginning..."-type Poodle
Lecture that I know of.
Dweezil's choice for FZPTMOFZ was good, as tonight's Black Napkins is indeed one of the
best of the tour. Norma's alto sax solo is very beautiful, though a little too long, and
FZ's solo is great (better than the edited CD version) - a real epic. Norma (?) sings
along with the theme after the solos, which sounds odd.
Advance Romance includes a rare sax solo instead of keyboards and a
good one from Frankie. Honey, Don't You Want A Man Like Me? is unusually interesting, as
Norma sings most of the lines that Roy would normally take. It seems Norma plays the role
of the co-ed in The Illinois Enema Bandit, as she's heard
screaming throughout. The guitar solo is one of the best of the tour, with some creative
wah-wah-use from FZ. Carolina Hardcore Ecstasy is faster than normal, but if I recall
correctly, it would get even faster within the weeks to come. The tape ends with Lonely
Little Girl, followed - oddly enough - by a drum solo.
In the liner notes to FZPTMOFZ, Dweezil mentions that this is a possible future vault
release, and why not? Good concert, good guitar solos, and a release with Norma Bell would
be cool.
--JN
Another fairly new tape, this presents us with a nice little late November concert,
with two major cuts but the majority of the show intact. The cuts are Black Napkins and
The Illinois Enema Bandit, both totally missing to get the tape to a 90-minute length.
Other tours I might be bothered, but for this one I have other songs I'd rather hear, and
those cuts mean we get them - a complete Chunga's Revenge and Zoot Allures.
Frank takes the time to give us two really nice guitar workouts in the first half.
Stinkfoot is nice and aggressive, and the Carolina one just rocks out, easily the
highlight of the first half.
Sadly, Napoleon is still in the band, and he does his level best to undermine several of
the songs. The Freak out! trilogy sounds as poor as ever, while the WOIIFTM troika has
Nappy throwing in inappropriate secret wordage in the gorgeous music. Gah. Luckily, his
Chunga's Revenge solo is a must-hear, totally making up for any vocal misunderstandings.
Norma too turns in an above-average effort, though she's stightly undermined throughout by
Terry's insane drumming - I've rarely heard him this frenetic during a solo, sounded more
like Colaiuta. Andre's solo starts out very low and menacing before turning more normal.
Then we have Frank's two spotlights. The first, at the end of Chunga's, is very chorded
rather than picked, with five-Five-FIVE and Ship Ahoy quotes as well as some other things
that sounded like quotes but I wasn't sure of. Oddly enough, though, it doesn't really
hold together as a truly great Chunga's solo -it's too disjointed, with Frank just trying
out idea after idea. Zoot likewise is in that early period of "interesting rather
than beautiful". The entire solo sounds a bit like a coda throughout. There's a bit
of T'Mershi Duween in there as well, it's nice to see how Frank's mind works as he goes
through this very sedate, methodical solo.
Encores as per normal, with the beautiful minimally instrumented 75 Camarillo harmonies
and a cut Muffin Man, right after the intro.
Good tape. Not essential, not a top 5, but solid all around.
--SG
I am generally a fan of this tour, but for some reason I found myself not really
enjoying this tape. For one, the sound quality is on the poorer end of the spectrum, so
that may have some influence on my opinion. But apart from that, I did not hear much
passion or energy in the performances, and seem to feel that for the most part, the band
was just going through the motions on this one.
Except, that is, for the following two songs- "Stinkfoot" and "Chunga's
Revenge". "Stinkfoot"- the first real song of the show following the
opening jam (which tonight is minus a Zappa solo)- is tremendous. The solo is another one
of those that makes you think that this must be the longest "Stinkfoot" solo
ever. Frank just plays and plays, riding that two chord vamp for all its worth, flirting
with some Transylvania Boogie and sprinkling some T'Mershi Duween quotes throughout. It is
a great start, but unfortunately it is not indicative of what would follow.
A short "Poodle Lecture" slows things down (I am not a fan AT ALL of the
Poodle Lecture, so I profess major bias here), and the "Dirty Love-> Freak Out!
Medley" which follows does not recapture the energy of the opener. Even "Black
Napkins"-a typically ferocious mid-set highlight- leaves me sort of cold, though I
will give props to the eerie keyboard atmospherics Lewis plays behind Frank's solo.
Things do not get interesting again until "Chunga's Revenge", which may
redeem the entire show. This is the first time in the show that I really notice Norma
Bell, with her sax solo propelling the band into an all-out "kick-out-the-jams"
stampede. I have mentioned before that one of the worst things about late '70's/'80's
Zappa is that he no longer plays rhythm guitar, and his rhythm work here is another
example of just how inventive a rhythm player he was. His solo proper begins in a
"rhythm guitar" fashion, with Frank messing around with some chords to establish
a bouncy, sprightly groove. Things slowly get more intense, eventually reaching a
"Five-five-five"-esque peak (the reviewer from Ohio wanted to make sure I
mentioned this).
"Zoot Allures" follows as usual, and contains some typical '75
"Zoot"-ish meanderings. My "Zoot" is missing what I assume is a large
chunk in the middle, so I have not heard it all, but what little I have seems to belong
back to the more standard fare of the pre-"Chunga's" show.
While this is not one of the consistently best shows of the Fall '75 tour, it does
contain two definite highlights. I am glad I heard the "Stinkfoot" and
"Chunga's Revenge" preformed on this night, but when reaching for a '75 show, I
would probably go for something else first. Worth hearing but not essential.
--JG
I recently had the pleasure to recieve a complete, good-sounding copy of this show. My
old one was crappy and missed the first 25 minutes. After this upgrade, I'm ready to say
that this is one of the best tapes of the tour.
The opening jam is extremely short tonight. Frank is on tonight, and wants to get going as
soon as possible, as if he knew that the really exciting stuff was to come towards the end
of the show. He introduces Eddie Jobson (Roxy Music opened for the Mothers on the Canadian
leg, and FZ invited Eddie onstage for a couple of shows), who takes his first violin solo
after FZ in Stinkfoot. Both Frank and Eddie would come up with better efforts later. After
a Poodle Lecture, Dirty Love and the Freak Out medley, it's time for the first highlight
of the evening, Black Napkins.
I've really grown to love the opening chord of Napkins. The transition from the ugliness
of I'm Not Satisfied into the beauty of the Napkins vamp constitutes some kind of
tension/release effect that feels great. Norma goes first, a typically melodic and
beautiful solo. Next, Eddie Jobson on the synthesizer, a great solo, better than any of
Andre's. FZ's solo ain't bad either, but not one of the better of the tour.
No major surprises in the next couple of songs. Pretty typical and good solos in Advance
Romance, Enema Bandit and Carolina. In AR, Frank steers the band into a boogie beat which
gives some freshness to this not-too-hot vamp. FZ's preamble to IEB is a little unusual -
"In the beginning God made the light and then he made the poodle. Then, God made two
big mistakes: man, wo-man, and it was about this time that he invented the enema".
The solo is short, and contains a lot of Big Swifty variations.
Nappy plays his Chunga solo without that delay effect he normally used. So for once, you
can actually hear what he's playing, and it's quite good. But even better is Norma's solo,
where she (along with FZ's creative rhythm work) wanders off into unusually daring
territories. Andre plays one of his flashy, but easily forgettable solos, before Eddie
Jobson picks up his bow, and delivers a marvellous solo (a guy in the audience yells
"Eddie Jobson's the best!", which isn't true, but he sure is good). FZ maintains
his great rhythm playing, and finally we get a joint solo. At one point they start
duelling with flageolets - very cool. Then FZ plays an excellent, explorative solo, first
acapella, then over a new, monotonous vamp. Without a doubt one of the best Chungas ever!
And right after Terry's drums solo comes an even more explorative, and maybe even better
solo in Zoot Allures. Frank drifts of into sick rhythmic and harmonic territories, while
the band plods on monotonously, causing some really intriguing tension. Yes, after a so-so
start, FZ has really found inspiration, and the great-ness continues into the next song.
Filthy Habits is still at a proto-stage, but the vamp is as powerful as ever, and brings a
hot sax solo (can't tell who it is), a mighty fine one from Eddie on the violin and
finally a little masterpiece from Frank. This one really makes me wonder why FH wasn't
played on the 76/77 tour - I'm sure it would have spawned many great violin/guitar jams.
The show ends with Camarillo Brillo and Muffin Man. But it's the Chunga/Zoot/Habits
threesome and Eddie Jobson's guest appearances that lifts this show from "just
another '75 show" into one of the more worth-seeking-out.
--JN
My copy of this show is spread across three sides of tape, with the third side
being opposite the last third of the awesome 10/1/75 show. While the first 90 minutes of
this show does have its moments, the 30 minutes of music captured on side C is simply
fantastic, capturing four performances of raw, rare,and/or unreleased songs.
The side begins with the final notes of Frank's "Chunga's" solo floating into
space, creating a vacuum that Frank fills by announcing that the band will now play
"some new and never heard before" songs. They start off with "Find Her
Finer", which appears in the best version I have heard apart from the '88 tour. This
debut has much more energy than the lethargic "Zoot Allures" take, and contains
some funky Nappy horn bursts throughout the song. (As the song winds down, Frank says
"And obviously the name of that song is "Da Da Goo Goo"…huh?). From
here, the band debuts the still unreleased "Kaiser Rolls", a song Frank admits
to having tried with "a number of bands a number of times" but was not satisfied
with until now. It is about a man who "encounters a shell shocked person in the
park", and while the song itself is not that great, this performance is the best I
have heard of it. It does end with some cool FZ riffing though, which eventually segues
(very smoothly) into the short, skeletal, and quite anemic debut of "Let's Move to
Cleveland". There is nothing much here other than a couple of the themes which would
eventually kick-ass 6 years later- quite pathetic sounding as played here- but this is an
interesting listen simply as a reference point for the final product. [And the segue from
"Kaiser Rolls" is good….very Grateful Dead-ish in its flow]. Finally, this
debut party ends with "Keep It Greasy", which is easily the funkiest version of
this tune ever. Bozzio's drumming is simple but very effective, as is Estrada's sparse but
poppin' bass. Not as fast or chaotic as later versions, this performance paints
"Greasy" in a whole new light, and hints at the non-annoying potential it
initially had. The best apart about these four performances is that apart from
"Cleveland", the songs themselves represent Frank's more predictable or routine
song writing side, but are captured here in versions that paint them as fresh and full of
life.
The first 90 minutes of the show finds Frank dishing up a typical serving of Fall '75
dining. "Stinkfoot" starts things off well with an energetic, straightforward
solo, but then brings us all down with a lengthy Poodle Lecture. "Filthy Habits"
is not in the line up yet, so after "Dirty Love" and the Freak Out! Medley, the
show is already starting to bore. "Black Napkins" arrives to save the day, with
Lewis taking a rare BN keyboard solo (typical Lewis solo), followed by a typically
excellent BN Frank solo. The parade of songs which follow have long since bored me
("Advance", "Illinois", Carolina"), but Frank finds inspiration
and redeems them all with some more first rate guitar playing. "Advance Romance"
is especially noisy and dissonant, while "Illinois Enema Bandit" finds Bozzio
and Estrada digging in with a heavy blues vamp that gives Frank's solo an emotional edge
that it seldom achieved. The WOIIFTM Medely is a welcome treat as always, while
"Chunga's Revenge" finishes off the first tape of music with Brock and Lewis
doing what they always do, and Frank whipping out a short little solo.
This is not the best show from the Fall '75 tour. Thanks to some strong FZ guitar
playing, though, and the unique suite of songs which helps close the show, it is a tape
which I highly recommend acquiring.
--JG
The Fall 75 tour has proven to be, on listening to several shows, much better than
perhaps originally thought. That may be why it's so difficult to listen to this show. Dull
as a very dull thing indeed, this has everything bad about Fall 75 in it.
We start off, after some opening groans from Nappy, with a very good solo from Andre.
Interesting, groovy, it's the best he'd get all evening. Nappy's sax solo is pretty good
either - for one thing, when the sax is in his mouth, he can't sing. Frank introduces the
band after a cursory guitar warmup, and we find that today is Terry's 25th birthday.
After that, there's a long haul. The Poodle Lecture has now ceased to have any real
variation, there's an *interminable* monitor check after Dirty Love that makes you long
for the Sanzini Brothers to liven up the proceedings, Andre takes two more solos that
define the words 'dull and repetitive', and Frank's only decent guitar solo in the first
60 minutes, in Enema Bandit, is cut.
However, there is a high point. Chunga's Revenge starts off as dull as the rest of the
show, but then Frank finally decides to wake up and play the guitar. I do recommend
getting the show for this solo, as it kicks ass. There are echoes of Treacherous Cretins,
a Louie Louie motif, lotsa five-Five-FIVE chords -wonderful.
The segue into Cleveland (or Canard du Jour, as it was known at this point) is so subtle I
had to back up and listen again. At this point, it's still part of Chunga's Revenge, and
very rough. Still interesting to hear, though.
And lo! Things stay good, with another fabulous solo in Zoot Allures. Frank has finally
realized what a great guitar vehicle this can be for him, and has extended the solo to
almost 10 minutes. Bring on 1976, where Zoot frequently proved to be the only highlight of
the night.
After a rather boring trek through Find Her Finer, my tape ends, so I'm lacking the
encores. Still, this show didn't do a lot for me. Napoleon has finally gotten to the point
where it's nearly impossible to listen to his caterwauling, Andre has flashes of
inspiration, but too often falls into "let me play the same motif over and over
again", and Frank only woke up an hour in. Get Chunga's and Zoot as filler, but the
rest... <yawn>...
--SG
Despite the special occasion, most of the first 2/3rds of this tape is nothing more or
less than the standard late '75 performance. Black Napkins is the number the band plays as
the clock strikes midnight, but FZ turns in the most sour and choppy solo I've heard on
this song from the 70's. As well, FZ learns that it's seven minutes until midnight when he
finishes the solo, which results in several minutes of noisy time-killing until Auld Lang
Syne finally arrives. (Although this is not noted elsewhere, it sounds to me like
Beefheart joins in on sax at one point.)
FZ's solos on Illinois Enema Bandit and Carolina Hardcore Ecstasy are intense, though
short, but things get interesting towards the end when he offers a pair of new songs.
First we get the proto-Find Her Finer, and then Keep It Greasy, which is rather good, with
a cool ending ("I'm gonna DRIVE you - I said I'm gonna DRIVE you...") - too bad
this didn't make the regular setlist for winter '76.
FZ is enthusiastic tonight, but there's a fair amount of trouble with monitors, feedback
and hall regulations, judging from the short set and the severely abbreviated Muffin Man
solo. File this among FZ's less successful holiday shows.
--PB
Back to Fall '75 Review page
Back to Main Review page
© 1997 turtlestew@compuserve.com
|
