1978, 1981 + 1982

Frank Zappa		Mixed 4


Disc 1  -  75.40
1	Ancient Armaments		 5.39	78-Oct-31
2	Conehead			 8.39	"
3	Packard Goose			17.56	"
4	Black Napkins 1			 4.34	
5	Black Napkins 2			11.24	" (aud)
6	Drowning Witch			 8.38	81-Oct-29
7	What's New In Baltimore?	 4.15	"
8	Zoot Allures			 7.19	82-May-29
9	What's New In Baltimore?	 7.11	"					



78-Oct-31:	Palladium - New York, NY

81-Oct-29:	Palladium - New York, NY

82-May-29:	Les Arenes - Frejus, France



Notes on this material from the Frank Zappa Tape Reviewing Society 
(I only picked the parts of the reviews that actually apply to the tracks above):


78-Oct-31:

SG review:
The (opening) solo was released by FZ as Ancient Armaments, one of the 
few things he chose to release officially from these 6 shows.  It's a 
murky little thing, with Frank abusing the low end of his guitar. The show 
picks up again around Conehead, feauring a great Shankar solo and a 
GREAT FZ solo.  Then comes Packard Goose.  Whoo boy.  Words cannot describe 
the Shankar/FZ duel here.  It just needs to be heard.  Jason likened it to 
a boxing match on his page, and that's not far off.  It reminds me of Annie 
Get Your Gun...'Anything you can play I can play better'.  And it's over 
the Packard vamp, one of my favorites.  

JN review:
The opening solo, Ancient Armaments,  has a different aroma than the other 
Halloween openers, more melodic and less far out. Quite nice, but not the one 
I'd have chosen if I was to release one opening solo from this tour. Conehead 
is another solo vehicle that would always fit Shankar perfectly. Great solo, 
but this time FZ outdoes him with a very dynamic workout. He keeps shifting 
modes and between melodic/aggressive. Packard Goose is another lenghty exercise. 
The solo section, one of the few with this 'Joe's Garage' vamp, sounds a little 
hesitative at first. But they grow into the vamp, and things get gradually better, 
to reach a really intense climax at the end. The best part is when FZ comes up 
with a line, developed from his ol' fave Rite Of Springs melody, and keeps 
repeating and building melodies around it. After nearly 4 hours of playing, the 
boys manage to come up with yet another good jam. It starts out as a regular 
Black Napkins, with your typical good FZ solo. Then, out of nowhere, FZ whips out 
the Deathless Horsie vamp, which he and Shankar keeps soloing around for nearly 
10 min. Not the greatest jam of the night, but a cool ending to the show.


82-May-29:
By now I don't need to go into massive details, you all know what we've got here. 
A nice, solid 1982 show, with good sound, lots of solos, and the tightest band in 
show business. Zoot Allures has a wonderful solo, and hasn't settled into the tired 
patterns it would gain in 1984. First highlight - what I think may be the only post 
1981 Baltimore that is an instrumental. No vocals here, just Frank's guitar, and the 
solo is scorching.