Frank played some great shows in his time, but never did he perform a run of shows as insane and inspired as the 6 shows he played at the tail end of October 1978. For four nights over five days, Frank and his Rockin' Teenage Combo invaded the New York City Palladium, selling out each show and filling the seats with the East Coast's freakiest. The tour preceding this run was mildly successful, containing some frequently inspired music from an immensely talented band. Unfortunately, though, the early parts of the tour saw highly repetitive setlists, with the material represented in those setlists not fully exploiting the abilities of this band. But then in October, things started to change. Setlists got shaken up, improvisations started to lengthen, and Patrick O'Hearn, Frank's most underrated bass player, sat in on a couple of shows and simply ignited the band. By the time Halloween rolled around, things were starting to look up. Throw Patrick O'Hearn in the mix as a full-time second bass player, and then add guest violinist L Shankar, and the possibilities became endless. But would Frank exploit these possibilities?
Of course, he would.
Below I have links to eight pages, six of which deal with one of the six Halloween shows. I have provided relevant information on each performance of each song, but have ignored details that apply to every performance. Thus, if you are unfamiliar with this tour, and want more information on certain song specifics, I recommend you check out my Fall '78 page. As always, these pages are laced with my opinions, but hey, that's where all the fun comes in.
I hope you like what you read. And thanks for your time.
NOTE ON FOGGY'S SCIENTIFIC METHOD- For these pages, I listened to all 6 shows twice, in order, as if they were the actual shows (i.e. I listened to both 27 shows on the same night, then both 28 shows the next night, etc). The first time round I took notes (see timings on the pages), and the second time round I simply absorbed. Yes, I was already familiar with the tapes prior to this, but felt the need to fully delve in once again. Hey, the shows deserve it.