SETLIST: Opening Solo-> Dancin' Fool-> Easy Meat-> Honey Don't You Want A Man Like Me?-> Keep It Greasy-> The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing-> City of Tiny Lites-> Pound for a Brown-> Bobby Brown-> Conehead-> Dance Contest-> The Black Page #2-> Little House I Used To Live In-> Magic Fingers-> Don't Eat the Yellow Snow Suite
APPROXIMATE TIME- 90 minutes; no encore on tape
OFFICIAL RELEASES- Dance Contest, on "Tinseltown Rebellion"
OPENING SOLO (2:15)- Starts off promising enough with some funky O'Hearn bass, reminiscent of his "King Kong" solos from Winter '78. Vinnie and the band join in, establishing the groove, but sadly Frank cannot seem to get anything going. He rips off a couple guitar lines, before giving up and moving into the intros. Pretty disappointing, and somewhat indicative of the entire show
DANCIN' FOOL (3:30)
EASY MEAT (4:32)- FZ solo, 1:45; nothing special, just your typical high energy '78 "Easy Meat" solo.
HONEY DON'T YOU WANT A MAN LIKE ME? (4:29)
KEEP IT GREASY (3:06)
THE MEEK SHALL INHERIT NOTHING (3:36)
CITY OF TINY LITES (9:57)- Denny Walley solo, 2:31; FZ solo, 2:00; Again, these solos are your typical '78 "City of Tiny Lites" solo, with a special word of praise to the bass players. They really stand out here, and throughout all 6 shows.
POUND FOR A BROWN (14:13, including tape flip)- Ed Mann solo, 2:58; Shankar solo, 2:44; FZ solo, 3:42; keyboardists, 4:31, with tape flip; Again, this is a somewhat standard "Pound for a Brown", with the added bonus of L Shankar's guest appearance. Ed Mann's percussion solo is okay, and the band maintains the same groove through Shankar's solo. With the arrival of Frank's solo, the band drops into a minimalist, "Yo Mama"-ish type landscape, though Frank's performance is nowhere near as dramatic as his "Yo Mama" solos. The rhythm switches to a more conventional jazz mode for the keyboard solo, over which Wolf takes a mini-Moog solo, and Mars takes a mostly electric piano solo. An enjoyable outing, but nothing spectacular.
BOBBY BROWN (3:02)
CONEHEAD (2:47)- No guitar solo. Instead, after a couple bars of audience sing-along, Frank begins his Dance Contest introduction to "The Black Page #2".
DANCE CONTEST (6:04)- The "Dance Contest" from "Tinseltown Rebellion" is from this show, and is a much edited version of the actual event. As it is actually occurs, the action on stage is much more chaotic, and Frank spends quite a bit of time trying to maintain control as more and more people climp up on stage. The TR track starts :40 seconds into the actual monologue, and approximately 3:00 are edited out of the final product.
THE BLACK PAGE #2 (4:14)- The highlight of this performance is the 1:25 of crowd control that Frank attempts at the end of the actual tune. During this time, the band grooves on a "Conehead" based funk jam, and the resulting music is great. O'Hearn, in particular, stands out.
LITTLE HOUSE I USED TO LIVE IN (9:24)- Mars' solo, 3:57; Vinnie solo, 3:22; This is probably the rather weak highlight of this rather weak show. This is Tommy's chance to shine, and he gives us a somewhat restrained workout on a variety of keyboards. About 3:50 into his solo, he and Vinnie began trading licks, before Vinnie takes over about a minute later and gives us a full-blown drum solo.
MAGIC FINGERS (2:40)
DON'T EAT THE YELLOW SNOW (2:29)
NANOOK RUBS IT (5:22)- Short and uninspired audience participation
ST. ALPHONSO'S PANCAKE BREAKFAST (1:53)
FARTHER O'BLIVION (2:29)
ROLLO (2:46; the Whole Suite, 14:59 including outros)
ENCORE- Not on tape, but during the second show of this night, an audience member requests "Dinah-Moe Humm", to which Frank replies, "We've already played that one." So...
If the following rule is true- "There is an exception to every rule"- then there must be an exception to the rule that says that the Halloween '78 shows are great. Obviously, this show is that exception. This show is not great, and really does not have any great moments anywhere in it. A weak, practically non-existent opening solo; two weak Monster performances; no particularly special songs- the whole thing adds up to a quite disappointing start to the Halloween run. In fact, from the quality of the performances, this concert more closely resembles a show from the weaker, earlier part of the tour than it resembles anything from the typically outstanding October shows. Who could have imagined what the second show would bring?
6th out of 6 (i.e. last)