71/12/10 London UK Rainbow Theatre
Players
- Frank Zappa - guitar, vocal
- Mark Volman - vocal
- Howard Kaylan - vocal
- Jim Pons - bass, vocal
- Don Preston - keyboards, electronics
- Ian Underwood - keyboards, alto sax
- Aynsley Dunbar - drums
Set List
This set list is sourced from an audience recording that was made that night. FZ also used parts of this show across three albums which are noted in brackets.
- Zanti Serenade (edited version on Playground Psychotics)
- Peaches En Regalia
- Tears Began To Fall
- Shove It Right In
- Tuning Problems
- Sofa (You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol.1)
- A Pound For A Brown (On The Bus)
- Sleeping In A Jar (three short sections were used on Playground Psychotics)
- Wino Man - With Dr. John Routine (Playground Psychotics)
- Sharleena (Playground Psychotics)
- Cruising For Burgers (Playground Psychotics)
- King Kong (two sections used on You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol.3)
- ENCORE
- I Want To Hold Your Hand
FZ had the show recorded on an 8 track machine. The plan was to record all 4 shows at the Rainbow and other dates on the UK tour. According to FZ's notes on YCDTOSA Vol 3, the tape ran out before the Trevor Charles Howell incident. One member of the audience made a mono cassette recording of the show which though imperfect is very revealing. It reveals that the first half of the show was plagued with feedback and technical problems which noticeably improve after "Sofa." However, the person who made the cassette seemed to be conserving tape so there are seemingly random cuts throughout, but it is possible to patch together a near complete version of the show using that tape and all the sections FZ released. The audience tape also reveals what sections FZ chose to use. "Sleeping In A Jar" was heavily edited on "Playground Psychotics." He used the main theme first of all which actually occurs right near the end of the piece. He then jumps back to the beginning of the sequence for "Don't Eat There" which crossfades into a dialog tape. Then it cuts to "Brixton Still Life" which is FZ's solo from the same piece.
"King Kong" opens with Kaylan or Volman saying "Remember what happened last time we played this?" followed by FZ muttering "I know"... a direct reference to the Montreux Casino disaster the week before (which FZ talks about to the audience earlier in the show.) Then follows a standard 1971 performance of the piece. FZ however chose to use two sections from this... a clever edit from a 1982 version into Ian Underwoods' sax solo. That goes straight into a solo by Aynsley Dunbar which FZ chopped out completely instead jumping to the very end of Dunbar's solo for the start of FZ's own solo... the last solo he was to play in 1971. 5 minutes into that solo, FZ then whacks it back to 1982. The audience tape unfortunately runs out just two bars after FZ's edit, so we are missing the conclusion of "King Kong" in any form. Presumably the ZFT vault has the complete piece but it seems the tape was not rolling to capture that all important encore. The band had been playing The Beatles "I Want To Hold Your Hand" on this tour and FZ recalls this was the encore in this show. Unfortunately, at some point, Trevor Charles Howell managed to get onto the stage, and pushed FZ off into the orchestra pit some 10 to 15 feet below, bringing the gig to a sudden dramatic end. That was the end of the 1971 European Tour as well as the Flo and Eddie era of The Mothers Of Invention.
See Also
Articles and Interviews
- The Rainbow Theatre Incident
- Fearless Frank tells what he'll lay on you at the Oval concert
- Dialogue: Frank Zappa
- Frank Zappa: a Mother Only a Face Could Love
- Let's Talk Clothes
- Zapparap: For Real!
- The Perspective of Frank Zappa
