Two Bassists, One Wild Night: Frank Zappa’s 1978 Halloween Show Returns in Full

Halloween was Frank Zappa’s favorite holiday, and every year he had an annual tradition of playing a concert in New York City. 1978 marked the pinnacle of the ritual.

“Zappa’s interaction with his New York audience is the stuff of legend, and the Halloween shows during 1978 reached a fever-pitch,” the composer’s website explains.

Zappa released Halloween show highlights over the years, but now the full October 31, 1978 show has been released in a deluxe box set called Halloween 78. The devilish box design is filled with five CDs of music newly mixed and mastered from the original 24-track masters. It also includes a ’70s-inspired mask, a pitchfork with a UV light, and a grimoire book with photos and liner notes.

The show came just months before 1979, a pivotal year for Zappa, when he released Sheik Yerbouti and Joe’s Garage. The new box set includes early versions of songs from those albums as well as extended jams and older material.

Interestingly, the lineup includes dual bassists.

“Arthur Barrow was also newly employed on bass—but, interestingly, Zappa had also brought back Patrick O’Hearn to supply fretless bass for a small segment of the 1978 tour,” the Zappa website state. “Barrow and O’Hearn’s different styles complemented each other, with each player taking over during certain tunes or sections, in addition to sometimes playing in harmony with each other.”

One such example is the track “Peaches En Regalia,” which has a different texture as the bassists play together:

Halloween 78 available now in a box set through the Zappa website and streaming via Apple Music, Amazon Music, and more.

Halloween 78 CD and Track List:

Disc 1: Live at The Palladium, NYC / 10-31-78

1. 10-31-78 Show Start
2. Ancient Armaments
3. “Happy Halloween Everybody!”
4. Dancin’ Fool
5. Easy Meat
6. Honey, Don’t You Want A Man Like Me?
7. Keep It Greasy
8. The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing
9. City Of Tiny Lites
10. Pound For A Brown
11. Thirteen
12. The Story Of Ms. X
13. Nancy

Disc 2: Live at The Palladium, NYC / 10-31-78 cont’d

1. Dinah-Moe Humm
2. Go Cry On Somebody Else’s Shoulder
3. Little Rubber Girl
4. The Idiot Bastard Son
5. Bobby Brown Goes Down
6. Conehead
7. Suicide Chump
8. Little House I Used To Live In
9. Watermelon In Easter Hay
10. Stink-Foot

Disc 3: Live at The Palladium, NYC / 10-31-78 cont’d

1. Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance
2. Peaches En Regalia
3. Strictly Genteel
4. Sofa #2
5. Packard Goose
6. Magic Fingers
7. Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow
8. Nanook Rubs It
9. St. Alfonzo’s Pancake Breakfast
10. Father O’Blivion
11. Rollo
12. Camarillo Brillo
13. Muffin Man
14. Black Napkins / The Deathless Horsie

Disc 4: Live at The Palladium, NYC / 10-27-78 – Show 1

1. 10-27-78 Show 1 Opening
2. Dancin’ Fool
3. Easy Meat
4. Honey, Don’t You Want A Man Like Me?
5. Keep It Greasy
6. The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing
7. City Of Tiny Lites
8. A Pound For A Brown
9. Bobby Brown Goes Down
10. Conehead
11. Dance Contest

Disc 5: Live at The Palladium, NYC / 10-27-78 – Show 1 cont’d

1. The Black Page #2
2. Dance Contest Aftermath
3. Little House I Used To Live In
4. Magic Fingers
5. Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow
6. Nanook Rubs It
7. St. Alfonzo’s Pancake Breakfast
8. Father O’Blivion
9. Rollo
10. “Let Me Explain This To You…”
11. Dinah-Moe Humm
12. Camarillo Brillo
13. Muffin Man
14. Peaches En Regalia