Frank Zappa
You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol.2

THE REVIEW

"You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore" is a colossal series, in 6 volumes, of live albums covering the entire career of Frank Zappa, digging up snippets of live performances from the '60s to the late '80s. This "Volume 2" deserves special mention if only because it is the only one to showcase the best of a specific series of concerts, recorded in Helsinki in '74.

On that occasion, Zappa was accompanied by a rather "tight" band, but extremely effective and well-rehearsed, considering that the lineup - Chester Thompson (drums), George Duke (keyboards), Ruth Underwood (percussion), Napoleon Murphy Brock (vocals, sax, and flute), Tom Fowler (bass) - is the same that played on albums like "Apostrophe" and "One Size Fits All" (following this concert), as well as on the live "Roxy and Elsewhere" recorded a few months before the Helsinki evening; Zappa himself claimed that this lineup was so in tune, after months of shows, that the set-list of this concert could have been played to perfection even blindfolded, and if Frank says so, it's to be believed.

The concert's set-list is largely similar to the aforementioned "Roxy", but presents obvious additions, such as an exciting full version of "Inca Roads" lasting 11 minutes, showcased in all its glory with Zappa's insane mega guitar solo; this version is found "cut" and included in the album "One Size Fits All", which remains magnificent, but pales slightly in the shadow of its "original" counterpart. It goes through the instrumental "RDNZL", here in a rougher version compared to the counterpart found 4 years later in the album "Studio Tan", up to "Approximate", jazz-fusion style "Grand Wazoo". "Dupree's Paradise" is an epic 24-minute monolithic block that goes in every direction, with a breathtaking rhythmic base and extraordinary solos of bass, drums, and flute that follow one another with Frank's guitar work as the cherry on top. The highlight of the concert is found at the finale, when a spectator asked Zappa to perform a cover of an Allman Brothers song, "Whipping Post"; neither Zappa nor the band were too familiar with the piece, so Zappa reworked it in his own way starting to play a strange version of "Montana" with Frank playing so fast that he left the rest of the band, almost stunned by this improvisation, behind; but the band, understanding the trend, quickly adapted, delivering a super-performance   (demonstrating the level of the musicians the mustached man has recruited over the years) with Zappa’s massive solo completing the piece, which ends with a mega funk-jam flowing into the finale of "Big Swifty". The funny thing is that in the '80s, returning to Helsinki, Zappa told the audience: "guess what-we now know the song you requested back in '74" and played the Allman cover which in the meantime had become a staple in his live repertoire. Fantastic.

If you are new to this series, I recommend starting right from this second chapter, as it is, relatively speaking, a single concert, rather than a wild assembly of various pieces picked here and there in Uncle Frank's immense discography. I don't know if this can be defined as Zappa's best live performance, not having heard them all, but you certainly won't go wrong in getting it.