Concert: Stockholm 1973

This Stockholm concert  saw Frank Zappa's group in transition, someplace in between the subversive vaudeville of the original Mothers of Invention and the juvenile obscenities of later albums. No theatrics, no biting social commentary; simply a lot of high converting instrumental music, with a stronger Jazz-Rock Fusion slant than on other Zappa recordings.

The performance dates to a 1973 or 74 performance on a Swedish TV show called Oopoppa. There are videos of this performance floating about. Evidently there were 2 sets accomplished - one maybe for the "official" show, and a second videotaped set that was perhaps broadcast separately. The concert was performed outdoors, in Sweden (hence Zappa's comment about how cold it is on the stage) in front of a fairly large audience, most of whom are polite but pretty oblivious to what they are experiencing (language and music barriers?)

The group at the time was an octet, presenting electric violinist Jean-Luc Ponty and the husband-wife woodwind-percussion team of Ian and Ruth Underwood. But the entire band is incandescent, galvanizing a trio of shorter, energetic numbers in between the two extended standout tracks; the 11+ minute Dupree's Paradise (sadly abbreviated by an unfortunate fade out during another torrid Ponty solo), and the near 21-minute workout of Father O'Blivion.

Personnel: 

Frank Zappa, 

Jean Luc Ponty, 

Tom Fowler, 

Ralph Humphrey, 

Ruth Underwood, 

Ian Underwood, 

George Duke, 

Bruce Fowler