ROAD TAPES - VENUE #2

4.5 stars. What is it with these live Zappa shows from Finland? When I first spent some time with "You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 2" from Finland I was convinced it was the best live Zappa record I had heard. Well that was recorded in September of 1974 while "Road Tapes- Venue #2" was recorded in Finland in August of 1973. So this is a year earlier and we have seven musicians compared to five on the second trip. We get nine tracks I believe that are on both recordings and a very similar lineup. For me Frank's banter with the audience on both recordings are some of his absolute best. He seemed to have a soft spot for this nation and he sure spent a lot of time conversing with them.

The intro track which is literally the stage introduction is over 5 minutes long because Frank gets each musician to give the audience a taste of the instrument or instruments they play. He doesn't leave anything out! It's great! Hearing George Duke hit us with clavinet or Ian Underwood hitting us with bass clarinet followed by synths at Frank's prompting. As far as the tunes go it's one killer tune after another really. How about an almost 23 minute version of "Father O'Blivion" on disc two. Anyway these two live recordings from Finland seem to rise to the top for me when it comes to live Zappa. Highly recommended!