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"Phydeaux"
3 October 1975
Paramount Theater
Portland, Oregon
© 1998 by Fast Frank
Well, I really had no idea what to expect at this show (as if I ever did any of 'em), but I bought two tickets at six bucks each...jeezus, these concerts are really gettin' expensive! I managed to convince a young lady who lived nearby to attend the concert with me. Woof! She was drop dead gorgeous and built like a shit brickhouse...she was also seriously underaged, but I digress....
Thursday evening...we waited as usual in the line that snaked around the old Paramount Theater. After having played the '71 show in that cement tomb known, appropriately enough, as the Coliseum, FZ played all future Portland shows at the Paramount. I had heard that he liked the acoustics of the old theater, and I know it was a hell of a lot more comfy to be in.
Anyway, as we were standing in line behind the Paramount, I noticed the bus parked at the curb. At first glance it could have been a Greyhound bus, but instead of a sleek racing dog, we were treated instead to the image of an extremely ratty looking mutt belching out the word "Arf!" No Greyhound here, folks. This was "Phydeaux." Then it sank in...
"Phydeaux!" I burst out. "HAHAHAHAHAHA!" My date eyed me suspiciously. "Get it?" I cackled, "Phydeaux! HA ha ha..." She continued to watch me out of the corner of her eye the rest of the evening. She knew I was a Dr. Demento fanatic and she could deal with that, but this Phydeaux thing evidently rattled her a bit...
We finally settled into our seats and the opening act came on. Caravan (no drum sola, tho') was touring in support of their new album (hey Sam, do you still have it?). The only reason this sticks in my mind is because I have this fetish about word weirdities, okay? The album was titled , ahem... "Cunning Stunts." So I guffaw out loud again, much to the consternation of my succulent young date. "Get it?" I gasped, tears streaming down my cheeks. "Cunning stunts! HA HA ha..."
We finally got that out of the way, and it was time for the real show to begin. Whoever introduced the band did so by saying "the strangest bunch of Mothers..." or words to that effect. The band came out sans Frank, and I immediately recognized Roy Estrada from those nostalgic days of the old MOI.
"Hey! It's Roy Estrada!" I yelled. "That's Roy Estrada!" My date had no fucking idea whatsoever who Roy Estrada was. Napoleon Murphy Brock was back, but the other two guys, Andre Lewis on keyboards and Terry Bozzio on drums, were new to me. Andre Lewis left no discernible impression upon my person, but that cute little Terry Ted turned into one of my favorites. He had a style similar to Aynsley Dunbar in the respect that he tended to play the shit out of his drumkit and still play them well. Very aggressive little guy who looked like he was being uncomfortably subdued. He was in Portland a few years back at a drumming demo at some musical instrument store...
"Bongo Fury" had just come out, in fact I think it was a day or two before this show hit town, so I recognized the cuts from that album. "Advanced Romance" "Carolina Hard Core Ecstasy" and of course, "Muffin Man" were performed, "Zoot Allures" would not come out for another year, so I'll be damned if I can recall any of that material being played. In fact, going from "One Size.." to "Bongo Fury" had been such a shock to my system (don't get me wrong, now. I came to love "Bongo Fury" , too, it's just that OSFA is such a perfect thing, ya know?), I had gone back to listening to OSFA exclusively for a considerable length of time...
Anyway, Roy Estrada had on these trousers that had decorative silver buckles down the outside of each leg, sort of like the ones you see in old "Zorro" reruns. Huh? They don't rerun "Zorro" anymore? Haven't for years? Well, then, you're just going to have to form this mental image of Roy in these pants with buckles down the legs. So when Frank introduces the guys in the band, he dubs the good-natured Pachuco Roy "The Buckles Are For A Quick Getaway" Estrada. For no apparent reason I bust out laughing again, drawing curious looks not only from my jailbait date, but from others sitting next to us, wondering, no doubt, if they should get up and move while they still had a chance.
At some point during the show, my date started nudging me with her elbow. I was so lost in the fact that she was actually physically touching me that I didn't realize she was trying to get my attention. The aforementioned Mr. Estrada had found that by holding his bass at a certain angle, he could reflect the light from the overhead gels and direct these blinding flashes of mostly green light straight into my unsuspecting face. This seemed to entertain him greatly, and throughout the rest of the show, usually when I least expected it, POW! Blinding beams of light right in the eyeballs...
After this show there would be a long five year time period that dragged slowly by until I would once again see Mr.Z live and in person. Was the wait worth it? Well, boys and girls, you're just gonna have to wait and see...
Thanks to Sam and/or Karen for correcting my "Camel."
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