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FZ Memory #3
1 October 1981
Paramount Theater
Portland, Oregon
by Sam Rouse
October 1, 1981 (I actually still have a ticket stub from this one) - FZ is playing back-to-back shows at Portland's Paramount, and this time we bought tickets to both. This proved to be a good choice (though not for the expected reason - more on this later), as the two shows had very few repeat numbers. I prepared for the occasion by having a custom T-shirt made which read, "Yes, Virginia, there is a free lunch - we are eating it now" (You Are What You Is having just been released.)
Strangely enough, even though this show was more recent than the previous Joe's Garage-era performance (and seeing two in a row a major infusion of music), less of it stands out in my memory. The sets featured a high percentage of songs that I was familiar with (though by now I had acquired the entire catalog), and more of the vocal tunes that folks tend to be familiar with - songs like Dinah Moe Humm, Florentine Pogen, and Muffin Man - but FZ apparently was also departing from his past tendency to perform mostly as-yet unreleased material. The lineup as I recall it included Ike Willis, Chad Wackerman, Ed Mann, and Bobby Martin (any corrections welcome). John Smothers was present again, but seemed pretty relaxed and mostly hung out at the side of the stage, smoking cigarettes and having no need to tuck 'em behind his ear.
The most memorable event for me was a bit of Frank's unique conducting style which is a bit hard to describe. At the end of one of the sets as the song drew to a close, Frank raised his hands and began a pantomime of crumpling the music into a ball. The players produced a cacophony of sound that really did give the impression of music (the audible kind as opposed to the written kind) being wadded up. Finally, the music crumpled into a small wad, Frank tossed it to the floor, and the set ended with a small "poot!"
Part of the reason for getting tickets to both shows was the belief that having tickets to both would allow us to stay in the lobby between shows, so that we would be able to get good seats for at least the second one. This proved to be unfounded, however - after an increasingly heated "discussion" involving us, some other concert-goers who had made the same assumption, and a toady of the local promoter who seemed to enjoy this opportunity to demonstrate his authori-tay, we had to go out to the end of a line that circled the block. Our efforts were rewarded with nosebleed seats in the upper balcony. Fortunately, this was the only sour note on an otherwise great evening.
Sad to say, this is the last time I had the chance to see Frank perform.
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