Frank Zappa
Kiel Opera House
St Louis
MO

1981 12 04

~~ SBD/AUD sources edited together ~~

Current FZshows entry:
1981 12 04 - Kiel Opera House, St Louis, MO
90 min, Aud, C
60 min, SBD, B+
The Aud doesn't have Treacherous Cretins; the SBD has the first part until Fine Girl and from Sinister Footwear to Nig Biz.
Treacherous Cretins, Montana, Easy Meat, Society Pages, I'm A Beautiful Guy, Beauty Knows No Pain, Charlie's Enormous Mouth, Fine Girl, Teenage Wind, Harder Than Your Husband, Bamboozled By Love, Sinister Footwear, Stevie's Spanking, Cocaine Decisions, Nig Biz, Tinsel Town Rebellion, King Kong, Sharleena

This copy: 100.23 min, SBD/AUD, B+/C

SBD source: 58.09, SBD, B+
Lineage: Hoosac92 TDK SA90 tape (?? gen, but low) > Pioneer CtW 504R > Avance AC97soundcard > CoolEdit level & phase adjustments, Speed corrected > flac frontend level 8
Taped by: unknown
Collected by: Hoosac92
Transferred and edited by: Kristoftof
Speed verification: Flambay

AUD source: 92.08, Aud, C
Lineage: Hoosac92 (?gen but low) Maxell XLII C90 tape > Pioneer CtW 504R > Avance AC97soundcard > level adjustments > flac frontend level 6 > SF10 (volume adjustments)
Taped by: unknown
Collected by: Hoosac92
Transferred and edited by: Kristoftof
Speed verification: Flambay

This mix: original flac sources > SF10 (editing, volume adjustments, phase offset corrected in the SBD source) > wav > TLH (SBE fixes) > flac
Edited and patched together by: Galeans

== Frank Zappa's Band, September 1981 - July 1982 ==
FZ, Steve Vai, Ray White, Scott Thunes, Chad Wackerman, Ed Mann, Tommy Mars, Bobby Martin

Setlist:

01 Treacherous Cretins [06:47] °°° flaws 3:47-8, 3:56, 4:00-4:17, 4:21-23
02 Montana [03:45]
03 Easy Meat [08:34]
04 Society Pages [02:31]
05 I'm A Beautiful Guy [01:55]
06 Beauty Knows No Pain [02:54]
07 Charlie's Enormous Mouth [03:38] °°° patch from aud source, 0:00-1
08 Fine Girl [03:14] °°° switches to aud source 0:33
09 Teenage Wind [02:59]
10 Harder Than Your Husband [02:34]
11 Bamboozled By Love [05:31]
12 Sinister Footwear [12:32] °°° switches to SBD source 2:11, flaws 11:40-2
13 Stevie's Spanking [08:16]
14 Cocaine Decisions [03:30]
15 Nig Biz [05:16] °°° switches to aud source 5:15
16 Tinsel Town Rebellion [04:20]
17 King Kong [13:27]
18 Sharleena [08:32] °°° cut/flaw 8:12, cuts out, music missing

Total time: 100.23 min

This show has been circulating forever from two incomplete sources both containing material exclusive to each other. None of them represents the complete show but the only way to hear all of what's available is to edit the two together something that, as far as I know, it's being done now for the first time. It's not surprising that this hasn't been attempted before: both sources come from substandard sounding tapes. Also, it sounds like both sources come from deranged versions of original masters that were likely better. The board tape sports an interesting stereo mix but has a weird sound like it's coming from a high generation tape or has been dubbed with a faulty deck, although it gets a little bit better after the cut/glitch on "Charlie's Enormous Mouth", while the audience recording sounds like it comes from a tape that has been demagnetized: hissy and muffled but with intellegible vocals and instruments. Since I thought most collectors may want to hear both without going through both sources I figured that it could have been a good idea to join them together: of course the original seeds will remain on the tracker for the completists. I fixed some phase offset problems on the SBD source and eliminated a nasty click on "Sinister Footwear" in the process. I also tried to match the audience source volume to the SBD as much as possible but it still isn't exactly pretty: however I think this is the best I can do.

Not a bad show at all, although it's a bit eerie nowadays to look at the date in which it was recorded. By this time the band was tight and comfortable and Frank's playing was fantastic. This is not the most exctiting setlist you could imagine (no "Drowning Witch", no "What’s New in Baltimore", no "Alien Orifice") but it does contain some very good solos on "Treacherous Cretins", "Sinister Footwear", "Easy Meat" and "Stevie's Spanking". It's a pity that this version of "King Kong" isn't captured on a better sounding tape because it really is pretty good, although there's an awkward key change just before FZ's solo. So this is not for the casual collectors but I wouldn't label it as a completists only item either. If you like 1981 and you are a bit advanced in tape collecting this is one to get.

Credits:
Thanks to the unknown taper(s)
Thanks to Hoosac92 for collecting the original tapes!
Thanks to Kristoftof for transferring them and for the original seeds!

Enjoy !!

Brought to you by Hoosac92, Kristoftof and Galeans!

www.zappateers.com/bb - July 2020