Zappa Family Affair

88/02/06 Beacon Theatre, NYC, NY

On this February evening in '88, FZ played his very last concert in New York City (he would return to the State, but not the Big Apple).

Magical things usually occurred when Frank played New York; this night was no exception The Family - except for Gail - joined Zappa on stage near the end of the evening. Mike Keneally said, "At this point, buffoonery was the order of the day." Here some candid shots from that evening. The set list is provided, with accompanying colorful commentary, for your mental enjoyment of these Photographic morsels.

(The corollation of pics to the set-list is a wild ass guess, and probably not correct, but who gives a fuck?)

1. Stinkfoot
2. I Ain't Got No Heart
3. Love Of My Life - Pic #1
4. Bamboozed By Love - Pic #2
5. Peaches En Regalia
6. Heavy Duty Judy
7. We're Turning Again - Pic #3
8. Packard Goose
9. When The Lie's So Big - Pics #4 & 5
10. Planet Of The Baritone Women
11. Any Kind Of Pain
12. Jesus Thinks You're A Jerk
13. Sofa - Pic #6
14. Intermission / Registration
15. Who Needs The Peace Corps
16. Torture/Burt/Torture - Pics #7 thru 10
17. King Kong - interrupted by the mixing console shorting out (some asshole in the balcony dropped a beer on it). Stairway To Heaven
18. The Closer You Are/Johnny Darling - Pic #11 - Guest appearance by Diva Zappa during The Closer You Are/Johnny Darling. Diva came out, and Frank sang "The Closer You Are" to her, and that was actually very sweet. That was one of the better moments of the show.
19. No No Cherry - Pics #12 & 13 - Diva joined by Moon. And then Moon came out and Diva and Moon danced to "No No Cherry", very well.
20. The Man From Utopia/Mary Lou - Guest appearance by Ahmet. Ahmet came out, inimitable Ahmet came out, and they all cavorted to "The Man From Utopia Meets Mary Lou". And Diva did a cartwheel and got a huge reaction from the audience, so she did about nineteen more cartwheels, and then Moon did some cartwheels, and then Ahmet did a cartwheel...later that night I complimented him on his cartwheel and he was genuinely anxious to know whether it actually looked good, and I reassured him that it was good, he wasn't all bent up and it really looked pretty cool. At this point, buffoonery was the order of the day.
21. Whipping Post - Pic # 14 - Guest appearance by Dweezil. Dweezil came on and did a guitar solo.
22. Watermelon In Easter Hay