Frank Zappa’s most famous live ritual returns from the vault this month with Halloween 78: Live At The Palladium, New York City, the latest instalment in the late composer’s long-running “costume party” concert series. Out 24 October via Zappa Records and UMe, the new collection revives one of his most mischievous line-ups and celebrates the height of his creative madness.
By the late 1970s, Zappa’s Halloween shows had become legend. Every October, New York’s Palladium would transform into a five-night carnival of virtuoso musicianship, absurdist theatre and unfiltered satire. Fans would arrive in costume, Zappa’s band would take the stage in masks and wigs, and the music would shift between jazz-rock precision and comedic chaos. These shows were so integral to his identity that Zappa once described them as “an annual reminder that anything worth doing is worth doing in excess”.
The Halloween 78 set captures two complete shows recorded on 27 and 28 October 1978, newly mixed in 2024 from the original two-inch 24-track tapes by Craig Parker Adams. The release features 37 previously unreleased live tracks across a three-CD and Blu-ray Audio collection, with the Blu-ray offering the full concerts in 96kHz/24-bit Dolby Atmos, 5.1 surround and stereo formats. For vinyl lovers, a special 5-LP “Highlights From Halloween 78” edition will also be issued, pressed on pumpkin orange wax.
The 1978 band was one of Zappa’s fiercest. Joining him were Terry Bozzio on drums, Patrick O’Hearn on bass, Tommy Mars and Peter Wolf on keyboards, Ed Mann on percussion and Denny Walley on guitar and vocals. Together they tore through a setlist that mixed complex instrumentals with crowd favourites, from Peaches En Regalia to Bobby Brown Goes Down. The Halloween residency also showcased new material from Sheik Yerbouti, which would arrive the following year as Zappa’s first major hit of the disco era.
The concerts also included an early version of Yo’ Mama and the notorious Titties & Beer, a song that captured the outrageous theatre of Zappa’s humour and his ability to make sharp social commentary through absurd storytelling. These moments, now restored in full fidelity, remind fans that Zappa was not only a master guitarist but also one of rock’s great provocateurs.
Halloween 78 continues a series of archival releases that began with Halloween 77, Halloween 81 and Halloween 83, each documenting Zappa’s evolving live persona. The Halloween 77 set, issued in 2017, was famously packaged with a Zappa costume mask and a USB candy bar containing six full concerts. While Halloween 81 marked his embrace of video technology, Halloween 78 captures him at the peak of his jazz-rock fusion era, commanding a band that could navigate any rhythmic labyrinth he imagined.
Zappa’s connection to New York was unique. Though born in Baltimore and raised in California, the city’s intellectual energy and countercultural edge made it his spiritual home. The Palladium (formerly the Academy of Music) hosted his most elaborate stage productions, blending the avant-garde with showbiz parody. His final Palladium performance in 1981 closed a chapter that defined him as one of the most fearless live performers of his time.
Since Zappa’s passing in 1993, his vast archive has been curated by the Zappa Family Trust, now led by his son Ahmet. The ongoing Halloween series reflects the family’s commitment to preserving not just the music, but the sense of theatre and humour that defined his concerts. “Dad loved the Halloween shows,” Ahmet Zappa says.
“They were a space where his imagination could run wild, and where audiences became part of the performance.”
FRANK ZAPPA: HALLOWEEN 78 DELUXE EDITIONS
Tracklists
5CD SUPER DELUXE EDITION
CD 1
Disc 1: Live At The Palladium, NYC / 10-31-78
1. 10-31-78 Show Start
2. Ancient Armaments
3. “Happy Halloween Everybody!”
4. Dancin’ Fool
5. Easy Meat
6. Honey, Don’t You Want A Man Like Me?
7. Keep It Greasy
8. The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing
9. City Of Tiny Lites
10. Pound For A Brown
11. Thirteen
12. The Story Of Ms. X
13. Nancy
Disc 2: Live At The Palladium, NYC / 10-31-78
Continued
1. Dinah-Moe Humm
2. Go Cry On Somebody Else’s Shoulder
3. Little Rubber Girl
4. The Idiot Bastard Son
5. Bobby Brown Goes Down
6. Conehead
7. Suicide Chump
8. Little House I Used To Live In
9. Watermelon In Easter Hay
10. Stink-Foot
Disc 3: Live At The Palladium, NYC / 10-31-78
Continued
1. Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance
2. Peaches En Regalia
3. Strictly Genteel
4. Sofa #2
5. Packard Goose
6. Magic Fingers
7. Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow
8. Nanook Rubs It
9. St. Alfonzo’s Pancake Breakfast
10. Father O’Blivion
11. Rollo
12. Camarillo Brillo
13. Muffin Man
14. Black Napkins / The Deathless Horsie
Disc 4: Live At The Palladium, NYC / 10-27-78 – Show 1
1. 10-27-78 Show 1 Opening
2. Dancin’ Fool
3. Easy Meat
4. Honey, Don’t You Want A Man Like Me?
5. Keep It Greasy
6. The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing
7. City Of Tiny Lites
8. A Pound For A Brown
9. Bobby Brown Goes Down
10. Conehead
11. Dance Contest
Disc 5: Live At The Palladium, NYC / 10-27-78 – Show 1
Continued
1. The Black Page #2
2. Dance Contest Aftermath
3. Little House I Used To Live In
4. Magic Fingers
5. Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow
6. Nanook Rubs It
7. St. Alfonzo’s Pancake Breakfast
8. Father O’Blivion
9. Rollo
10. “Let Me Explain This To You. . .”
11. Dinah-Moe Humm
12. Camarillo Brillo
13. Muffin Man
14. Peaches En Regalia
2LP “CANDY CORN” VINYL + POP-OUT PAPER MASK EDITION
LP One – Side 1
1. 10-31-78 Show Start
2. Ancient Armaments
3. “Happy Halloween Everybody!”
4. Dancin’ Fool
5. Easy Meat
LP One – Side 2
1. Conehead
2. Suicide Chump
LP Two – Side 3
1. Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow
2. Nanook Rubs It
3. St. Alfonzo’s Pancake Breakfast
4. Father O’Blivion
5. Rollo
6. Camarillo Brillo
7. Muffin Man
LP Two – Side 4
1. Black Napkins / The Deathless Horsie
2LP “BLOOD SPATTER” VINYL EDITION
LP One – Side 1
1. 10-31-78 Show Start
2. Ancient Armaments
3. “Happy Halloween Everybody!”
4. Dancin’ Fool
5. Easy Meat
LP One – Side 2
1. Conehead
2. Suicide Chump
LP Two – Side 3
1. Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow
2. Nanook Rubs It
3. St. Alfonzo’s Pancake Breakfast
4. Father O’Blivion
5. Rollo
6. Camarillo Brillo
7. Muffin Man
LP Two – Side 4
1. Black Napkins / The Deathless Horsie
1CD EDITION
1. 10-31-78 Show Start
2. Ancient Armaments
3. “Happy Halloween Everybody!”
4. Dancin’ Fool
5. Easy Meat
6. Conehead
7. Suicide Chump
8. Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow
9. Nanook Rubs It
10. St. Alfonzo’s Pancake Breakfast
11. Father O’Blivion
12. Rollo
13. Camarillo Brillo
14. Muffin Man
15. Black Napkins / The Deathless Horsie
SUPER DELUXE DIGITAL EDITION
CD 1
Disc 1: Live At The Palladium, NYC / 10-31-78
1. 10-31-78 Show Start
2. Ancient Armaments
3. “Happy Halloween Everybody!”
4. Dancin’ Fool
5. Easy Meat
6. Honey, Don’t You Want A Man Like Me?
7. Keep It Greasy
8. The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing
9. City Of Tiny Lites
10. Pound For A Brown
11. Thirteen
12. The Story Of Ms. X
13. Nancy
Disc 2: Live At The Palladium, NYC / 10-31-78
Continued
1. Dinah-Moe Humm
2. Go Cry On Somebody Else’s Shoulder
3. Little Rubber Girl
4. The Idiot Bastard Son
5. Bobby Brown Goes Down
6. Conehead
7. Suicide Chump
8. Little House I Used To Live In
9. Watermelon In Easter Hay
10. Stink-Foot
Disc 3: Live At The Palladium, NYC / 10-31-78
Continued
1. Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance
2. Peaches En Regalia
3. Strictly Genteel
4. Sofa #2
5. Packard Goose
6. Magic Fingers
7. Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow
8. Nanook Rubs It
9. St. Alfonzo’s Pancake Breakfast
10. Father O’Blivion
11. Rollo
12. Camarillo Brillo
13. Muffin Man
14. Black Napkins / The Deathless Horsie
Disc 4: Live At The Palladium, NYC / 10-27-78 – Show 1
1. 10-27-78 Show 1 Opening
2. Dancin’ Fool
3. Easy Meat
4. Honey, Don’t You Want A Man Like Me?
5. Keep It Greasy
6. The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing
7. City Of Tiny Lites
8. A Pound For A Brown
9. Bobby Brown Goes Down
10. Conehead
11. Dance Contest
Disc 5: Live At The Palladium, NYC / 10-27-78 – Show 1
Continued
1. The Black Page #2
2. Dance Contest Aftermath
3. Little House I Used To Live In
4. Magic Fingers
5. Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow
6. Nanook Rubs It
7. St. Alfonzo’s Pancake Breakfast
8. Father O’Blivion
9. Rollo
10. “Let Me Explain This To You. . .”
11. Dinah-Moe Humm
12. Camarillo Brillo
13. Muffin Man
14. Peaches En Regalia
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