It’s a well-known fact that in Zappa history, Halloween was not only FZ’s favorite holiday, but also a concert tradition in New York City. Every year, Zappa would play a run of shows over multiple nights during the Halloween holiday. The annual event grew in popularity over the years, culminating in a huge film event in 1977 (See “Baby Snakes - The Movie”) with its peak happening in 1978. Frank’s interaction with his New York audience is stuff of legend and the shows during 1978 reached a fever-pitch. Although Zappa released highlights over a number of albums during his lifetime, fans have waited for decades for the unedited shows to finally be released in superior quality from the master tapes secluded in his famous Vault. Now, for the first time, the 10-31-78 show is being released, newly mixed and mastered from the original 24-track masters in a new deluxe Halloween 78 Box Set. The box will also feature a bonus show, the opening show of the run from 10-27-78.

FZ experimented with adding extended jams and older material, with the show clocking in over 3 and 1/2 hours. He exclaimed “This is it! This is the BIG ONE” as he addressed the crowd in his opening monologue. And it was, for even though the tradition continued as the touring years went on, after 1978 the pace changed. There were no Halloween shows in 1979, and during 1980 FZ unfortunately got sick and couldn’t get through the scheduled shows, causing cancellations. By 1981, although two shows were videotaped with a live broadcast on the then newly established MTV, the attitude and approach seemed to have a different feel, with more of a constructed atmosphere and less audience participation. 1978’s Halloween spectacle seemed to be the peak of an era.

Halloween 78 is 4th in the series of spooky Zappa costume box sets. This time, along with the full 5CD concert set, the maestro appears as the devil with mask, pitchfork (with UV light), and grimoire book featuring concert photos by Lynn Goldsmith, album information, and bespoke artwork. The pitchfork’s UV light illuminates secrets within the packaging.