Frank Zappa Road Tapes Volume 2 | Helsinki 1973

UPDATE 11/5 9:30 a.m. PT: Over two months after Road Tapes Volume 2 was announced, it’s finally available for purchase via the Zappa online store. There’s still no tracklist but the description reads, “Get on the bus. Next stop Helsinki. House lights go down, Curtain goes up. You sit down and listen up. O Finlandia!” Also of note, the release includes tracks from both August 23 and August 24, 1973. Some of those who ordered the set received shipping notices, so we expect to finally have a tracklist soon.

Here’s our original article from when the release was first announced:

Back on Friday a message was posted on Frank Zappa’s official website which clues us in as to what show will be featured in the next installment of the Road Tapes series of live archival releases. The note reads, “Psssst: Today is the 40th Anniversary of our next release (Road Tapes, Venue 2!!)!” From that we can figure that Road Tapes Volume 2 will contain Frank Zappa and The Mothers Of Invention’s August 23, 1973 performance at Finlandia-talo in Helsinki, Finland.

Little is known about the forthcoming release as the statement on the website is the extent of the Zappa Family Trust’s announcement. What we do know is that Zappa and his band played two shows in Helsinki on the 23rd. Zappa’s band for the shows consisted of the late George Duke on keys, Ralph Humphrey on drums, Tom Fowler on bass, the legendary Jean-Luc Ponty on violin, multi-instrumentalist Ian Underwood, trombonist Bruce Fowler and Ruth Underwood on percussion. Tapes of the performances don’t currently circulate in fan circles and even the setlists aren’t known. For an idea of what was played, here’s a look at the setlists from the shows surrounding the Helsinki ’73 gigs via Zappateers:

1973 08 18 -KB Hallen, København, Denmark

Dupree’s Paradise, Cosmik Debris, Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue, Kung Fu, Penguin In Bondage, Dog Meat, RDNZL, Brown Shoes Don’t Make It, Village Of The Sun, Echidna’s Arf, Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing?, Montana, Farther Oblivion, Mr Green Genes, King Kong, Chunga’s Revenge, Mr Green Genes

1973 08 21 -Solliden, Skansen, Stockholm, Sweden

Cosmik Debris, Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue, Kung Fu, Penguin In Bondage, RDNZL, Montana, improvisations, Dupree’s Paradise (q: Satin Doll), Join The March And Eat My Starch, Farther Oblivion (with last section of Cucamonga played twice)

1973 08 26 -Kalvoya Festivalen, Sandvika, Norway

Village Of The Sun, Echidna’s Arf, Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing?, Cosmik Debris, Montana, Dupree’s Paradise, Brown Shoes Don’t Make It, Mr Green Genes, King Kong, Chunga’s Revenge, Mr Green Genes, Be-Bop Tango excerpt

We’ll be sure to update our readers when a release date and track listing for Road Tapes, Volume 2 has been announced.

Check out a bit of a Zappa press conference from his trip to Finland in 1973: