Genoa ’82

Back in July 1982, Frank and the boys played a series of shows down in Italy that to my mind are as good a bunch of gigs as any you will find down the years. This week we feature the fourth of these shows, a dirty distorted evening in Genoa if ever I heard one. Yes, the sound isn’t perfect, but, as Pat Buzby once put it, “the somewhat distorted sound fits the music, as the Night of the Deadly Pizza is one aggressive show”. And so it is.

It starts with what is probably my personal favourite opening tune for any FZ band, the magnificent Mammy Anthem. The opening few bars still send shivers down my spine. From there on in, great FZ solos abound… yeah, I know, I always say that… but it just happens to always be true. Frank is at his most threatening and malevolent tonight, ripping his way through Easy Meat, RDNZL, Advance Romance, Drowning Witch, Tiny Lites, the Black Page (oh, that King Kong vamp) and the Enema Bandit. The band are, quite simply, top-notch throughout. 

This is one of those shows that may well necessitate a brief lie down afterwards. Following which, I suggest you go straight out and beg, steal or borrow the rest of the shows from Frank’s 1982 Italian adventure. Alternatively, you could simply holler, preferably from a nearby rooftop, a huge happy birthday to the President of the Chad Wackerman Liberation Front… the one, the only, the inimitable, (the very scary when she wants to be)… Dr. Sharleena!

25 thoughts on “Genoa ’82”

  1. only listened to a few songs but you’re right this show is killer!
    i like that cool mini theme on the solo of drowning witch part 2.
    and stinkfoot !

  2. You’re right; the sound quality is crap! However, didn’t the UMRK mobile attend throughout this tour? (See disc 2 of YCTOSA 5) In which case, there should be a nice high quality 24 track analog tape of this show sitting around somewhere in the ‘Vault’. So come on, Joe – get it baked and out in stores pronto!

  3. Distorted, yes. Crap, no. The sound fits the concert (put on the headphones and crank up the volume). Now, if you want a really crap sounding show I believe I could probably find a few……

    Btaim, following on from your suggestion to Joe, can you imagine all the Italian ’82 shows in a nice little box set? Now that certainly would be something special.

  4. Thanks, sounds good despite the fuzz.
    I have Pistoia, Genoa, and Milano, which city was the other show in?

    Did he play in Italy much?

    The ’82 band was a great group.

  5. Sick year of shows. i’ve got 5/21 Koeln Germany, 5/29 Les Arenes, 6/8 Hanburg (Hamburg?), and 7/7 milan. fave has to be the hanburg show though, just a ripping night of guitar work. that was actually a recent post on here i think. Thanks for this, haven’t listened yet but will surely enjoy it.

    side note: anyone have any taste for phish? i’ve been really trolling the boot scene lately and gotta say – ol’ trey approaches the guitar from a similar place as eff-zee. the bands certainly are quite different, but it’s apparent that Z was a big influence to these guys. that’s without mentioning that they skipped out on a gig to see frank on the ’88 tour. and that they covered peaches (among theres?). and came close to performing joe’s garage for their halloween 96 (?) concert, in their tradition of choosing an entire album to cover for the h’ween show every year; unfortunately they bailed due to FZ’s insistence that watermelon should never be played by anyone else, ever. those are the rumors anyway. (sorry to be wordy & off-topic. probst, Mr. “barry’s imaginary publisher”)

  6. phish?????
    pwaJJJJJJJ!!!!!!
    how about some real music??
    LINK
    that’s Sir W.A.Yankovic to you, thank you.

  7. sound is ok really, can’t complain really when compared to that palermo one after!

    advance romance solo is a thing of mangled beauty!

  8. I like the idea of an “Italy ’82” box a lot! All shows from the italian leg of the 1982 tour that i have listened to so far (thanks to KUR) have a very special “feel” to them. Full of meanness, uglyness, soloing beauty, stunt guitar and some riots, too. Yeah, give us that box, Joe!

  9. Jeeezis Christ! Chad Wackerman went crazy on Tiny Lites!!!! Woooowww!!! Constant kickdrum punishment! Heavy!!! Never heard him playing like this! (Might it be for Sharleena?…)

  10. Eh phish uses too much drugs. I saw a them do a hurrendous version of Peaches once. But they do have some good stuff.

  11. After listening a few times, I’ve realzied this is the best ’82 Italy show i’ve heard so far. So much energy. Love Eddie’s laughs.

  12. Fyi, the show took place a couple of days after Italy had beaten West Germany to win the World Cup. Everyone was still celebrating the win, so the police were there in large numbers (as, it is said, were the Mob, who “owned” the venue) and started to fire tear gas into the presumably rowdy crowd. In the subsequent melee, three people died. If you listen to the released version of Cocaine Decisions from this show on YCDTOSA#3 you can hear the gas grenades being fired into the audience.

  13. Thanks for the info about the riot. For what it’s worth, the Pistoia show on July 8 has my vote as favorite. Great sound & secret wordage!

  14. “In the subsequent melee, three people died. If you listen to the released version of Cocaine Decisions from this show on YCDTOSA#3 you can hear the gas grenades being fired into the audience. ”

    It’s just a rumor, other guys says there were no victims ;)
    Barry Miles says 3 people died, so it must not be true! LOL :D

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