Frank Zappa at the RPI Fieldhouse — November 6, 1976

On November 6, 1976, Frank Zappa played the RPI Fieldhouse in Troy, a Saturday-night stop on a fall tour that came just weeks after Zoot Allures arrived on Warner Bros. Using “The Purple Lagoon” as a recurring interlude, the band moved from “Stink-Foot” and the spoken-word “Poodle Lecture” into “Dirty Love,” “The Torture Never Stops” and “City of Tiny Lites,” then a guitar showcase on “Black Napkins” before “Dinah-Moe Humm,” “Camarillo Brillo” and a closing “Muffin Man.” It was the short-lived fall ’76 lineup, with Terry Bozzio on drums and Eddie Jobson on keyboards and violin. Fifty years later, it remains one of the great nights in the Fieldhouse’s long run of campus concerts.