The Felt Forum on Halloween - Frank Zappa and Frankenstein

If you were a New Yorker in the '70s, you knew the place to be on Halloween night was the Felt Forum. It is currently known as "The Theatre" and it is connected to the Madison Square Garden proper.

The attraction there, as far back as I can remember was "Frank Zappa plays the Felt Forum on Halloween night." I attended several of those shows. The start times were either 7 p.m. or 8 p.m. (I don't exactly recall which) and then the later show which commenced at 11:30 p.m.

I used to work in Madison Square Garden alongside my father, who was a vendor. I know the building well. There used to be a huge bowling alley inside Madison Square Garden as well. I do not know if it is still there today.

In fact I practically grew up in the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. I even remember the old Madison Square Garden, situated on the west side of Eighth Avenue and perhaps 45th Street in New York City. Last I heard these days it is a parking lot. And there was at least one before that. Again I particularly remember the Circus, the Rangers and the NY Knicks. And I know there were a lot of other events hosting there. There was a kind fellow who always had an open season seat for me for the Rangers, and perhaps for the Knicks as well. Gunther Gabel-Williams practically raised me. If you don't know who Gunther was, he was the one who set the stage for the modern day circus continuum.

Back to the Frank Zappa shows on Halloween night. First let me say that if I may I've heard some of the Frank Zappa stuff on Youtube lately and if that's so, with all due respect I think he was a way overrated guitarist. But what did we know at the time, right? Everyone wanted to see Frank Zappa on Halloween. It was a pretty tough ticket, in fact it was a very tough ticket.

For those of you unfamiliar with Frank Zappa, let's just say I've heard he used to do some "very unsavory things" onstage (if you get my drift.) I never saw him do it, but I heard he did it. Then there's the story of the legendary party he threw for a lot of people. What makes it so legendary? He was never there. He never showed up for it.

Frank Zappa on Halloween night was a sight to behold. Take it from a first-hand witness. Of all the people in their Halloween costumes that showed up, the one that sticks out in my mind the most to this very day was a very hideous one. He was a regular blond biker/punker dude, with a baby doll in handcuffs. And a very serious expression on his face. Luckily that child was just a fake. I didn't encounter this Halloween-endowed fellow in the concert hall itself, rather outside and closer to the concession stands. I wonder where that guy is today?

Of all the Halloween costumes, that is the one that is the most front of house in my mind.

Before the Frank Zappa concerts, I got dressed up in white crepe paper by some girls and sent on my way to ring doorbells. I was Frankenstein! What white crepe paper has to do with Frankenstein I do not know, but that was the main idea. I remember on that particular Halloween it was a very cold night. So there is Frankenstein in white crepe paper ringing strange doorbells all over the neighborhood.

I remember on another particular Halloween I was dressed up as a football player. Nothing unusual about that unless you're a football player in full uniform, including helmet. shoulder and thigh pads included, going to a distant place that was then known as Arthur's Round Table on 174th Street and Bronx River Avenue in the Bronx, New York. I have no idea what I was doing at Arthur's Round Table on 174th Street and Bronx River Avenue in the Bronx. But for some strange reason I was there, and inside. So there's a 16 year old football player in full uniform inside Arthur's Round Table around 1974 or so.

I think today's Halloween is going more Goth. And they're preparing already. There's this girl I see in the neighborhood all the time. She usually looks Goth anyway but I saw her a couple of days ago and she looks like she's preparing for her favorite holiday already. They never used to do this in the old days. These days they're celebrating holidays earlier and earlier.