Captain Beefheart & THe Magic Band
Aragon Ballroom, Chicago
1972-10-13

Lineage: Audience>tape (unknown gen)>WAV (Wavelab)>FLAC (level 8, Trader's Little Helper)

Setlist:
01. cut Low Yo Yo Stuff (1:24)
02. Nowadays A Woman's Gotta Hit A Man (1:38) cut
03. Clear Spot (2:57)
04. Old Black Snake (2:16)
05. Band Intro (0:28)
06. Sugar 'n Spikes (0:56) cut
07. Too Much Time (1:51)
08. Crazy Little Thing (2:45)
09. One Red Rose That I Mean (2:35)
10. I'm Gonna Booglarize You Baby (4:51)
11. Click Clack (3:53)
12. Alice In Blunderland (4:02)
13. Circumstances (3:38)
14. Big Eyed Beans From Venus (4:34)
15. Golden Birdies (2:58)
16. Bass Solo (3:16)
17. Steal Softly Thru Snow (3:49)

Total length: 47:51

Quality: 7/10. Lots of gaps between the tracks and in the tracks carefully removed.

Line-Up:
Captain Beefheart/Don Van Vliet: vocals, harmonica
Rockette Morton/Mark Boston: bass guitar, guitar
Orï¿½jon/Audi Hon/Roy Estrada: bass guitar
Zoot Horn Rollo/Bill Harkleroad: guitar, slide guitar
Ed Marimba/Art Tripp: drums, percussion

Dave Bunk and Mike Fitzgerald saw Beefheart at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago.
Dave: Was fortunate enough to see the Captain and band three times; the aforementioned Phoenix, at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago and at a club in Minneapolis. As for the Captain - if your're listening "it's alright, God dug your dance...".
(Graham Johnston's guestbook)
Mike: We saw them in 1972. I was living in New Jersey in 1973. I remember a band Trapeze opened. Later the group Sailcat came on and did Motorcycle Mama ("We'll see the world from my Harley"). People started chanting Beefheart, Beefheart, Beefheart. A member of the Sailcat said "Come on give us a chance" but the chanting just got louder. All in all ........... a good time was had by all.

Jim Ryan listed Beefheart gigs he saw:  Oct 19, 73 (must have been 1972) Aragon Ballroom Chicago w/Trapeze (Glenn Hughes) and Sailcat (Motorcycle Mama).
(Fireparty People)

Hot Scott Fisher: Friday the thirteenth, indeed it was. It was clearly a Beefheartian crowd but for a few Trapeze fans...
As we all know, Chicago is renowned for having its roots firmly planted in the blues. That, of course, makes it fertile territory for Captain Beefheart who unmistakingly got his start with the idiom (listen to his Buddha LP Safe As Milk or an obscure A&M single from the mid-sixties Frying Pan). No matter how far from its standards he journeyed in his avantgarde jazz - verbal, imagery period well expressed on Trout Mask Replica and Lick My Decals Off, Baby he never really lost touch with it, he just used it as a launching pad for widely unexplored musical regions. Now, he's returned to his original foundation, albeit more freely and loosely structured than the norm, thanks to the wildly imaginative rhythms concocted by Drumbo.
Drumbo's incredible technique shatters the boundaries of predictability abetted by the highly individualistic polyrhythmic bass and steel appendage guitar, put together as one instrument, played by the invincible Rockette Morton. The unique sounds that emanate from the glass finger slide guitar of virtuoso Zoot Horn Rollo along with the marvelous bass runs of newcomer ex-Mother Roy Estrada rounded out the current roster of the always brilliant Magic Band.
The Captain no longer blows a frenzied sax or clarinet, concentrating instead on harmonica and his Grandmamyish singing voice. He and the Magic men performed the title track from Clear Spot, as well as what's sure to become a new dance craze, The Yo Yo. Also the surreal Big Eyed Beans From Venus and several other new things never done before. Unaccompanied save by harp, he impressed with John Lee Hooker's Black Snake Blues. Zoot was allowed to exhibit his melodic charm on the only cut still done live from Decals, the exquisite One Red Rose That I Mean. The band minus the Captain demonstrated their commensurate ability on Alice In Blunderland. Unfortunately, the rare appearance of probably the most underrated band in the states was cut short by Zoot seriously cutting his slide propelling finger. But Don Van Vliet promised they'd be back so until next time there'll be plenty to remember.
(Scott Fisher: Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band In The Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, Illinois. Phonograph Record Magazine, April 1973)