The Mole Show, Pasadena, October 31st 1982
On October 31st 1982, The Residents performed The Mole Show at Perkins Palace in Pasadena, California. This, the last show of the American leg of the tour, followed two shows at The Roxy in Los Angeles the previous evening.
For this show, The Residents were supported by Los Angeles new wave band Wall of Voodoo. There was apparently some tension on the night between The Residents and the support act, who supposedly felt that they should be the headliners;[1] indeed, many audience members are said to have left the venue after Wall of Voodoo finished their set, thinking that the show was over.[2]
A mono tape recording of this show, made by audience member Mike Martin, was released as an unofficial CD-R in 2008, and has since circulated among fans over the internet.
History
The Perkins Palace show on October 31st 1982 was the fifth and final show on the American leg of The Residents' Mole Show tour. For this sold-out show,[3] The Residents shared the bill with Los Angeles new wave band Wall of Voodoo, who had recently experienced a minor hit with their single "Mexican Radio", from their second album, Call of the West.
It had been agreed in advance that, as the show fell on Halloween, The Residents would headline the show and would perform last, however, on the night of the show, members of Wall of Voodoo confronted The Residents and promoters of the show, insisting that Wall of Voodoo should be the headlining act. The Residents were apparently "blasé" in response to this, with one Resident quoted as saying "This band with guitars and drums want to go on after The Mole Show? Sure, we'll go first." When this was relayed to Wall of Voodoo, they ultimately backed down, agreeing to play first as the support act.[1]
Despite the tensions, Wall of Voodoo member Stan Ridgway later explained that the band were "honored to open for The Residents... We of course knew them to be the true inventors and pioneers of a DIY music/art approach that totally inspired others like ourselves to push forward with our own visions that were independent of the mainstream at the time. They inspired everyone, and we were big fans! [...] It was truly a high point for us to be included on such a groundbreaking night."[4]
Wall of Voodoo opened at 8pm, and received a "rapturous" reception from the crowd.[3] Apparently "at least 80%" of the audience began to leave after Wall of Voodoo's set, believing that the show was over; the staff of the theater attempted to tell departing audience members that another band would be performing.[3][2]
After a 45 minute intermission, The Residents' Mole Show began. The show's narrator Penn Jillette had broken his foot at a show at the Roxy in Los Angeles two days earlier, and so performed his monologues sitting down at stage right.[3] Jillette was not received well by the "drunk" crowd,[3] with his monologues often being met with heckles from the audience.
Reception
The Perkins Palace show was reviewed in issue #2 of Chris Phinney's fanzine Malice. The reviewer was mostly unimpressed by Wall of Voodoo's "less dynamic" new line-up and the "relative weakness of their newer material", but praised The Residents' "ambitious" performance, stating that "I can't describe (even begin to) what a thrill it was to see these guys on stage", and singling out Penn Jillette's monologues as "funny and informative, considering the cryptic quality of The Residents' allegory and the sound system at Perkins."[3]
Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo was in attendance at the show,[5][6][7] and later recalled that The Mole Show "really looked like a high school production. There were people with cardboard things where the craft paper was peeling off of the front thing 'cause it wasn't tacked down right... they were all in leotards and stuff, and carrying this stuff around and people would run out with a little flashlight. It looked so dinky!"[5]
Almost forty years later, Stan Ridgway of Wall of Voodoo remembered the show fondly, recalling the "wild concepts, the mysterious stories, and costumes, lighting and staging. It was fantastic. The atmosphere and music was otherworldly and transported us. Ancient and modern all at once... It was so original and different. It all made us feel like the FUTURE was on stage, and everybody else would have to catch up fast or fall behind."[4]
Set list
Act One
Act Two
- Smack Your Lips (Clap Your Teeth)
- Another Land
- The New Machine
- Song of the Wild
- Final Confrontation
- Satisfaction [Note 1]
- Happy Home [Note 1]
Bootleg CD-R
A bootleg recording of the show was made by audience member Mike Martin, from around forty to fifty feet away from the stage, using a mono Sony TC-55 tape recorder with built-in microphone and auto record level. The recording features the full show, except the presumed final two numbers, "Satisfaction" and "Happy Home". One of the notable highlights of this show is the audience being rather rude to Penn Jillette while he shares his woes of losing his home. During this narration segment, a man can even be heard saying "WHO CARES!" Penn also references their tour manager Bill Gerber and the opening act Wall of Voodoo after "The New Machine".
The recording was released by Flying -M- Productions in 2008 as a bootleg CD-R titled Perkins Palace - Pasadena, California - October 31, 1982 - Halloween Show. More recently, this bootleg has been distributed among fans freely over the internet.
Track listing
- Introduction Music
- Voices of the Air
- The Secret Seed
- Introduction
- Won't You Keep Us Working?
- First Warning
- Back to Normality?
- The Sky Falls!
- Narration
- God of Darkness
- More Narration
- March to the Sea
- The Observer
- Hole Workers' New Hymn
- Another Land
- Narration
- Rumors
- Arrival
- Deployment / Saturation
- Still More Narration
- Idea
- Ugly Rumors
- Construction
- Failure / Reconstruction
- Success
- Upset Narration
- Call of the Wild
- Driving the Moles Away
- Don't Tread on Me
- The Short War
- Frantic Narration
- Resident Speech
See also
- The Mole Show (tour)
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The show's last two songs, "Satisfaction" and "Happy Home", are not included on the audience recording of the show; as these two songs closed every other show on the tour, it is presumed that they were performed on the night and were simply not recorded by the bootlegger.
External links and references
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ian Shirley, Never Known Questions: Five Decades of The Residents, Cherry Red Books, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Went to see Wall Of Voodoo on Oct. 31, 1982, at Perkins Palace in Pasadena Ca. They were touring in support of the album 'Call Of The West'. After they played their set at least 80% of the audience left thinking the show was over. The staff of the theater were trying to tell everyone that another band was going to play. So I stayed and ended up seeing 'The Mole Show'. Had heard of the Residents but did not know much about them. This live show was quite an introduction." "robertstephens156", comment posted on YouTube, ca. July 2025
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Hal McGee, "Chris Phinney's Malice Fanzine - Part 1: issues 1-5", Electronic Cottage, April 18th 2019
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Aaron Tanner, The Residents: A Sight for Sore Eyes, Vol. 1, Melodic Virtue, 2022, p. 311
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Richard Henderson, "Mark Mothersbaugh Unedited Transcript", The Wire, May 2009
- ↑ "They played Perkin's Palace on Halloween after the Roxy shows. Wall of Voodoo opened with a killer set. Stood in line right behind Mark Mothersbaugh at the concession booth as people yelled out Devo lines. Good times." "Mrtapp5357", comment posted on YouTube, ca. 2021
- ↑ "I met Mark at a Residents concert at Perkins Palace in Pasadena back in 1982. I still have the autograph." "Future_Aerie54", comment posted on Reddit, May 20th 2024
