A few photographs have surfaced taken at the Trout Mask Replica band’s only live gig. This was at the Aquarius Theater in Los Angeles on 31st March 1969. Find out more about the Aquarius show. Thanks to R. Michael DeChellis for permission to post his photographs here on the Radar Station. You can get good quality copies at his website and while you’re there check the other bands’ photos too – https://www.dechellisphotography.com/ (Note: website address updated July 2022) Here are two of Don with his sax: And here in all his sartorial splendour is Jeff Cotton (aka Antennae Jimmy Semens):    Read More →

Sent to me by William, this was a 1982, Ice Cream For Crow-era promo shot for Virgin Records. Note the discreet reappearance of Don’s clothes peg as seen on the sleeve of Doc at the Radar Station.Read More →

Sent to me by Rick Snyder, this was a 1975, Bat Chain Puller-era promo shot for DiscReet Records, featuring the newly revitalised, post-Tragic, Magic Band.   L-R: Elliot Ingber, Don Van Vliet, Denny Walley, Bruce Fowler, John French (front)Read More →

An account of a concert at the Stanhope, New Jersey, 6 December 1980. This article and photographs are by Raymond Ricker and originally appeared at Home Page Replica. The show in question was held the night after the Boston, MA show at the Stanhope Club – Stanhope, New Jersey on 6th December 1980. The club was traditionally used to house Country & Western bands. I showed up, with 3 friends, about 2 hours before the scheduled start. As luck would have it, the Magic Band (minus Don) was in the middle of a sound check and they invited us to sit in. For most ofRead More →

I was very pleased to receive some photographs taken at a 40th Birthday Tour show which took place on Saturday 17th January 1981 at the Commodore Ballroom, in Vancouver, British Columbia. They were sent to me by Greg Gardner, who writes: I saw the Captain play twice – 2 days apart on his 40th Birthday Tour. Once in Vancouver, BC, and two days later in Bellingham, Washington. A friend and I managed to get in for the soundcheck at the Vancouver show, at which time I met up with a photographer for the newspaper there who knew nothing about Captain Beefheart, yet had been assignedRead More →

Many thanks to Klaas Brouwer for very kindly sending along these photos and giving his permission to feature them here. They were all taken on 4th November 1980 at De Brinkhoeve in Roden, Holland. Copyright held by the photographer, Klaas Brouwer. Used by permission, not to be reproduced for commercial use.Read More →

Many thanks to Hans Van Hulst for sending along these splendid photographs and giving his permission to feature them here. They were all taken on 1st November 1980 at the Paradiso in Amsterdam, Holland; a semi-legendary show due to it being recorded for a radio broadcast and subsequently widely bootlegged. Hans writes: In 1980 I attended the concert in Paradiso, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The band was late, so by the time the audience arrived they were still tuning up behind closed doors. I was standing right in front of those doors, trying to peek in. I could see all kinds of people on stage, but noRead More →

Mike White’s photographs of Don in action were sent to me by Charles Holzhauer, and were taken by his friend Mike White. Another of Charles’ friends, Paul, can be seen with Don in the final picture. Charles thought that they were taken at The Stone in San Francisco on the last tour which would make the date 23 January 1981. Can anyone confirm that? Many thanks for sending these, Charles, and a big thankyou to Mike for agreeing to their being featured here. Copyright held by the photographer, Michael White. Used by permission, not to be reproduced for commercial use.Read More →

This photo was taken and very kindly sent to me by John Petraitis who was at a Frank Zappa gig in Bloomington Illinois when Captain Beefheart appeared as a special guest (centre left, in front of the drums, pointing at the camera – click the pic for a larger version). The show took place 12 May 1975. Many thanks to John for sending this along and for his permission to feature it here. Copyright held by the photographer, John Petraitis. Used by permission, not to be reproduced for commercial use.Read More →

These photographs were all taken by Rik Walton on 4 June 1974 at Newcastle Upon Tyne City Hall on what has become pejoratively known as the Tragic Band tour. Click on any of the images to go to Rik’s website where you’ll find larger versions and information about purchasing prints from him. [one_third][/one_third][one_third][/one_third][one_third_last][/one_third_last] [one_third][/one_third] [one_third][/one_third] [one_third_last][/one_third_last] Copyright held by the photographer, Rik Walton. Used by permission, not to be reproduced for commercial use.Read More →

These two photographs were taken by Michael at The Bottom Line in New York on 25th or 26th November 1977. Many thanks to Michael for sending them along. Michael writes: The Band included The Captain, Jeff Moris Tepper, Eric Drew Feldman, Robert Williams, and Denny Walley on the other guitar. That one picture of the masked man I believe is thier manager Harry Duncan singing The Blimp! See Michael’s 1974 photographs as well. Copyright held by the photographer, Michael Eivaz. Used by kind permission, not to be reproduced for commercial use.Read More →

These three photographs were taken by Michael Eivaz on 11 April 1974 at The Town Hall in New York. Many thanks to Michael for sending them along. See Michael’s 1977 photographs as well. Copyright held by the photographer, Michael Eivaz. Used by kind permission, not to be reproduced for commercial use.Read More →

Don Van Vliet - Winterland 1973

These were very kindly sent to me by Dr Stephen Jove, taken during the Magic Band’s set supporting the Mahavishnu Orchestra at Winterland, San Francisco, 31st March 1973. The first was taken by Ryk Ekedal, and the second by Stephen. Many thanks for their permission to feature them here. Copyright held by the photographers, Ryk Ekedal and Dr Stephen Jove. Used by permission, not to be reproduced for commercial use. If you would like to get hold of prints of these photographs, please e-mail Stephen.Read More →

Don Van Vliet - Frankfurt 1972

I received an e-mail from Thomas Harms in June 1998 in which he had kindly included a few photographs of the Magic Band live, and the Spotlight Kid himself. He included the following note with the pictures: I keep these photographs (all taken by a friend of mine) framed on my wall. I was 16 at the time. As you see, one is a backstage-photo, the others are on-stage-shots. They were all done at the Magic Band´s concert in Bremen in 1972, if I remember correctly. I think it was at The Lila Eule (The Purple Owl). The people in the pictures seem to beRead More →

Don Van Vliet, Mark Boston

These photographs were all taken by George Bullfrog in the summer of 1970 at a Magic Band show in Albuquerque, and he has kindly given us permission to feature them here. Many thanks to George for these fantastic photographs of the Captain in action. (c) George Bullfrog, 1970 If you are interested in purchasing a print of any or all of these pictures then please contact George at bllfrog@concentric.net for details.Read More →