Loudon Wainwright III Newcastle City Hall 16th Sep 1979
Loudon Wainwright is a funny guy.
“Loudon Wainwright III is a direct descendant of Peter Stuyvesant, renowned one-legged Dutch Governer of New York. Loudon I was an insurance salesman, Loudon II is a mild mannered reporter for a former great metropolitan magazine. And Loudon III is a “post-psychedelic beatnik” who has been lauded far and wide as a writer-performer of uncommon wit, intelligence and insight, and with a unique capacity for capturing irony and absurdity in his work, that sets him apart from the great majority of similar entertainers” (from Loudon 1979 programme).
I went along to this gig with a group of friends from college. One of the guys, Vaughan, had recently become a big fan of Loudon Wainwright and sand many of his crazy songs to us. He persuaded us all to go along with him to see Loudon when he came to the City Hall (not that I needed much persuading to go along to a concert in those days). The concert wasn’t well attended, but those of there spent an enjoyable evening listening to Loudon’s crazy, funny songs and stories. Loudon was promoting his 8th album “A Live One”, which had been recorded during his 1976 UK tour.
Personal Note (from Loudon 1979 programme): “Loudon Wainwright III is now living in California. He is the father of two children, Rufus and Martha. He has written songs for both of them – “Rufus is a Tit Man” and “Pretty Little Martha”. Loudon is a sports fanatic, and drives a 15 year old blue Checker.”
“Crossin’ the highway late last night, He shoulda looked left and he shoulda looked right,
He didn’t see the Station Wagon car, The skunk got squashed and there you are,
You got yer, Dead skunk in the middle of the road,
Dead skunk in the middle of the road, Dead skunk in the middle of the road,
Stinkin’ to high heaven, Take a whiff on me that ain’t no rose,
Roll up yer window and hold yer nose, You don’t have to look and you don’t have to see,
‘Cause you can feel it in your olfactory.”
(Loudon Wainwright III, Dead Skunk, 1972).
Note 1. “Dead Skunk” was a hit in the US singles chart reaching No 12.
Note 2. The “olfactory” system is the sensory system used for the sense of smell.
Posts Tagged ‘pop’
5 Jan
Loudon Wainwright III Newcastle City Hall 16th Sep 1979
4 Jan
The Who Newcastle Metro Radio Arena 25th May 2007
The Who Newcastle, Metro Radio Arena, 25th May 2007
Support: Shack
The Who were on a roll and continued to tour throughout 2007, playing across Europe, the USA and headlining Glastonbury. Their set was similar to that which they had played during 2006, containing classic tracks and much of their, then current, “Endless Wire” album.
Setlist: I Can’t Explain; The Seeker; Relay; Who Are You; Behind Blue Eyes; Fragments; Real Good Looking Boy; Sound Round; Pick Up The Peace; Endless Wire; We Got A Hit; They Made My Dream Come True; Mirror Door; Baba O’Riley; Eminence Front; A Man In A Purple Dress; The Real Me; You Better You Bet; My Generation; Cry If You Want; Won’t Get Fooled Again.
Encore: Pinball Wizard; Amazing Journey; Sparks; See Me Feel Me; Tea And Theatre
That concludes my reminiscences of seeing The Who in concert. I have been to a few more Who gigs since 2007, but I have already blogged about those.
The Who are, without question, one of my favourite bands; alongside the Stones and the Groundhogs. There are few rock bands who can match their breadth and range of classic material, going from the great pop and mod singles of the mid 1960s, through the epic “Tommy” rock opera, the anthemic “Won’t Get Fooled Again” and to “Quadrophenia” (“A Way of Life” 🙂 ). My own particular favourites are “I Can See For Miles”, “The Seeker” and “Won’t Get Fooled Again”. I am also a big fan of “Tommy” and have grown to love “Quadrophenia” over the years, having now seen The Who perform it on four occasions. On a good night The Who are simply the best rock band in the world, and they have given me some of my best (and loudest 🙂 ) concert memories; including amazing gigs at Newcastle Odeon (1971 & 1973), Charlton (1974 & 1976) and Edinburgh Odeon (1979). And they still continue to deliver; the recent gig I saw at Newcastle Arena, which was part of their 50th anniversary tour, was excellent. I reckon I’ve seen The Who play 19 times to date; hope I get to see them at least once more.
3 Jan
The Who Wireless Festival Harewood House Leeds 25th June 2006
The Who Wireless Festival Harewood House Leeds 25th June 2006
Support from The Flaming Lips; The Zutons; Eels; Super Furry Animals; Robyn Hitchcock; The Answer; Casbah Club
Went with David to see The Who at the O2 Wireless festival at Harewood House, just outside Leeds. The ticket was a barcode on my phone, so no stub to post here 😦 The supporting line-up was strong with great performances from The Answer (an Irish rock’n’blues band in the mould of Free and ’70s rock), Eels, Robyn Hitchcock (retro psych genius) and Casbah Club (super modster band featuring Simon Townshend) performing on the main stage and in a marquee. The best performance, other than the Who, came from The Flaming Lips, with a spectacular theatrical show which featured front man Wayne surfing across the crowd in a giant hamster ball 🙂
The Who’s performance featured several new songs which would appear on their 11th album “Endless Wire”, the usual Tommy segment, old faves and some unexpected classics including “The Seeker” and “Relay”. Great stuff.
Setlist: Who Are You; I Can’t Explain; The Seeker; Anyway Anyhow Anywhere; Sound Round; Pick Up The Peace; Endless Wire; We Got A Hit; They Made My Dream Come True; Mirror Door; Baba O’Riley; Drowned; Relay; The Kids Are Alright; Behind Blue Eyes; Mike Post Theme; Cry If You Want; Pinball Wizard; Amazing Journey; See Me Feel Me
Encore: Substitute; Won’t Get Fooled Again
2 Jan
The Who The Royal Albert Hall London 29th March 2004
The Who The Royal Albert Hall London 29th March 2004
Support from The Coral
This was the first major UK performance buy the “Who 2”. It was preceded by three warm-up gigs at the London Forum. The line-up was Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend accompanied by Rabbit Bundrick on keyboards, Pino Palladino on bass, Zak Starkey (Ringo’s son) on drums and Simon Townshend (Pete’s younger brother) on guitars and backing vocals.
The concert, which was part of a run of shows in support of the Teenage Cancer Trust for which Roger was Chair at the time, was originally announced as a performance of “Tommy”, but for some reason that never came to be, and what was actually performed was a set of Who classics. Support came from Liverpool psych mod band The Coral, who were excellent. I went to the concert with David. This was the first time I’d been to the Albert Hall, and we stayed in a hotel close to the venue. We had quite good seats, close to the stage, on Pete’s (right hand) side. Roger had a terrible cold and as a result he was singing in an ultra raspy voice. You could see that it was hurting him when he sang. Pete wore black wrap around visor sunglasses for the first couple of songs, which made him look pretty moody. They premiered two new songs “Real Good Looking Boy” and “Old Red Wine”. It was great to see The Who in full flight again.
The Who in 2006. Many thanks to Paul Fenton for allowing this picture to be reproduced through WikiMedia Commons
It is unfair to attempt to draw comparisons between the current Who 2 and the 1970s Who. Of course, it is a different band, and it is impossible to recreate past performances. I am grateful that I can still go to a Who concert, and see Roger and Pete play those classic songs.
We got up very early to catch a train at 6am so I could get back up north and go to work.
Setlist: Who Are You; I Can’t Explain; Substitute; Anyway Anyhow Anywhere; Baba O’Riley; Behind Blue Eyes; 5.15; Sea And Sand; Love Reign O’er Me; Eminence Front; You Better You Bet; Real Good Looking Boy; The Kids Are Alright; My Generation; Old Red Wine; Won’t Get Fooled Again
Encore: Pinball Wizard; Amazing Journey; Sparks; See Me Feel Me.
The next time I saw the Who was at Live 8 in Hyde Park. They played a short two song set of “Who Are You” and “Won’t Get Fooled Again”, sandwiched between Robbie Williams and the reunited Pink Floyd and were introduced by Peter Kay 🙂 I need to blog about Live 8 on another day.
Tomorrow I’ll move to a Who performance in 2006 at the O2 Wireless Festival, Harewood House, Leeds, 2006.
1 Jan
The Who Newcastle Arena 6th Nov 2000
The Who Newcastle Arena 6th Nov 2000
Support from Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros
The Who’s tour in 2000 was in support of the live album “The Blues to the Bush” (as mentioned on the cover of the tour programme) and was their first full-fledged tour as a five-piece band since 1982. Roger, Pete and John were joined by Rabbit on keyboards and Zak Starkey on drums. This was the Who’s first visit to Newcastle since 1981. The set was a run through Who favourites, including a few, such as “The Kids Are Alright” and “Mary Ann With the Shaky Hands”, which hadn’t been performed live for many years. On some of the other nights of the tour they performed “The Seeker” and “A Quick One While He’s Away”. Support came from The Clash’s Joe Strummer with his band The Mescaleros.
It was great to see the Who again, and to hear all the classics. A great concert which reminded me just how great the Who were.
Setlist: I Can’t Explain; Substitute; Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere; Relay; My Wife; Baba O’Riley; I Don’t Even Know Myself; Bargain; Drowned; Behind Blue Eyes; Pinball Wizard; The Real Me; You Better You Bet; Who Are You; 5:15; Won’t Get Fooled Again
Encore: Let’s See Action; The Kids Are Alright; Mary Ann With the Shaky Hands; My Generation
John Entwistle passed away in hotel room 658 at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on 27 June 2002, the result of a heart attack induced by cocaine. Townshend and Daltrey said in tribute : “The Ox has left the building — we’ve lost another great friend. Thanks for your support and love. Pete and Roger.”
The next time I saw the, now in effect a two piece, Who was in 2004 at a Teenage Cancer Trust concert at the Albert Hall. I’ll reflect on this concert tomorrow.
29 Dec
The Who Edinburgh Odeon 9th June 1979
The Who Edinburgh Odeon 9th June 1979
The Who decided to continue after the loss of Keith Moon. Townshend: “We are more determined than ever to carry on, and we want the spirit of the group to which Keith contributed so much to go on, although no human being can ever take his place.
Kenney Jones, of the Small Faces and the Faces, joined the band on drums in late 1978. Around the same time John “Rabbit” Bundrick (ex Free) joined the live band as an unofficial keyboardist. On 2nd May 1979, the Who returned to the concert stage with a “secret” concert at the Rainbow Theatre. The concert was announced at a few days notice, with fans queuing outside the venue for tickets. One of my mates managed to get a ticket, through a friend who was studying at University in London, and he came back with tales of how great they were. A few weeks later they announced a couple of Scottish gigs; one at the Glasgow Apollo on a Friday night, and a show at Edinburgh Odeon on the Saturday night. The shows were announced in the local press, and both concerts sold out immediately. I talked about it with my mates, Will and Norm, and we decided to go up to Edinburgh in the hope of somehow getting in.
On the day of the gig we drove up Edinburgh early, arriving in the late afternoon. We hung around in the pubs near the Odeon, and outside the venue, asking any likely looking candidate if they had any tickets to sell. We managed to buy two seats together in row F, six rows back from the stage 🙂 , and a third single ticket a little further back in the stalls. I can’t remember what we paid, I think it was around £7 or £8 for each ticket, which had a face value of £5. I recall that it seemed a lot at the time, but was well worth it, and seems cheap today. There was no support act.
The Odeon as it was “back in the day”
The Who came on stage, and the first thing I noticed was Roger’s very short hair, and how fit he looked. They launched straight into a deafening, and amazing, “Substitute” followed by “I Can’t Explain”. Townshend was on fire, his arm twirling away as usual, and Roger was swinging the mike around and around. Just like old times. The Who were awesome that night. Of course, things weren’t the same with no Keith grinning at the back like a cheeky, naughty schoolboy, and no banter between him and Pete. But musically they seemed as good as ever. The small venue (probably 2,500 capacity), our proximity to the action, and the incredible VOLUME, all helped. The crowd went 110% mental, shouting and roaring throughout the night. I bought a t-shirt with the classic “Who Maximum R’n’B” image and the words “The Who Scotland 1979”. I wish I still had it.
Ni Holmes, on the Who tour site, recalls: “Townshend walking across the stage, clearly upset at the keyboard playing on Won’t Get Fooled Again and swinging a punch at Rabbit” which I can’t say I remember at all. John Gardner (also from the Who tour site) recalls: “a rather annoying small part of the audience….kept chanting ‘Bring back Moonie'”, which prompted Townshend to respond: “F**k off Edinburgh you’re too quiet for The Who”.
The Who were back. And they were on fire. Happy happy days 🙂
Setlist: Substitute; I Can’t Explain; Baba O’Riley; The Punk And The Godfather; Boris The Spider; Sister Disco; Behind Blue Eyes; Music Must Change; Pinball Wizard; See Me Feel Me; Long Live Rock; Dreaming From The Waist; Who Are You; My Generation/My Generation Blues; Magic Bus; Won’t Get Fooled Again
Encore: The Real Me; Summertime Blues
PS Whenever I drive into Edinburgh from the south I pass the old Odeon building; sadly it is now closed, run down and very dilapidated.
28 Dec
The Who Charlton Athletic Football Club 31st May 1976
The Who Charlton Athletic Football Club 31st May 1976
Support from the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Little Feat, The Outlaws, Chapman and Whitney Streetwalkers, and Widowmaker.
In 1976 The Who played three massive U.K. shows at football stadiums in Charlton, Glasgow and Swansea. The short tour was billed as “The Who Put the Boot In”. I attended the Charlton gig which was rated at the time as the loudest concert ever by the Guiness Book of Records. These were also The Who’s final UK concerts with drummer Keith Moon, apart from a couple of low key gigs filmed for “The Kids Are Alright” movie.
The Charlton concert took place on May bank holiday Monday 1976. A car load of us, with me driving, made the journey down to London on Sunday. We stayed at the flat of a mate who was studying in London, and on Monday morning we drove across London to Charlton and parked in a street somewhere close to the ground. When we got to the gates of the stadium it was very clear that something was wrong. There was a massive crush around the gate, a heavy police presence, and loads of fans being turned away, because they had counterfeit tickets which had been circulating in London for some days before the show. Our tickets were fine, and we eventually made our way through the crowds and into the stadium. When we did manage to get in, we found the place completely ram packed; even more so than for the previous Who concert in 1974. Reports suggest that more than 80,000 people were crammed into a stadium with a concert crowd limit of 50,000. Eventually the police stopped letting anyone in for safety reasons, and many fans with real tickets were not admitted. As compensation, they were given a free ticket to the Swansea show instead, and free buses were laid on to take them there.
Support came from the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Little Feat, The Outlaws, Streetwalkers, and Widowmaker, featuring Steve Ellis and Ariel Bender, who opened the proceedings and were pretty good too. Streetwalkers were also great, and SAHB were excellent, with Alex on top form; they almost (but not quite) stole the show from the Who.
It was wet, with rain falling throughout the day. Not much use for the sun visors which were given away free by Sounds magazine (I still have mine unworn, see left). There was some violence within the crowd, as there was at the 1974 concert, with fights breaking out on the pitch and the terraces. We waited patiently during a long delay before the Who came on, caused by a few fans who had scaled the lighting towers in the hope of gaining a better view. The couple of guys who made it up there were told, over the PA, that the show wouldn’t start until they came down. Some fans on the pitch started to chant “get down” and eventually the guys did so. Shortly afterwards the Who ran out onto the very wet stage, and Roger Daltrey slipped over, going his full length, sliding from one end of the stage to the other. He got up and introduced the band as “The Who On Ice”. They started, as usual, with “I Can’t Explain” followed by “Substitute”. Townshend taunted us all “thank you for waiting for us and getting so wet”. Pete continued to make cracks to the audience throughout the evening, and at one point shouted out to stop a fight at the front of the crowd. An audience recording exists, on which you can also hear Keith Moon shouting at Townshend: “Shut up! ….. You’d think you’ve got some kind of vested interest. I’ve seen your vests, and they stink…underneath this I’m totally nude, Peter! I don’t need any of your great flowing poncey robes. I don’t need all your glittering sequins to be a star! I don’t need to jump in the air, flash what little crotch I’ve got. And I must admit I’ve had no complaints.”
The set was similar to that which they had been playing since 1975, with several of the old ’60s classics, a couple from Quadrophenia, a couple from their current album “The Who By Numbers”, and a “Tommy” segment, with Keith playing his parts as “Uncle Ernie” in “Fiddle About” and “Tommy’s Holiday Camp.” The laser light show, first seen during the 1975 tour, was revealed during “See Me Feel Me”, by which time it was dark. The lasers shot through the smoke to mirrors on the light towers, with blue beams bouncing around the entire stadium, and red laser beams cutting through them. Im sure it would seem quite primitive now, but it was impressive at the time. I remember the entire stadium singing along to “Listening to you”: “Listening to you I get the music. Gazing at you I get the heat. Following you I climb the mountain. I get excitement at your feet!” with laser beams criss crossing the crowd in the darkness. An amazing moment. The Who finished with “Won’t Get Fooled Again”, ending with an incredible scream from Roger. We chanted “We Want The Who” for 5 or 10 minutes, but there was no encore, as was often the case for a Who concert at the time.
It took ages to find the car. We walked from street to street; each one looked the same, and I hadn’t noted the street name. After what seemed like hours, but probably wasn’t, we located my car and set off through the crowded streets. At one point we were sat stationary in a queue of traffic, when a big black limo pulled up alongside. Sitting alone in the back seat was Pete Townshend. We waved but he didn’t respond.
It’s a long drive from London to the north east, and the dawn was breaking as I drove up Houghton Cut. My mates were all asleep around me. A couple of them went straight to work. Happy days. I think I’ve just decided that The Who actually were the greatest rock band of the 70s. 🙂
Setlist: I Can’t Explain; Substitute; My Wife; Baba O’Riley; Squeeze Box; Behind Blue Eyes; Dreaming From The Waist; Magic Bus; Amazing Journey; Sparks; The Acid Queen; Fiddle About; Pinball Wizard; I’m Free; Tommy’s Holiday Camp; We’re Not Gonna Take It; Summertime Blues; My Generation; Join Together; My Generation Blues; Won’t Get Fooled Again
The Who stopped touring after 1976, largely as a result of Keith Moon’s failing health, caused by alcohol issues. Keith Moon died on 7th Sept 1978 of an overdose of heminevrin, prescribed to combat alcoholism. The Who’s 1978 album “Who Are You” was released two weeks before his death. Keith Moon was one of rock’s finest drummers, but he was so much more. Moon was the crazy, manic, childish fun side of The Who; the perfect foil to Townshend’s moods, and although The Who would continue as a strong rock force, a Who concert could never be quite the same again.
Tomorrow I will write about the first time I saw The Who without Moon, at a low key comeback show at Edinburgh Odeon in 1979.
27 Dec
The Who Stafford Bingley Hall 4th Oct 1975
The Who Stafford Bingley Hall 4th Oct 1975
Support from the Steve Gibbons band
The Who had not performed since the summer of 1974, as they had been working hard on the Tommy film. They recorded their new album “The Who By Numbers” during the spring of 1975, and toured the UK in October. Although the tour was meant to be promoting “The Who By Numbers” they actually only played “Squeeze Box” from that album at Stafford. One or two other songs from the lp sometimes featured as part of their set. The show saw them return to playing quite a lot from “Tommy”, with a mini-set featuring in the middle of their show, presumably linked to the success of the film.
Bingley Hall is a large 10,000 capacity exhibition hall in Stafford, England, located on the site of the Staffordshire County Showground. The County Showground hosts a variety of events, including antique fairs, dog shows, and motor shows. It is situated in the centre of the UK and close to major motorways, making it an accessible from the north and the south. During the 1970s and 1980s, before the emergence of purpose built arenas, it was a very popular concert venue. Acts that performed there included The Who, Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac, David Bowie, ABBA, The Rolling Stones, Bob Marley and Queen. This was the first rock concert to be held in Bingley Hall. The Who were out to prove themselves “The Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World”; there was little to choose between them, Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones at the time. I attended the second of two nights, driving down to the concert with a couple of mates, all three of us squeezed into my two seater MG sports car.
This was a set of classic Who. They started with “Substitute”, played lots from “Tommy” and closed with “Won’t Get Fooled Again”. Like Zeppelin, the show made use of lasers which shone out over the crowd. This was billed as “the first stage act in the world to employ high-powered lasers” (Townshend, 2012). I remember being quite worried that they might hit me in the eye. Lighting operator John Wolff confirmed my fears: “..if a beam stands still, it can blind someone” (Neill & Kent, 2007). These were the Who’s first performances in 14 months, and the band were simply on fire, with lots of mike swinging by Roger Daltrey and arm twirling by Pete Townshend. The Who played for two hours, with no encore. Pete didn’t smash his guitar, although the crowd was willing him to do so. Apparently The Who had used a raised podium for Moon and his drums on the first night, but this didn’t work out and was scrapped for the second concert. Charlesworth (1975) described “Townshend adopting his classic legs-apart stance and spiralling his right arm roughly across the strings of his Les Paul”.
Setlist: Substitute; I Can’t Explain; Squeeze Box; Heaven And Hell; Tattoo; Baba O’Riley; Behind Blue Eyes; Amazing Journey; Sparks; Eyesight To The Blind; The Acid Queen; Fiddle About; Pinball Wizard; I’m Free; Tommy’s Holiday Camp; We’re Not Gonna Take It; Summertime Blues; Drowned; 5.15; My Generation; Join Together; Naked Eye; Won’t Get Fooled Again
26 Dec
Tommy the film 1975
Tommy the film 1975
I know this isn’t a gig, but hey I’ve got a programme for it (pictured) and its The Who, so I just couldn’t let it pass without writing something about it.
In 1975 The Who featured in 1975 musical film based upon their 1969 rock opera album “Tommy”. The movie was directed by Ken Russell and featured a star-studded cast, including members of the Who themselves (Roger Daltrey plays the title role). Other cast members include Ann-Margret, Oliver Reed, Eric Clapton, Tina Turner, Elton John, Arthur Brown and Jack Nicholson. We all trooped off to the cinema to see the film, and pretty good fun it was too. It also held particular local interest in the north east as it features The Black Angels, the local hells angels chapter, who play a group of hell angels in the movie. It is very OTT, silly, and outrageous; but then what else could you expect when you consider that this was Ken Russell, The Who and “Tommy”. 🙂
“One thing is sure: there has never been a movie musical quite like Tommy, a weird, crazy, wonderfully excessive version of The Who’s rock opera. Ken Russell is a film maker (Women in Love, The Devils) who glories in the kind of heightened visual absurdity that Tommy both invites and requires.” (Time magazine).
Townshend, speaking to Rolling Stone on the Tommy concept in 1969: “Tommy’s real self represents the aim – God – and the illusory self is the teacher; life, the way, the path and all this. The coming together of these are what make him aware. They make him see and hear and speak so he becomes a saint who everybody flocks to. The boy’s life starts to represent the whole nature of humanity – we all have this self-imposed deaf, dumb and blindness – but this isn’t something I’m over heavy on”
25 Dec
The Who Charlton Athletic Football Club 18th May 1974
The Who Charlton Athletic Football Club 18th May 1974
Support Acts, in order of appearance: Montrose, Lindisfarne, Bad Company, Lou Reed, Humble Pie, Maggie Bell. The support acts were chosen by The Who.
The Who spent some time considering venues for a big outdoor London concert, and selected Charlton ground because, accordingly to Townshend, it had “particular acoustic qualities” and offered “excellent views of the stage from the terraces.” I went to the gig with two mates, travelling down to London by coach, leaving the north east at midnight on Friday night and arriving early on Saturday morning. We then caught the local train across to Charlton. By the time we arrived the ground was pretty full, and fans continued to flood in throughout the morning. By the time Montrose exploded onto the stage at 12 noon, the place was ram packed. The concert was intended to have an attendance limit of 50,000 fans, but breakdowns in security resulted in many additional people getting in, and an estimated crowd of 80,000 (The Complete Chronicle of the Who 1958-1978, Neill & Kent, 2007). I ran into quite a few mates from home on the terraces, several of whom had managed to push or blag their way in without paying. The supporting bill was very strong, with Montrose and Bad Company both going down well. This was one of the first appearances of the new Lindisfarne Mk II line-up. Lou Reed and Maggie Bell both played ok, but didn’t go down as well with the crowd as the others. Humble Pie were pure class, with Marriott on his top OTT “my skin is white, but my soul is black” form. They almost upstaged the main act. There was a long wait before The Who took to the stage, and several reports recall an atmosphere of violence, which I must say I don’t remember. I do remember that it was a very hot day and that there were some fights, a heavy smell of dope with many people openly smoking joints, and lots of cans thrown around throughout the day. Brian Farnon writes of a “lunatic…wandering around with a foot-long spike….sticking it in peoples necks” on the excellent ukrockfestivals.com site.
The Who started at 8:45 and played an hour and 45 minute set, starting with “Can’t Explain” and working their way through old classics and some more recent material, including a few from their most recent album “Quadrophenia”. The sound wasn’t that great, even though we had been promised quadrophonic sound, and there were large PA speakers sited around the ground. The Who were excellent, although Pete later admitted that he was drunk and felt that the show wasn’t actually one of their best. To all of us in the crowd it was a great day, and an opportunity to see the best rock band in the world during their prime period. The set included a lot of 60s material, and several songs that I hadn’t seen them play before such as “I’m a Boy” and “Tattoo”. Entwistle performed “Boris the Spider” in his deep bass voice. A lengthy encore included “5:15”, an extended “Magic Bus”, “My Generation”, “Naked Eye”, “Let’s See Action” and the first ever performance of their slow 12-bar blues arrangement of “My Generation”, which is now known as “My Generation Blues”. Pete didn’t smash his guitar.
Charles Shaar Murray reviewed The Who’s performance in NME: “They performed with a freshness and enthusiasm that they haven’t had for quite some time, and generally acted like the epitome of what a rock and roll band should be…The Who are it; as good as it ever gets, and good as we can expect from anybody.”
Pete Townshend admitted (also in the NME): “At Charlton I got completely pissed… I was so happy to get out of it…. I felt really guilty I couldn’t explode into the exuberant and happy energy our fans did….”
When the concert finished it was absolute pandemonium trying to get out through the crowd, and a number of us decided to try and climb over one of the fences. We managed to get over, but one of my mates cut his hand quite badly on the sharp metal top of the fence. It looked quite nasty, and was bleeding a lot, so we decided that we needed to get to a hospital. We pushed our way back into the ground, which wasn’t easy as we were walking against all the people leaving, and made our way to the St Johns Ambulance post, where we all bundled into an ambulance. A poor guy with a pretty cut up face, who had fallen onto a broken bottle, was lying next to us in the ambulance. The ambulance sped through the crowds and 5 minutes or so later we were in the hospital, where we spent most of the night, while my mate had his hand stitched. The hospital was full of fans suffering from injuries, and worse for wear from alcohol and drugs. It was daylight by the time we got out of the hospital, and we walked back into central London and made our way to Victoria where we caught our bus home. The things you do for rock’n’roll 🙂
The Who setlist: I Can’t Explain; Summertime Blues; Young Man Blues; Baba O’Riley; Behind Blue Eyes; Substitute; I’m a Boy; Tattoo; Boris the Spider; Drowned; Bell Boy; Doctor Jimmy; Won’t Get Fooled Again; Pinball Wizard; See Me, Feel Me
Encore: 5:15; Magic Bus; My Generation; Naked Eye; Let’s See Action; My Generation Blues
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