Playing this song and only this song 15 to 20 times in a row, with this sort of intensity displayed by Pete would be enough to qualify as a concert for me.
I watched this amazing performance when I was 16 for the first time. 30 years later I am still thrilled at the power and rhythm that erupts from the song, the words, the baseline and the amazing guitar riffs. Love THE WHO.
maybe one of the best rock performances ever. The singers, drummer, piano player and bass are second to none. I have seen hundreds of amazing live performances but none like this one. Victor
if they were it had something to do with Pete being clean from heroin use, because it always adds to the energy and so forth when even one guy is experiencing new sobriety, and Aerosmith were a case of the whole band experiencing it in the 80s.
The part which starts at 4:10, with Pete's "P.S.", is better than primal scream therapy. He is in such an intense and wound up state at that point that no embezzling manager, misappropriating record company, garden variety sea-scouts molesters, or any other morally deformed individuals who had previously put upon him would dare do so again.
This was simulcast on CityTV and 104.5 CHUM-FM here in Toronto. My parents wouldn't let me go because I was only 13 and my brothers refused to go. So I took over our only tv and set up all the radios around the room. What I remember most about the broadcast was the pair of hosts flown in from England. They seemed to be under the influence of something. I wished that Jeanne Bekker and J.D. Roberts (John Roberts to viewers of Fox) had been hired instead of the blockheads from the UK.
I saw this on a live broadcast in Canada in 1982 when it aired near and after midnight instead of studying for big finals in University ... I aced the finals ... long live ROCK & THE WHO !!!
"People walk in sideways, pretending that they're leaving. We put on our make-up and work out all the lead-ins. Jackie's in the alley selling tickets made in Hong Kong The promoter's in the pay box wonderin' where the band's gone, back in the pub the Governor stops the clock - rock is dead they say, Long Live Rock!"
None of the videos of this song show John playing bass- this is the rippin-est bass line in history. He's wailing, even though he just stands there. And instead we get close ups of some lob pounding the piano...
Some odd things about this song. John is using a pick to play the bass (how many times did he do that?) and Pete seems to sing all the verses. I thought Roger used to sing some of them.
@wgfa What's your source for this? I have two different versions of this concert, one of them being "The who rocks america"- but none of them are this clean sounding, and none of them have this good a mix
I remember watching the simulcast of the Toronto gig,back then...and,it took me,'til a couple of years ago,'til,I finally found the official release of the DVD,and,CD....the cassette copy of the audio,that the local rock station carried,that night,disintegrated many,many moons ago. ❤❤❤
John Entwistle is very like Geezer Butler❤❤and ever astounding Pete Townshend❗Early interview:what's your name? PETE. Where are you from? LONDON. London...where? ...LONDON, ENGLAND❗😂😂😂
I always remembered or thought I remembered at around the 3:40 when things sped up , Pete saying "I'm going crazy" during singing the lyrics......anyone?......
I like Keith, but he hadn't really been a force since "Who's Next". He was fat, drunk and sloppy for the last 6 or 7 years of his life, especially live....Kenny is a pro
My parents were not really big rock music listeners so the albums in the house were Jim Croce, Harry Chapin, Kenny Rodgers, and Gordon Lightfoot. However...the local public library (South Hadley, Massachusetts) let you check out LPs. I remember grabbing Face Dances based solely on the album cover. That was my first experience with the Who. I suspect it was 1982 and I was 10. I quickly got a paper route and 200 cassettes later, I was hooked on music and live concerts. Today at 42 I still go see new bands, and to this day, when the music cooks, I get goose bumps just being there. I think this performance shows how Pete was phoning it in in the 80s, but I forgive....
Its about originality and creativity. Keith Moon was so unique. Kenney Jones may be slightly technically better, be he's just a drummer. Nothing special. With practice, anyone could do what Kenney did. No one can recreate Moon.
great track[ petes duckwalk awesome[ replying to post about moon[ I do not agree Kenny jones better[ moon overated[ coudn,t play after 74[ oh but I forget he was on drugs and he died early[ so he must be a legend[ also to compare mon with Bonham is insulting[ Bonham better with one hand
Anyone who really knows The Who surely realizes how tragic this performance and tour was. They were an utter shell of the band they were up until about 1980. The fire was gone and Pete was just phoning it in. It's painful to watch. The power and heaviness was gone, replaced by a karaoke version of the band.
driffter1976 Come on, it's been entertaining! Keith will never have anybody hold his shoes, but I liked Kenney on this tour. Daltrey hated him, but I was fortunate enough to see this tour when I was 15. Seattle with the Clash and then in Portland. Will never forget it.
I have to agree, driffter. The 1979 tour was the best post-Moon tour, as The Who played with passion and fire. This tour and a large number of the performances were quite embarrassing as long-time fan. The "Who's Last" disc is pitiful, considering "Live at Leeds" is the great live album of all-time, in my opinion. Pete's change of guitar from Gibson, while understood because of his hearing, changed his playing and sound quite noticeably.
