Whenever folks argue which band was better, the Beatles or the Rolling Stones, I always answer The Who. While I liked the Fab Four and Stones just fine, since middle school, the foursome from the Shepherd’s Bush section of London, England were my favorites.
Fast forward to the fall of 1979 and The Who announced a U.S. concert tour. For the Chicago date, 12/8/79, there was no sleeping out all night to line up for tickets as fans had to send in money orders and hope to be one of those who scored seats. Those not selected in this lottery got their money orders sent back. My friend Frank Bombino and I put in our money for a pair of tickets, followed the mailing directions and landed seats on the lower level of the Amphitheatre, twelve rows to the side of the stage. I was pumped. Earlier that summer, I saw “The Kids Are Alright” movie which showed lots of Who concert footage dating from the early 60’s through 1978 but now I was going to see the band live. I could not wait for Saturday December 8th.
Besides the mail-in lottery for tickets, this Chicago Who concert had an extra twist. After the show easily sold out, plans were put in place for closed circuit simulcasts of the show in selected movie theatres in Chicago and the outlying suburbs. This was pretty much ‘pay per view’ before pay per view became a home TV operation. After the concert-cast from the Amphitheatre, those who went to theatres were also shown the movie “Tommy.”
ACTUAL PHOTO FROM THAT CONCERT ON 12/8/79.
Five days before the Chicago concert, the tragedy in Cincinnati’s Riverfront Coliseum made national news. Eleven Who fans died and twenty-eight others were injured in what was a stampede of people rushing to get into the arena before the concert. Cincinnati’s show featured festival seating or a ‘first come, first serve’ situation and when not enough doors were opened to accommodate the crowd, tragic consequences took place. Concern for the same thing happening in Chicago was alleviated by the fact that every one of the twelve thousand seats was reserved. Still, the night of the show officials made sure every possible gate and door for entry was opened to prevent any crowd problems.
That night Frank and I took our seats in the raised part of the lower level which had a perfect side view of the stage about forty feet from the band. We could also see part of the backstage area where a large video screen was set up to show folks hanging there what was being broadcast to the movie theatres. This was a major event and years later I read it was one of Who manager Bill Curbishly’s proudest moments. A chance to play one show but get it out to more than just the twelve thousand fans in the arena. WLUP FM 97.9, or “The Loop” was the rock station presenting this show and well known air personality Mitch Michaels was the emcee for the night.
There was no opening act (no need for these guys) and as the house lights went dark you could hear thousands of fans screaming “Whooo!””Whooo!.” From our vantage point, Frank and I could see the foursome make their way up the stage stairs before most others did and they got in position to kick the night off. Lead singer Roger Daltrey stood in his center spot, leaned his torso back and waited for Pete Townshend to open with the chords to “Substitute” and the concert was up and running. Daltrey swung his microphone hard and fast as “Substitute” segued into “Can’t Explain” and as that song ended Roger introduced the next by yelling “Out Here in the Fields!” With that they launched into an angry stomp of “Baba O’Riley.” Name me any band that can match those three songs to start a show. And good luck with that.
For the first time on a tour, The Who featured a keyboard player, John ‘Rabbit’ Bundrick and playing on “Baba” was where we first heard and saw him. Townsend started up his trademark windmill swipes at his Fender telecaster and the place went bananas. Entwistle’s bass thundered and Kenny Jones slammed away at his drums. A couple of songs later Pete introduced a three piece brass section (saxophone, trombone and trumpet) which helped the group play more songs from “Quadrophenia” like “5:15” and a strong version of “Music Must Change” from “Who Are You.” We also heard other classics like “Behind Blue Eyes”, “My Wife”, “My Generation”, “I Can See for Miles” and “Long Live Rock” to name a few. Keith Moon was gone and people argue that Kenny Jones wasn’t a great replacement for him but I thought the group as a whole was in great form.
During breaks between songs, band members took time to say hi to the fans watching the show in the movie theatres. Daltrey, Townsend and Entwistle would give a shout out to a couple of locales each but they did a good job of focusing on the crowd in the Amphitheatre while camera operators kept positioning themselves to get the best views of the band in action. At one point I saw Cheap Trick’s Rick Nielsen standing behind a stack of amps and handing Townsend one guitar while taking one that Pete handed to him. Pete did a little in between song clowning acting as if the closed circuit was broadcast to the world and saying hi to family and friends back in England, including an uncle whom was “having his balls operated on.”
“Won’t get Fooled Again” closed the band’s set which included a large flash stage explosion as Daltrey belted out his last scream of that classic. “Won’t Get Fooled Again” live is one of those chaotic blow-outs with all players going full bore crazy. The foursome came out for an extended encore with highlights being the brass backed “The Real Me” and a killer cover of Martha and the Vandellas “Dancing in the Street”. Then Townsend led a medley of snippets that included “Dance it Away”, “Young Man Blues”, “I’m a Man” and a yet to be released “How Can You Do It Alone.” The Who rocked out a total of twenty eight songs and as the four members stood together at the front of the stage to wave goodbye Roger Daltrey told the crowd, “We had a great time tonight, we REALLY did!” I’m sure he often says this to fans but these guys really looked like they were having a blast doing this show. I’ve seen The Who many times since but this virgin experience remains my favorite.
The good news is because of the simulcast into movie theaterss, someone was smart enough to tap into that video feed and record the entire concert. It’s one of the easiest to find video ‘bootlegs’ and I believe the whole night can still be watched on You Tube. Trust me, fans of The Who will love seeing the whole group looking so young and vibrant as they played these classic songs with strong passion. It’s great to watch on video but for a few lucky fans like me, there was nothing like seeing it in person. Long live rock!
Next Blog- My Summer Review.