Among the other
bits and pieces I found in my old folder of Who stuff was this silver programme from
The Who’s ‘recital’ of Tommy at the New York
Metropolitan Opera House on June 7, 1970, perhaps the most prestigious show
they ever did. I wasn’t there, of course, having joined Melody Maker a month earlier, but I picked this up at Bleecker Bob’s
record store in the Village for a few dollars when I landed in NY in 1973. The
cover was designed by David Byrd and the image of the bloke with his wedding tackle on show is the same as used on the
screens during the Who Hits 50 tour currently taking a break between US legs.
For
those fans who never grabbed a copy of The Who
Concert File,
published by Omnibus is 1997, edited by yours truly and designed by Richard
Evans, here’s what authors Joe McMichael and ‘Irish’ Jack Lyons had to say
about the show:
“The
Who kicked off their 1970 American Tour with two performances of Tommy in this prestigious 3,788–seat
venue. Gross was $55,000.
“1st Set: ‘Heaven And Hell’, ‘I Can’t
Explain’, ‘Young Man Blues’, ‘The Seeker’, ‘Water’, Tommy (21 songs), ‘Summertime Blues’, ‘My Generation’, ‘See Me,
Feel Me’, ‘So Very Long’, ‘Naked Eye’, ‘Sparks’, improvisation, (encore) ‘Shakin’
All Over/Spoonful’, improvisation.
“2nd Set: ‘Heaven And Hell’, ‘I Can’t
Explain’, ‘Water’, ‘The Seeker’, ‘Young Man Blues’, Tommy (21 songs), ‘Summertime Blues’, ‘Shakin’ All Over’, ‘My
Generation’, ‘See Me, Feel Me’, ‘So Very Long’, improvisations, ‘Naked Eye’,
improvisations, ‘Sparks’, improvisation.
“A Bill Graham/Nat Weiss
co-promotion and the last and most famous of the opera house shows, with the
tickets being sold at the Fillmore East. Rudolph Bing, director of the Met
Opera Company, initially wouldn’t book The Who – he didn’t much like the idea
of a loud, rowdy rock’n’roll group at his prestigious Lincoln Center concert
hall – but he was invited to listen to the Tommy
LP and this changed his mind and the booking was accepted for the loudest and
rowdiest rock group of all. The concerts were promoted as being the last ever
performances of Tommy. The audience
and the Met didn’t mix too well, however, and Bill Graham himself was on hand
to quell any potential disruptiveness. Both
concerts received standing ovations of over ten minutes and VIP’s present
included Warren Beatty and Julie Christie.
“At the first show, every line of ‘Young
Man Blues’ was cheered by the audience, as if in vocal agreement with the
sentiment of the song. The new song ‘Water’ received its first airing in
concert (at least in the States – it might have already been played in the UK).
As Townshend commented: ‘In a way we feel that we have to play something new
because it’s a special occasion. We haven’t really altered our act radically
since the last time we played. This is one that’s appearing on our new
album...’ Daltrey sang ‘Water’ with great power and commitment, it being a
perfect vehicle for The Who’s onstage style. The highlights of Tommy during this performance (and
others) were ‘Overture’, ‘Sparks’, ‘Pinball Wizard’ and the moving ‘See Me,
Feel Me’. With the ‘opera’ dispensed with, the band ploughed straight into the
frenzied rock’n’roll of ‘Summertime Blues’ and the ‘My Generation’ medley,
which included the second new song ‘Naked Eye’. This was still rather rough in
its structure, and although Pete Townshend sang the second verse (as on the
final recording), the third verse was omitted and it moved into further
improvisations.
“As he returned to the stage for a
rare encore, Pete joked with an ecstatic Kit Lambert, ‘You really book us on
some bum gigs, man!’ ‘Shakin’ All Over’ moved into a bludgeoning riff that
became the basis for a wild, improvised instrumental, featuring a drum solo and
some impromptu slide guitar playing (with the mike stand) from Townshend,
forming one of the most unusual and exciting improvisations that The Who ever
played. Pete finally threw his guitar about the stage, before casting it into
the audience. It was caught by long-term Who fanatic – and later rock musician
– Binky Phillips.
“Phillips later recalled the show
vividly: ‘It was the best show I had ever seen. Pete came out there and showed
everyone he didn’t give a damn about the opera. They were so violent and
vicious. They sounded like the old Who. That was the night I caught Townshend’s
guitar, which was the culmination of everything for me... Townshend walked to
the tip of the stage with his busted guitar and looked at me as if to say ‘Are
you ready?’ I stood up and all my friends stood back. They all wanted the
guitar as badly as I did but they stepped back. It was like a Joe Namath pass
over the 30–foot orchestra pit. It just fell right into me.’ (from The Who by John Swenson, 1979.)
“The second set was witnessed by
many who had been present during the first show and had doubled up on tickets.
Prior to Tommy, Townshend explained
that the show was hopefully to be the last performance of the work, although he
must have had doubts that the act could survive its loss so abruptly. ‘My
Generation’ moved from ‘So Very Long’ into a few lines and guitar figures from ‘Water’
before moving into ‘Naked Eye’, and an improvisation which had been released
already on Live At Leeds. The band
didn’t return for an encore this time, and the discontented crowd wouldn’t
disperse until Townshend reappeared alone, to face booing: ‘After two fucking
hours, boo to you too...’ and he threw his mike stand into the crowd.
“Reviews were ecstatic. Albert Goldman
said in Life (July 10): ‘Rock music
may have reached its all-time peak with the recent performance at the
Metropolitan Opera of Tommy... From
the moment the boys walked on stage, it was obvious they were determined to
give their greatest performance. Flashing their tawdry show tricks, they worked
the Met as if it were a grind house in Yorkshire... Having outclassed the
competition by miles and miles, The Who ought to be honoured at this point with
a splendid award. I propose an architectural competition. The theme? The world’s
largest opera house for the world’s smallest opera company.’
Fred Kirby wrote in Billboard (June 20) that The Who were
as ‘dynamic as ever... While the two hours stretch may have been too much for
many in the audience, The Who continue in a class by themselves when it comes
to hard work.’
“Twenty years later, Roger Daltrey
rated these two concerts as the finest The Who ever played, though at the time Rolling Stone thought that a rock act
playing at the Met was merely a gimmick. Ever the non-conformist, Pete Townshend
considered the Met shows ‘dire’.”
4 comments:
'Wedding tackle'! HAW! Thanks, Chris, more proof that English is the greatest language ever devised. Great review as well! Thanks again.
I went to both shows. My friends and I slept outside the Filmore East to get good seats. I sat upstairs in the balcony for the first show and when the lights dimmed and the chandeliers withdrew towards the ceiling, the rock crowd oohed and aahed at the posh setting. I had been to Who shows from their first in the states at the RKO Theater to Woodstock, the Commonwealth Armory, Stony Brook and the White Plains County Center. The Who just killed it, by now we expected a spiritual experience from them and they didn’t disappoint. I still did not know the name of one of their opening songs sung by Entwhistle which was of course “Heaven and Hell”.
We headed over to Central Park on this beautiful June day and returned for the evening show. A friend of mine worked in a print shop and had made a bunch of counterfeit tickets which were close to perfect except for a slight difference in the paper color. My very real ticket was in the fifth row. One of my friends worked up the nerve to be the first to try the bootleg ticket. The Met ticket takers were easy game but some Filmore guys were watching the proceedings. According to my friend , the Filmore guy was watching the transaction and claimed the Filmore guy said “Very interesting” but let him pass.At that point , all the other bootleg ticket holders made their way inside.
The second show was just as amazing if not more, over two hours of Pete windmilling his SG, Daltry swinging his Mike around, Moon a demon on his massive drum kit and gong and the Ox impassively thumping his bass, It was probably the most powerful amazing show I have ever seen in fifty five years of rock concerts.
Thaks for that. Great comment. CC
I was there for second show in balcony. It was magical, Tommy was amazing. One of best rock concerts of all time.
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