The Who At Kilburn 1977

[Tom 1960]

A co-worker of mine recently viewed this on the local PBS station and claims the show was quite good. Has anyone else been fortunate enough to view this show and wish to offer some commentary? I see it's now available from Amazon for Pre-order. Click Here

[Quincy]

The show has been infamous for band members thinking it was a horrible performance. They hadn't played in over a year and had the cameras rolling as it was supposed to be included in The Kids Are Alright. All that made it to the movie was a line to the audience by Pete daring someone to take the guitar off of him (which in context of the show is funny, whereas it sounds threatening in The Kids) and the closing credits where John & Keith threaten to punch the camera lens as the cameraman follows them as they run upstairs to the dressing room. Word has been that while those fake punches look cute that the band was extremely upset with their performance.

But when you have something professionally filmed and the vault is running dry you might as well put it out there and I'm glad they have. I don't want to give away too many spoilers as part of the fun is hearing the clams and seeing Pete's reaction to them. Roger forgets the words of a song they'd been doing for 8 years, and many of Pete's flubs involve just one bad power chord which in passing is not a big deal. But during one song Pete is so far off on what he intended to play the pained look on his face is something else. You practically see him turn a different shade of grey. As I recall Pete didn't care for how his guitars were set up and whether it's the mix or length of time off from performing some of the roar isn't there on some songs. (Regarding the mix I've heard some PBS stations didn't broadcast the show properly, so the DVD may sound better/different than the broadcast.) Compare the "Join Together/My Generation Blues" section from Pontaic (as seen in The Kids Are Alright) to Kilburn and Kilburn just doesn't have the same gusto.

However despite the "clams" some of the appeal of this show is that they hadn't played in some time so Pete's approach in solos is somewhat different. Not always for the better but different. As someone who has or has heard (and erased) about 15 shows from 1975 thru this one that adds some interest. Also the embryonic "Who Are You" is sensational. It's already appeared on the Amazing Journey doc from last year.

A big bonus is the DVD set includes a London Coliseum performance from 1970. I believe the video portion isn't complete so I think the concert will have an audio only component. Not sure if they'll be bright enough to offer the whole thing sequenced properly as audio only or not. You never know with Who products. The picture quality will be dark as the stage was poorly lit, but I'll take boiler suit era Who in any form they can provide it in. So getting that and having Kilburn thrown in make it a great buy!

Edited September 17, 2008 by Quincy

[Stereojack]

I watched some of it and was quite appalled at how uninspired they seemed to be - mostly on automatic pilot, and surprisingly sloppy. It's no news that by 1977 they were past their prime, but I was reminded as to why I had lost interest in them by this time back then.

[Quincy]

This is out now and the 2 disc DVD set is just under $11 at Amazon. The cover makes no mention of it though the back does, but if you love The Who you will want this for the London Coliseum 1969 performance. It's incomplete, in fake stereo, the mix gets rough in places and at times the footage is grainy & washed out and other times it's not. There are a few audio artifacts as well. All that said, it's one of the greatest performances captured on film from that era of any freakin' band! Once again Entwistle is mostly ignored by the camera but Moon is almost always in the picture and is in prime form (as is the whole band.) See "Sally Simpson"! And "My Generation" with the improv bits like from Leeds!

The footage was fished out of a garbage can so we're lucky to have it all. As for Kilburn 1977 - whatever. So many will bitch bitch bitch about it because of Moon not being up to snuff, Roger forgetting lyrics, Pete not having good solo ideas, sometimes being out of tune, etc. (Legitimate criticisms btw.) The demarcation line for liking Kilburn is probably about age 55 - if you're over you're more likely to find it worthless, if you liked the band from Quadrophenia thru Who Are You you're more likely to like it. I think I'll be more likely to play the bootleg '75 Detroit & Houston DVDs before playing Kilburn, but given how inexpensive this set can be had I won't complain.

Had I been marketing this set I would have called it London Coliseum 1969 and let Kilburn be the bonus. An absolute must purchase if you love The Who (unless you're a cranky audiophile, then ignore.)

[Tom 1960]

I think I'll be more likely to play the bootleg '75 Detroit & Houston DVDs before playing Kilburn, but given how inexpensive this set can be had I won't complain.

How do I get my hands on that?