The Who at the Isle of Wight festival in 1970. This concert and movie captures The Who at their peak.
The band had just released Tommy, their classic, and seminal, rock opera and at the concert they reproduce it, note for note.
It's not all Tommy, however, there's a few other classics of theirs, eg My Generation, Magic Bus, I Can't Explain, plus covers, which were a staple of their show. Here they cover Summertime Blues, Shaking' All Over, Spoonful, Twist and Shout and Young Man's Blues.
Great performance by the band, with Pete Townshend to the fore, but with Keith Moon the undoubtable and unforgettable court jester. Plus, he sure knows how to play the drums...
Ultimately, however, it feels like there is something missing, something that was needed to push this concert into the pantheon of recorded concerts. Maybe it was that some of the songs just feel lacking, and not worthy of a The Who's "best of to that point". Heaven and Hell, I Don't Even Know Myself and Water seem out of place with all the great songs. I could have done without Young Man's Blues too.
Maybe it is the restrictive nature of playing a rock opera from start to finish - there's very little room for detours and jams.
Overall, still a good concert, but needed something more to make it great.
The band had just released Tommy, their classic, and seminal, rock opera and at the concert they reproduce it, note for note.
It's not all Tommy, however, there's a few other classics of theirs, eg My Generation, Magic Bus, I Can't Explain, plus covers, which were a staple of their show. Here they cover Summertime Blues, Shaking' All Over, Spoonful, Twist and Shout and Young Man's Blues.
Great performance by the band, with Pete Townshend to the fore, but with Keith Moon the undoubtable and unforgettable court jester. Plus, he sure knows how to play the drums...
Ultimately, however, it feels like there is something missing, something that was needed to push this concert into the pantheon of recorded concerts. Maybe it was that some of the songs just feel lacking, and not worthy of a The Who's "best of to that point". Heaven and Hell, I Don't Even Know Myself and Water seem out of place with all the great songs. I could have done without Young Man's Blues too.
Maybe it is the restrictive nature of playing a rock opera from start to finish - there's very little room for detours and jams.
Overall, still a good concert, but needed something more to make it great.