The Who

[ArnieZ]

 

 

Senior Year 1968, I know, old as ****. The Who played a concert in our high school gym. They were killing time before playing the Grande Ballroom. Tickets were a few bucks. Got the whole show including the destruction during My Generation!!! Debra and Joan went on to become the band's groupies and the un-named male is still a roadie for the group!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

arniez

[Steve Haynie]

Your high school let The Who play a show?  Lucky you.  

My junior high let The Harmonica Rascals do a show in the gym in the mid/late 70's.

[Dutchman]

That is supercool!! I don't recall The Who touring the midwest, while I saw Rush front bands in the midwest for years till they finally made it. 

You had an awesome high school!!!

[BoogieMKIIA]

Sunn Amps!

[ArnieZ]

3 hours ago, Steve Haynie said:

Your high school let The Who play a show?  Lucky you. 

I thought it was lucky they were willing to play😀

arniez

[kizanski]

I would have killed to see them in that period.

I saw them twice, but it was the '80's after Moon died, so it almost doesn't count.

[HSB0531]

They were the one band I regret never seeing live.

[Hbom]

Where were you living Arnie? I was at the Grande show in Detroit in '68.  Was completely blown away. It was such a dive but everybody who was anybody played the ballroom. 

[ArnieZ]

I was in Southfield MI at the time. I was also .at the Grande show as well. Saw them 2 other times at the Grande, IIR correctly Joe Cocker opened the other shows but 68

Arnie

[crunchee]

Maybe the powers that be didn't see them on the Smothers Brothers TV show.  Or maybe they did.  

 

[Jimbilly]

Nearest I got at that time was a very cute girl giving me this B&W for some reason, that would have been '83-85. It's probably a copy of a famous photo, but maybe a little too blurry for that. 

  Saw them in Seattle about 10 years ago, nosebleed seats, it was fun, other than getting stuck in the parking garage for well over an hour trying to leave. Pete has such an unusual and unique solo style, really fun to hear someone so different. I also remember thinking that Roger's scream on We Don't Get Fooled again sounded way too good, probably 'canned' was my thought. 

[Jakeboy]

Closest I have ever came to seeing them was going to a theater as a kid to watch “The Kids are Alright”. I have always loved their 60s-70s stuff. Leeds has always been a fave.

[cmatthes]

On 2/5/2025 at 8:17 PM, Jakeboy said:

Closest I have ever came to seeing them was going to a theater as a kid to watch “The Kids are Alright”. I have always loved their 60s-70s stuff. Leeds has always been a fave.

I went with a bunch of the MHS gang (Mark - I think Steve & Kristen Luiken and Shawn Pase drove) to see the '82 tour stop at JFK in Philly with the Clash/Hooters and suck-ass Santana opening.  They were great - it was their "Farewell Tour", but I've seen them on 3 other similarly-named tours over the years with Entwistle, and 3 times after he died, including their very last go-round.   I was pleasantly surprised at how well Daltrey held up over the years. He sounded stronger and better than he did 20 years ago, for sure!

[Steve Haynie]

This thread is making me wish I bought @kizanski's #5 Les Paul. 

[kizanski]

1 hour ago, Steve Haynie said:

This thread is making me wish I bought @kizanski's #5 Les Paul. 

And it's making me wish I hadn't sold it.

It was badass.

[bry4321]

8 hours ago, cmatthes said:

I went with a bunch of the MHS gang (Mark - I think Steve & Kristen Luiken and Shawn Pase drove) to see the '82 tour stop at JFK in Philly with the Clash/Hooters and suck-ass Santana opening.  They were great - it was there "Farewell Tour", but I've seen them on 3 other similarly-named tours over the years with Entwistle, and 3 times after he died, including their very last go-round.   I was pleasantly surprised at how well Daltrey held up over the years. He sounded stronger and better than he did 20 years ago, for sure!

Just to be clear my "LOL" emoji is for "suck-ass Santana" not for the rest of the post 🫡

[Jimbilly]

There is a cartoon out there somewhere that was published 20-30 years ago, it had the band on stage with a banner reading "final farewell reunion tour" and a guy in the audience saying "I like them better when Mr Townsend smashed his guitar instead of his walker"

[alantig]

The funny thing about all that is that the Who only had one farewell tour billed as such (1982), and they did break up after that.  They reunited for Live Aid, then again a few years later because Entwistle needed money.  In 2014, they started their "long goodbye", but it was not billed as the final tour.  Since then, they've been billed as either an album or theme tour (Who Hits 50, etc.).

[kizanski]

49 minutes ago, alantig said:

The funny thing about all that is that the Who only had one farewell tour billed as such (1982), and they did break up after that.

Yeah, I went to Shea Stadium in Queens, NY for that tour.

43 years later, they're still jerking us.

[Hbom]

The Who at the Grande Ballroom 1968.

Picture stolen from facebook. Lot's of pics here. LOUDER THAN LOVE-The Grande Ballroom Story | Facebook

 

[RobB]

2 minutes ago, kizanski said:

43 years later, they're still jerking us.

Quadroweenie-a?

[Pieman]

Anybody else catch them in Chicago on Halloween 1969 at Aaron Russo’s Kinetic Playground?  Liverpool Scene (?) opened. The Kinks followed with their opera Arthur (dedicated to The Who) and then reprised their other great stuff. I was/am a huge Kinks fan.

The Who followed and in turn dedicated Tommy to The Kinks. The Who’s “encore” was essentially Live at Leeds but four months BEFORE Leeds.

Mind you all of this was ten weeks after Woodstock.  I knew the storm was gathering when Keith’s kit was nailed to the floor or riser (can’t remember which).

Those were the days.  And all for $5.

 

[mrjamiam]

No, but I saw them in 1989 in the amphitheater they played in Atlanta when Pete responded to the crowd's urging for another encore by telling us to go home and get some sleep.  Other whipping-up-the-enthusiam remarks were some head shakes about how, without Keith, it was no longer like it used to be.  We young bucks missed all the good times.

[topekatj]

I’m not sure how common this footage is, but meet the High Numbers, circa 1964

 

[kizanski]

20 minutes ago, mrjamiam said:

...without Keith, it was no longer like it used to be.

Yeah, no shit, Pete.

As I said above, I saw them on the '82 "Farewell" tour. "It's Hard" had just comce out.
I was so over-the-moon excited to see them and they were so disappointing. 
I blame Kenny Jones. An incredibly boring, nothing extra drummer.

I saw them again in '89 at another stadium show, this time Giants Stadium, here in New Jersey. This time for the Tommy *shudder* 20th Anniversary Tour.
This was a much more enjoyable show; bigger, louder, and Simon Phillips on drums. Here was a drummer. He didn't "Moon out," but he drove the song.
Jones played drums more like a passenger.

I've seen a few stadium shoes over the years, but that was the only time I had a ringing in my ears afterwards.