The Who At Kilburn: 1977
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Movie Reviews of The Who At Kilburn: 1977
Movie Review: Sloppy, Glorious, Frantic... The Who!
Summary: 5 Stars
Dave Marsh, in his Who biography, "Before I Get Old", referred to this '77 Kilburn gig as "a disaster". Jeff Stein, who filmed the show, once called it "an abortion". True, The Who haden't played together in 14 months, Keith Moon was in poor condition, Pete didn't really want to be there, Roger forgot some lyrics and John Entwistle admitted he was drunk before the gig. There are plenty of mistakes made during the course of the show but one thing is certain; The Who Live At Kilburn 1977 is a sloppy, glorious, frantic, energetic mess. In effect, everything a great Who show should be, and a must-have for any Who fan.
Moon may have been out of shape but he is positively explosive at times, especially during "My Wife" which he almost single-handedly drives to greatness. It's true he comes in too early (3 times!) at the opening of "Won't Get Fooled Again" but so what? If you want perfection, go see Rush. If you want rock'n'roll the way God meant it to be, watch this show.
Roger forgets the lyrics to "Dreaming From The Waist" but is in strong voice. And if John was drunk, well, how would anyone know? He stands still and plays brilliant bass as always.
As for Pete, he jumps, kicks, windmills, drops to his knees and generally pulls out every rock-star pose he has to energize the show or possibly himself. At one point he tells the audience, "There's a guitar here if any of you big-mouth little gits wants to take it from me!". He also tells Jeff Stein to stop filming and send the camera men home.
At this point the show really takes flight with an awesome four-song finally of "Summertime Blues" (the best I've heard), "Shakin' All Over", an extended "My Generation" and finally "Won't Get Fooled Again". During the "My Generation" jam, Pete begins to play "Who Are You" which the band had just finished recording. Keith seems reluctant to follow but goes for it and the whole thing nearly falls apart but remarkably does not. In fact,the entire show seems on the verge of collapsing but some how these four guys pull it off.
Apparently the band trashed their dressing-room in frustration afterwards but I think they were being too hard on themselves. From a fans perspective this show represents everything The Who are about. Inspired chaos.
The bonus disc includes a 1969 London performance that includes most all of "Tommy". The film-stock is poor but the performance is The Who at what I believe to be their peak. The set-list is similar to Live At Leeds. If you want to see what Keith Moon was really capable of in his heyday, watch this disc.
Movie Review: What A Show !!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Wow.
Just watched the Kilburn show at a Marcus Theater in Columbus, OH. The sound is just incredible. I doubt there is another better sounding Who concert in their entire catalog.
The show was originally filmed to be part of The Who documentary, The Kids Are Alright. Shot in December of 1977, this was the first show The Who were to perform in over a year, and turned out to be Keith Moon's 2nd to last performace before his death the following year. Apparently the director of TKAA, Jeff Stein, thought the footage was not up to par, and had the boys play another show in May 1978, that would see two songs (Baba O'Reilly & Won't Get Fooled Again) later appear in the film. Prior to the release of this Kilburn show, only a five second clip of Townshend throwing out a challenge to the crowd, and the audio performance of My Wife, on the TKAA soundtrack were released.
While some of the visuals are not as crisp as I would have liked, probably due to the lighting, most of them are incredible. The camera's were right up in their faces like I have never seen. It's really a "one of a kind" style of filming. There are a lot of great Keith Moon close up shots - and he pounded the drums on this night. Keith doesn't look tired, he looks excited to be playing again. Many in close shots of Townshend's guitar playing, and a few good one's of John Entwistle. Little things too, like Townshend's cut up fingers, the set list written on one of Keith's toms, great interaction with the audience.
The set list is standard for them at the time, but has some of the best performances of the staples that I have seen them ever do - Dreaming From the Waist, I Can't Explain, Won't Get Fooled Again, Shakin' All Over, My Generation, Join Together jam, etc.. I only wish they played a few more.
** Worth noting is that this must be the first and last(?) time Keith Moon performed Who Are You live with the band. Nice raw, inspired, early version of the song with Pete working out the chorus and guitar. **
Can't comment on the rest of the DVD release yet, but this performance is worth the money by itself. Can't wait to get blown away over and over again with my surround sound system and screen setup.
The DVD release also includes the London Coliseum show from 1969 - reputed to be one of the band's personal favorites.
Movie Review: What more could you ask for?
Summary: 5 Stars
A year off! As a musician who has participated in a few reunion gigs, there's no landscape filled with more landmines than trying to play a perfect set after you've been out of the saddle for a few months. And yet here are the Who, an establishment band (much to Pete's horror) trying to maintain their self-respect in front of the cameras and posterity in spite of all the rust of a year's hiatus. What you get on this video is the Who on a bad night, which is better than 99% of most other band's good nights. Pete is trying extra hard, in spite of his barely contained rage at being stuck in an anachronism of a band, as punk, techno, and disco are washing away the last vestiges of the 60's. The mix is bass-heavy, which is ok considering how much John Entwistle battled Roger for low man on the totem pole in the Who universe. However, Pete's guitar is perfectly audible, despite some complaints about the balance of the mix. The rumors of Keith Moon's decline by this point are exaggerated, although he appears winded at times, as does Pete. What part of more than a decade's hard living don't you understand? Keith's playing is exquisite because it is so late in the game for him, and he plays magnificently throughout the concert. He's not flawless, but I can't imagine any drummer who would dare try to step into his shoes. The joy of this video is that it shows the glances, grins, and nods between the musicians, sometimes annoyed puzzlement at missed cues (mostly Pete), other times outright laughter that they can bash away for the cameras and not care if they screw up. They are professional grade, but they're still a bunch of geezers from Shepard's Bush, having a good time. Look for an early version of "Who Are You", the rare "Dreaming from the Waist", and spirited and sincere renditions of their earlier glory (a great "My Generation"). How this concert sat on the shelf for so long simply indicates Pete's streak of perfectionism and respect for the band and the fans. If you have not seen this concert in its entirety you are the poorer for it. Long live the "orrible 'oo"!Movie Review: It's a Concert Film and Documentary
Summary: 5 Stars
In my opinion, there has never been and probably never will be a Rock and Roll band greater than The Who. Kilburn is a DVD I'm glad I own because it shows how the band had matured in terms of musicianship and material by the 1977 concert date. It's true that after a year off the road, the band was ragged and rough in spots, but Pete, Roger, John, and Keith on perhaps even their worst of days could still blow away any other band on its best.
Still, what saddens me a bit about The Who throughout its history is we never truly saw the band hitting solidly on all four cylinders. At Kilburn, Pete, Roger, and John were in fine stage form. It's just as evident that Keith's skills and health had diminished in ways I believe hurt the band. Perhaps I'm greedy, but as great as this band was, it could have been even greater. I'm reminded of The Who playing "I Can't Explain" in the documentary The Kids Are Alright. Every time I watch that performance, I'm in awe of Keith's brilliance on the drum kit. No Rock and Roll drummer was better than Keith up until about '74 or '75. During the Kilburn show there are glimmers of the old Moonie, but in total his performance is a far cry from what he had been capable of just two or three years earlier.
A great companion DVD to Kilburn is The Who - Live at the Royal Albert Hall. Zak Starkey is unquestionably the best possible replacement for Moon. The band at the Royal Albert Hall show is much tighter than what viewers see on the Kilburn DVD. If just for the sake of comparison, I would recommend both DVDs to anyone who even casually appreciates the amazing work of this, the greatest Rock and Roll band that has ever been.
The Royal Albert Hall DVD is also worth owning because I believe it's one of the final showcases of Pete, Roger, and John playing together before Entwistle's death. I'm truly sorry to say that without John and with only Pete and Roger billing themselves as The Who, what they have become is merely the best Who tribute band working today.
Movie Review: Awesome DVD!!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I watched the main section of this DVD last night. There is still "the extras" section that I will view soon.
The concert is awesome!! I am a huge The Who fan and this concert shows how great these guys were playing together. There were mistakes such as when Roger Daltrey forgets most of a verse in the song Dreaming From the Waste, and a few songs into the show Pete Townshend comments that he didn't think the performance was worth filming but I think he was saying that to goad the other musicians. This DVD is a must have for any The Who fan or anyone interested in power rock and roll.
My biggest gripe about the film is the same I have with all of The Who videos that I have seen: the lack of time the director shows John Entwistle and John's amazing playing. It seems music film directors that film The Who know nothing about rock music. Here is arguably the greatest rock bass guitarist to ever walk the face of this Earth who had changed rock music as we know it forever, and you'll be lucky to see 8 minutes of concert footage devoted to John in a 2-hour film. Sometimes I felt Keith Moon's kick drum got more film time than John did. For example during the phenomenal bass soloing in Dreaming From the Waste, this idiot director elects to show Townshend standing playing rhythm guitar.
The sound is awesome. The tone that we hear from all of the musicians is amazing, especially John Entwistle's bass.
Go buy this DVD. The Who was an amazing band that changed music forever and this concert DVD emphasizes that fact. Probably your only issue will be your disgust in the lack of time devoted to John Entwistle. So maybe you won't see much of him in this film but you will certainly hear his amazing playing. The Who were an awesome live band and here's your chance to see them prove it.