The Who At Kilburn: 1977
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Movie Reviews of The Who At Kilburn: 1977
Movie Review: Must see.
Summary: 5 Stars
Hey Zebba 9, what film were YOU watching?? The opener Can't Explain is kind of a warmup, after which Townshend is absolutely ferocious on guitar. And as animated & glassy-eyedly immersed as at any time in his career--this is definitely the Pete that would've kicked Abbey Hoffman off the stage again had he showed up. This performance demonstrates everything that makes the Who great~ these guys hadn't performed in a year, and they find spaces that hearken back to Leeds & Isle of Wight. Moon may look a little bloated, but he's in tremendous form musically. They all are, individually and as the collective organism that was the 'Orrible 'Oo.
Perhaps I'm making too much of it, but this performance is a revelation, in my opinion. At a time when they're supposed to have been a spent force, they reclaim and amply display their power here; they turn in a vintage performance for the lucky audience. There is a moment during Who Are You (which gave me chills when they went into it~ WHO KNEW?) where the communication breaks down (honestly, I think Pete aborts too early)....but they recover in spades with Won't Get Fooled Again (watch the roadies banging their heads) and the only reason for the breakdown in the first place was the willingness & confidence to take the chance and journey into open-ended territory.....just like they were doing in '70 during My Generation. Great My Generation here, too, by the way.
I agree about the camera angles, but not to the point of it being relevant to the basic thrill of this film. (Maybe they could release a you-control-the-angles version someday, like you can do for Baba O'Riley & Won't Get Fooled Again on the Kids Are Alright dvd).
I'd recommend this to any Who fan without another thought. I only wonder how this stayed hidden for so long.
Movie Review: 4.5 stars for the Kilburn performance section ....
Summary: 5 Stars
We Who fans finally get to see the infamous Kilburn 1977 gig here. I've seen the Kilburn footage (minus "Dreaming from the Waist"), and it's really good. It's wonderful to see a pre-LP version of "Who Are You" at this show, that bumps and grinds much more than the studio version would almost a year later. Drummer Keith Moon is in fiery form here - much more than he was at Shepperton Studios (for "The Kids Are Alright" movie) some five months later. I think Pete Townshend and John Entwistle might have sounded a little better at Shepperton, but Moon is in better form here on the Kilburn disc. He hits the drums harder, faster and is more precise. Don't get me wrong - I will take any Who footage, especially with Moon and The Ox. Be sure and watch what happens, at the tail end of "My Wife," when someone touches Townshend's guitar picks on Townshend's amp head. YIkes. Don't mess with the Godfather of punk rock, for sure. The camera stays on Townshend, who lets it be known to the guy - and the entire audience - that it's uncool to mess with The Who's stage equipment.
The ragged nature of the band here, most of the time, actually works for them during the Kilburn set. There's an edge to the quartet's efforts, and although there are flubs - Moon comes in too early during the intro of "Won't Get Fooled Again," and Townshend doesn't get all of his mojo on guitar until about 10 minutes into the show. Townshend is wilder here, jumping across the stage, bouncing, hitting his head on his Les Paul and becoming a human cyclone, wrapping himself up in his own guitar cord, than he was at Shepperton. Like the Shepperton footage, the Kilburn set is a keeper.
Hopefully, the London Coliseum set will be equally as impressive ...
Movie Review: Flawed Firepower
Summary: 5 Stars
The myth surrounding this performance is that Keith Moon spoiled it by being overweight and out of practice. The truth is the entire band was rusty. Roger flubed a few lyrics and Pete overplayed early on. In short, Keith was no worse then his mates.
So is this a bad performance? Not by any strech. It is by turns powerful and dramatic and even a little fun. It was everything you had ever heard about a Who concert and, as it turned out, it would be the second to last show by the original band.
Having been a fan from 1978 on, I can tell you the band was never the same as captured here and that is not just because of Keith's passing. What truly underminded the band for the next 20 years was the fact that Pete's heart was no longer in it after 1978.
Compare this show to any Who concert of the late 1970's, 1980's and 1990's and you will see what I mean. There is no comparison. By the time Pete rediscovered his passion for his greatest material, John was in a couple of years of his passing and all of them were pushing 60. Which is, by the way, another way of saying, check out the new Who. Their current shows are energetic if not youthful.
So this was the last great show by a legendary band. There is no reason to pass it up. The 1969 footage is, of course, a fine bonus if you never experienced the Tommy era materials elsewhere. The band is is top form but the lighting is a bad. The Isle of Wright footage is bit a cleaner to watch but the band was a little worn out on that night. Not so at Kilburn. Watch and see, you'll be standing on your couch before its over!!!
Movie Review: A Quick Two, While The Terrible Music You Usually Listen To Is Away.
Summary: 5 Stars
I think that Roger Daltrey (and all of the members of The Who) underestimate themselves in reference to their '77 Kilburn concert. He starts off by saying that they don't know how the show will turn out because they "haven't played these songs for about a year". Seconds later, Pete Townshend starts in on the first chords of "I Can't Explain", and let's just say that that was enough buyer assurance for me. If this is The Who at thier worst, then I can't imagine them at their best!
Also included in this 2-DVD set is The Who: Live at the London Coliseum 1969, a show proclaimed by The Who themselves as one of their best. It really is. Even though the video is supposedly sub-par,(converted from 16mm film roll, and shot in incorrect lighting) I think it's great, and the audio certainly is, given the fact that it was recorded in an actual opera house. This concert is from The Who's "Tommy" era, so the set list features the entire rock opera, as well as the dynamic set-opener, "Heaven and Hell", the top-10 hit, "I Can't Explain", their "mini-opera", "A Quick One, While He's Away", and The Who's "hymn"("or her, if you like", as Townshend jokes), "My Generation", just to name a few.
(The full set list can be found on Wikipedia:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At_Kilburn_1977_%2B_Live_at_the_Coliseum>).
An energetic '70s Rock 'N' Roll concert and rock opera in an actual opera house. These just go to show you that The Who did it before anyone else, louder than anyone else, and better than anyone else. Buy this product.
Movie Review: The British Best In Live Show
Summary: 5 Stars
As a long-time Who fan, who's seen this band in performance at the top of their game ('72 San Francisco), I've been very nervous about a live toss-out of the lads. Even 70's bootlegs, showed this band to be under-appreciated in the U.S. This live view is top of the pops in my book as a capture of The Who excitement from the cheap seats. The Kilburn set of '77 represents the packaged deal,with the stage mainly led by Daltrey/Townsend re-created over and over after Moon's absence.The numbers are admirably performed, but, to me just a delicious build-up for the bonus disc,the '69 Coliseum show, which captures their raw and fuller force of the Who vocally and instrumentally unleashed that thrills considerably more. The shortcomings in the grainier 16 mm. footage passes quickly, allowing you to see the frenetic Moon energy in the shadows fueling the Who machine as Townsend thrashes on and Daltrey punctuates with vocal bravado. These two held-back live performances put them ahead of the Beatles and Stones in live performance in the same time-frame because, here, the lads were not forced into the later Daltrey/Townsend (Lennon-McCartney) stereotype to sway the American photogenic media, minimizing Entwistle and Moon. This Coliseum show captures entirely the excitment of a newer, raw force that I felt I experienced in San Francisco when they mesmerized the audience entire, wall to wall, leaving you tingling for days as if from stardust. That night everyone knew a comet shot past. You feel that here in these shows. Feast, ye hearty lads!