The Who: The Kids Are Alright

This is THE must see rock film. I can't think of any others that compare. The Stones' `Gimme Shelter' is great for reasons quite different than the music contained therein (of which the live material isn't very good). `Monterey Pop,' which features the Who, is certainly my favorite concert film from the era because of the culture it captured on its frames, as well as the eclecticism. The Hendrix performance alone makes that event historic. But the `Monterey' film is very passive & observational. In one sense, that is why I adore it so much, in another, more intellectual sense, it is lacking a philosophy about the material it depicts. I suppose the philosophy is really to document & be intentionally unobtrusive (to the viewers & actual subjects), which in my opinion is really a type of non-philosophy. The Kids Are Alright, however, epitomizes a certain condensed, irreverent and bombastic type of rock and roll that Pete Townshend has always been the ideal spokesman for. This is perhaps the only rock and roll film that is solely about the raw power and visceral effects of this music. Its primary goal is to capture that essence and to show you - not tell you - that the Who were the greatest rock & roll band ever. Of course, this is an age old debate between Stones, Who & Beatles fans. What's the answer?? I don't know as I love them all, and I really don't care either. The ability of this film to make you forget about those other bands, however, is undeniable. Watch this film in the proper setting & you'll be convinced, at least for the moment, that the Who were the best.

`The Kids Are Alright' is not an entirely professional job. Scenes sometimes present themselves through hatchet editing & sloppy placement. It is non-chronological and choppy. Interviews range from nonsensical to pretentious. In the case of Keith Moon, we believe that he never took anything seriously and appears to be caught consistently interchanging the personalities of entirely different people. Roger Daltry has surprisingly very, very little to say. John Entwistle - not as surprisingly - has even less to say & remains in the shadows throughout. But what would otherwise be considered technical movie shortcomings are exactly what the Who excel in; the texture of this film is much like the Who's music itself and therefore highly appropriate. This is why we're only treated to flashes of seriousness before the façades are dropped and the kinetic circus begins anew. While bits & pieces of the Who dynamic can perhaps be articulated, the band's aura existed first & foremost in their music and physical energy (there is a great clip of Townshend patiently listening to the intricate analysis of his music by a German television rock critic. After the critic finishes his exhaustive treatise, Townshend mulls over his possible answer for a moment & finally responds, `yeah.'). The intellectualism, rebellion, trendiness, wildness and downright punk-ishness of the Who is all captured here in its full Moon Era glory.

I would definitely encourage younger music lovers & musicians to watch this, draw comparisons & ponder the direction rock and roll has taken. Is the Dave Matthews Band our generation's answer to the Who? If it is, please wake me when the funeral for rock has ended so we can start over again, thank you very much.

Until just recently, I didn't realize that the `Baba O'Reilly' and `Won't Get Fooled Again' performances were Moon's last with the band. The director actually had the Who perform these especially for this film as he was unable to find `definitive' versions of the songs in the Who film archive. They are indeed amazing.downright sizzling, actually. Quintessential Who.

The object of any great concert film is to convince you, at least for the span of the movie, that the subject is The Greatest Rock Band in the World. If The Kids Are Alright doesn't succeed in that goal as completely as Jonathan Demme's sensational Stop Making Sense, that's hardly the fault of The Who-- few performers have labored harder in the name of fan service.

Though engaging and highly watchable, The Kids Are Alright stays a minor affair, documentary-wise. Here and there it flirts with insight. We catch a bit of Keith Moon palling around with fellow alcoholic Ringo Starr ("We're just taking our medicine, children!") in a bit that foreshadows tragedy without actually catching the weight of it. We get a laugh from Pete Townshend's startled "Eh?" at being confronted with his own lyrics ("...hope I die before I get old..."). But the between-music bits of the film offer little substance; they're just filler.

But there's an early clip of the band performing in a club, in which we cut to Moon, drumming his heart out, already in hyperdrive-- and then, impossibly, he starts going faster. His face is upturned in spiritual abandon, his hands simply disappear. And, in a phenomenal rendering of Baba O'Reilly, you see Townshend dancing in genuine and infectious ecstasy over John Entwhistle's thunderous bass line. And in an epic performance of Won't Get Fooled Again, we finally understand the sheer force of The Who-- the lights go out around six minutes in for the synth solo. Then the drums kick in, gathering our heartbeats with it. The lights come on: Roger Daltrey is screaming, and Townshend is in midair, and we are with him, transported, levitating.

These were men who enjoyed their work. And for these five-to-ten minute stretches, we are watching The Greatest Rock Band in the World. Worth the price of admission.

Well, I've been sat here for the last five minutes thinking what I could write about the Greatest Rock 'n Roll band in the World, or more to the point, one of the best Rock Documentaries to come out of the 1970's.

Seeing The Who live only four time's since 13th July 1985 to November 10th 2000. The original line up would have been great, but time and history say different.

This is where Jeff Stein has a wonderful idea (the film was being made when Keith was still very much alive, but as reference to today's generation) if you can no longer go to the mountain, then he has brought it to you, enter stage right, The Kids are Alright, 109 minutes of pure Rock 'n Roll documented history.

The film start's of with some fantastic black and white footage (the early gigs must have been out of this world) of one of the hardest working bands to come out of the Sixties and to continue to World domination, a cliché I know, but it works.

Interviewing them must have been a night where you earned your money, poor Russell Harty, (in case of Keith Moon break the glass).

The 1970's tracks see them develop into a real tight outfit, if not a "little older" , performing most of their classics without fault. Jeff Stein has done a great job of bringing together this visually collective musical collage to a wider audience. I say lets turn the record over and begin side "B"...

Thanks Jeff.

Only recently did I acquire an appreciation for The Who. After seeing this film, they've moved from the bottom of my list to nearly the top. It gives an amazing look into the group almost solely through the use of concert footage. There are a few cuts of interviews and humorous stuff with Ringo Starr, but they don't compare with the concerts.

It also gave me a new perspective beyond The Who and into the world of the modern music world and INDUSTRY. Most people have seen Trent Reznor and Kurt Cobain destroying their equipment at Woodstock and on Mtv, but have they seen The Who do it on the Smother's Brothers Show? THAT is insane!!! That was 35+ years ago...

Where is modern pop-music going? That's what I ask after this film. What is being done today that hasn't been done before? The answer is pretty close to nothing. Except a lot more money is being made...big deal.

10 out of 10... Easily as good as "Don't Look Back" and the Bob Marley docs I've seen. Just as inspiring.

While "The Last Waltz" is usually the critics' favorite rock movie, "The Kids Are Alright" has always done it for me. Basically, we have a career overview of one of the greatest rock bands ever, with numerous characteristics that make it truly exceptional.

Here's what makes this movie really unique: First, it was made by a fan, which gives it a fan's perspective (often more perceptive than a band's own self-image or, needless to say, the perception of a record company employee). But more importantly, the Who, always one of the most "down-to-earth" (and self-critical) rock bands, were willing to co-operate with the filmmaker (Jeff Stein), even going so far as to perform two exclusive concerts for the purpose of filming.

The movie thus comes together as a fan's dream: a comprehensive selection of live clips that span the band's career up to that point (including brilliant early footage and such career-defining performances as Woodstock and the band's appearance on the Smothers Brothers' TV show), along with truly insightful interview footage.

One comes away from this movie with a genuine appreciation for the combination of creativity and humility that really made the Who unique among "superstar" rock bands. Can you imagine Led Zeppelin referring to their own work as crap in the middle of "The Song Remains The Same"? The Beatles created their own career-spanning retrospective 15 years later with "The Beatles Anthology", but that film, made 25 years after the band broke up, seems much more concerned with defining and cementing the band's place in history (especially the McCartney interview segments) than with presenting the band "warts and all".

Even in "The Last Waltz", while much of The Band is somewhat disparaging about their early careers, there is still a real sense that Scorcese and Robertson are attempting to define a historically significant moment in time rather than just capturing The Band as it was (I've read that the rest of the Band members didn't even know Robertson was planning to break up the Band until after the concert!).

By contrast, "The Kids Are Alright" provides us with a refreshingly honest portrait of a band who have always tried to be honest with their fans. By combining the perceptive eye of a true fan with a cooperative band who weren't concerned with protecting (or defining) their "image", we are left with a true rarity: a documentary on a "superstar" that is neither concerned with deifying nor tearing down its subject, but instead gives us a truly satisfying (and entertaining) portrait. Plus, some of the best "70s Arena Rock" ever recorded! All in all, it adds up to a minor masterpiece.