Listening to You: The Who at the Isle of Wight 1970

What is contained on this disk is a first rate show by a first rate band. This disc is NOT for the faint of heart...the music is incredibly intense, and VERY cool. What you will learn when you watch this movie is just why the Who was so huge for so long. It is true that their records were great, but their shows were the top of the heap. In 1969 when this concert was shot, the screaming teenie boppers that threw jelly beans at the Beatles were gone and bands (and audiences) had settled down to long and often amazing displays of musical virtuosity--something that few audiences have the intellectual curiosity to pursue in the age of canned music by Britney and Christina. What you especially learn here are the amazing things that can happen when gifted musicians are encouraged to improvise. Try the concert out, it really is amazing.

In 1970, The Who were pretty much at their peak and this film captures them during what is considered their greatest concert ever. The chemistry that Pete Townhsend, Roger Daltry, John Entwistle and of course the legendary Keith Moon display on stage is a far cry from the acrimony that would plague The Who in later years. This film can also be seen as the end of an era as this was the last time that their classic rock opera "Tommy" would be played in it's full glory on stage (not unless you count the god awful film version) for 19 years until they played it again on their 25th anniversary tour in 1989.

I feel that this is the best Who concert film that I have seen yet. The original Who are all in check, doing various classics like Summertime Blues, I Can't Explain, The Magic Bus and My Generation, each a little different for the good. And, there is a majority of the original Rock opera Tommy, performed soley by the Who in a rare sight (unlike the one in 1989, where it was 3 out of 4 and with guests). Beautiful rock on the small screen by one of the best groups ever. By the way, there is even some unintentional comedy from Keith Moon! A+

See this movie NOW! The concert shows The Who as good as it gets. Dig Entwistle's infamous skeleton suit. Pete and Keith are non stop bundles of energy throughout. Daltrey shows the flair and charisma he cultivated in full form. What a great flick!

I saw The Who when the 1982 version of their "final tour" passed through Toronto. While enjoying them immensely, what most sticks in my mind the 20 years and more since is the visual of Roger Daltrey running on the spot a few times, suggesting more than a few ideas that must have been in mind at that time. Here, however, taken from 1970, is a singer and a band musically and visually connected to the music. I doubt that anything of that music and time would have inspired him to be running on the spot. As Huey Lewis would later note and i find it applicable here, judging by a performance like this it would be easy to say that "the heart of rock and roll is still beating." An inspiring performance worth seeing.