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

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+

This review is dedicated to the late Keith Moon and John Entwistle.

The Original Drum and Bass.

There seems to be very little early Who footage around these days, if there is more then lets be 'aving it, now-a-days it tends to be of a very different kind of Who altogether, a parody, a shadow of their (much) better years. To be fair, not one of them has to prove anything to anyone anymore, they've earned their respect and with overtime.

This concert footage for me is one of their best. To command an audience of around a 400,000 plus strong crowed takes skill, charisma, wit and a whole lot of bloody good music.

We all know of the other acts on the bill, The Doors (their last ever show weeks before Jim Morrison died), Moody Blues, Hendrix, Taste, Free and many more. The point being that whoever were there it was The Who that the majority had come to see. This show was one year after the Great Hippie Fest of the 1960's; Woodstock. The film and record had come out and so had The Who's greatest work to date, Tommy. The ever hungry crowd wanted a taste, to be able to experience their own unique event, to be able to "Grove and Love" in the knowledge that this gig was their own. To do this you needed the best of what Rock 'n Roll had to throw at the hungrily baited crowd.

At two 'o clock in the morning in late August 1970 the M.C. announces, "Ladies and Gentlemen, a small Rock 'n Roll band from Shepherds Bush London, the 'OO".

John Entwistle's body suit is of black leather, on the front is the out line of a human skeleton from neck to toe, Roger dressed in his traditional stage outfit of long tassel's and long flowing hair, Keith in a white t-shirt and jeans, as Pete had his white boiler suit and Doc Martins that he'd preferred to wear.

The Who never stopped their onslaught of High Energy Rock for over two hours, performing theirs and other artists' greatest tracks such as Young Man Blues, Shaking' all Over, and then as on queue, Keith baiting the crowed to "Shut up, it's a bleeding Opera" with Tommy, the Rock Opera. The crowed went wild. This is what they had come to hear, and the Who didn't disappoint, straight into Overture and never coming up for air until the final note of "Tommy can you Hear me?" Amazing.

To capture a show of this magnitude of a band of this stature at their peak at a Festival that was to be the last of its kind anywhere in the World was a fantastic piece of Cinematic History.

The English DVD only comes in a soundtrack of English/Linear PCM Stereo, were as in the States, I think, you can get it with 5.1 at least, "Check local press for details…" on that, okay.

The duration of the DVD is 85 minutes with no extras, which is a disappointment. Yes, for a slice of Rock and Festival History this DVD would send you in a nostalgia trip down memory lane the moment you press play, for some of the best Who concert footage as it was meant to be, Live, Raw and in your Face!

I would have given this DVD ten if it wasn't for the lack of 5.1, and some extras would have been nice.

Thanks Roger, Pete, John and Keith.

Listening to You: The Who at the Isle of Wight Festival (1996)was actually filmed in 1970, 1 year after they had performed at Woodstock. The Who's Rock Opera Tommy was a big hit at this point and they had performed it for over a year. The Isle of Wight concert had 600,000 in attendance and was kind of regarded as the Woodstock of England. The Who supplied their PA system which was the most powerful at the time for all the performing bands to use. I watched this on DVD and was amazed at the video and audio quality. There are great close-ups of Keith Moon going nuts on the drums, John Entwistle's great thundering fingers on the bass, Pete Townshend's windmills, and Roger Daltrey spinning the microphone. Watching this makes you understand why they were regarded as the best live rock band.

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.

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.