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I worked for a very famous British band. Some of the guys on the crew were hired from a company called "ML Executives". The "ML" stood for "Mad Loony" and it was the umbrella company of The Who's road crew. One of the guys had a VHS tape of The Who playing at Hammersmith Odeon. Without a doubt, this was the most out of control, insane, demented, jaded, faded, gnarled and twisted show I have ever seen. Keef was Keef, all anyone needs to know, but Pete...Dear god, he looks like they derricked him out of the gutter and dragged him behind a tow truck to get him to the show. Pete was hanging ten on the thin edge of cognition and sanity that day. Just a fucking wreck and brilliant beyond anything before and since. Who knows what fine soucon' of psychoactive agents were coursing through his circulatory system that day. I doubt he did.
That all said, as usual, the concert ended with WGFA. Oh me. Oh my. Oh gee, Oh jay, oh frabjous day. From the first windup for the first power chord, you know that whatever they had done to the song, whatever had gone before or would follow after, this was THE ONE. Anger, insanity, fury, snot, spit...it had it all.
I get chills just thinking about it. Really.
I started remembering it recently because I finally saw the DVD of the 911 NYC Concert. People had touted The Who's appearence there as brilliant. Yes, it was good, but nothing to my mind defines them like that tape I saw, many years ago.
I would give my right procreative nodule to see that thing again.
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