"We don't know what this is gonna be like, cause we ain't played most of these songs in 'bout a year," claims The Who's lead vocalist, Roger Daltrey, at the start of the bands recently released concert footage The Who At Kilburn: 1977. Though Daltrey expresses a reasonable concern after a year-long hiatus from performing, The Who quickly overcomes this assertion as it comes out in peak form, delivering an unforgettable show to an equally raucous London audience more than three decades ago.
Shot for Jeff Stein's seminal rockumentary The Kids Are Alright, the full footage from The Who At Kilburn: 1977 was left untouched for the past 30 years and has only just been digitally remastered and released. Apart from simply encompassing some of the most influential rock music of all time, this film draws much of its significance from capturing the second to last performance of the entire group, as its heralded drummer Keith Moon died of a drug overdose only months after its recording in Sept. 1978.
Starting off with the instantly recognizable riffs of "I Can't Explain" and leading right into "Substitute," the members of The Who take no time at all to reestablish their legacy. Though riotous in their sound, their actions seem fairly docile compared to their earlier performances as the ragged punks of the early '70s. The scene then explodes in a mixture of light and sound to the opening keyboard notes of "Baba O'Riley," as guitarist Pete Townshend brandishes his instrument with his trademark windmill-style strumming, backed up by Daltrey on the harmonica.
A placid John Entwistle comes loose as he steps forward with his bass guitar to take the vocals from Daltrey on his signature track from Who's Next, "My Wife," setting the standard of brilliant bass, which is only surpassed later during one of the band's most influential hits, "My Generation." After an impressive jam session at the end of the song, featuring Townshend "playing" the guitar by hitting it against his head, the band rushes right from "Behind Blue Eyes" to "Dreaming from the Waist."
Between a slew of hits spanning the '60s and '70s, including "Pinball Wizard" and the band's famed cover of Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues," The Who periodically throws in a couple of instrumental deviations to keep the crowd on their feet, before unleashing an incredible closing set. The band begins with an unpolished version of "Who Are You," unfamiliar to the crowd at the time in that its studio version had not yet been released, before setting the stage for the final track, "Won't Get Fooled Again." After the opening verses, the stage goes dark as a funnel of blue light surrounds Moon's head, while zigzagged lasers emanate from a green fog. The band comes out of the darkness with Moon's drum fills and Daltrey's primal scream, as the concert crescendos to an unrivaled finale.
Despite the fact that this concert shows to full advantage the incredibly influential music of The Who, the experience extends much further than their signature sound. Daltrey's tight shirt and flowing locks, Moon's unmatched exuberance on the drums, Entwistle's unforgettable bass grooves, and Townshend's trademark style and vigor added to the fervor of the overwhelmed crowd, represent not only the band members' musical talent but also their impact in the era of music that they made their own.
In the end, this footage clearly refutes Townshend's claim about halfway through the show: "Well, this wasn't damned worth taping."
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