Who,The Who/London,UK 1969

Needless to say, 1969 was an important year for The Who, who released the rock opera “TOMMY”. Interestingly, live recordings from 1969 and even audience recordings of the set performing “TOMMY” have been available since mid-May, when the album’s release was approaching. It seems as if the word of mouth had started to spread among fans that The Who had created a great new work. Then, in August, when “TOMMY” was probably starting to spread, they appeared at festivals in the United States and the United Kingdom (Woodstock and the Isle of Wight), which confirmed the success of “TOMMY”. As if reflecting a huge hit, the “TOMMY” set in Amsterdam in September was broadcast on the radio and became a standard soundboard recording of the early “TOMMY” shows. As expected, there are many sound sources and videos of successful periods, and soundboard recordings and videos of the previous summer festival also exist. In recent years, the Ottawa performance in October saw the light of day in a super deluxe edition, although it was only the “TOMMY” part. In the fall, the number of audience recordings increased, and from the US tour in November, a rare recording called “NEW PALTZ 1969” was released, which is now sold out. The groundbreaking thing about The Who’s “TOMMY” tour in 1969 was that they didn’t just play at rock concert venues like the Fillmore, where they had already performed, but also took advantage of the concept of a rock opera and even performed live at an opera house. To close out this hugely successful year, the London Coliseum opera house was booked for The Who at the end of the tour, where they performed their “TOMMY” set. The group had already held a show in London in July to perform “TOMMY” at the Royal Albert Hall, but this time, unlike the RAH, it was groundbreaking to perform “TOMMY” at a proper opera house, which has no history of performing rock bands. Because it was such a special stage, not only was the day filmed, but the film crew also recorded the soundboard. However, these materials did not immediately see the light of day, and 10 years after the recording, the performance scene of “Young Man Blues” was adopted for the Who’s biographical film “KIDS ARE ALRIGHT”, and it became known among fans. Starting with that, it continued to be released in small doses in the history footage of the Who, but the impression of the maniacs who saw them was that “the angle was monotonous” and “the image was dark” before the performance. Therefore, while it was a historic stage to perform “TOMMY” at the London Opera House, on the other hand, I was convinced that it was inevitable that it would not be released. However, in 2008, a long version of the London Coliseum footage was suddenly released as a bonus to the 1977 Kilburn video recording live. It made enthusiasts all over the world ecstatic, but at the same time, it also convinced them that this is why it never saw the light of day. In some scenes, there was only a pull-back angle from the front of the stage, or there was a blank space in the footage due to film changes, so it was clear that it was difficult to release the complete version of the show in the first place. That’s why it was treated as a bonus, but in light of the desperate measures that were faced with problems with the shooting conditions, the footage was divided into two parts, and each part was recorded in a difficult-to-watch state where the songs from “TOMMY” were doubled. In addition, there is the camera angle problem mentioned above. If this is the case, wouldn’t it be easier to listen to it if it was a live album that only extracted the audio? That is the concept behind this release. The soundboard recording by the film crew is mono but has excellent sound quality, and it reproduces the show at the Opera House held at the end of 1969, the Year of Tommy, with stunning clarity. At the time of the 2008 release, stereo fake cheers were added at several places, including the opening, but this was probably to alleviate the quietness of the show in the quiet atmosphere of the Opera House. However, if you listen to the interaction and reaction between Pete and the audience heard before the start of “A Quick One, While He’s Away”, you can get the feeling that the show was progressing peacefully, rather than in a rock concert. The problem was that several songs, including “A Quick One…”, were recorded in two parts for the reasons mentioned above. These were carefully connected for this release, and the result was a realistic live album of the end of the 1969 version of the “TOMMY” show. In addition, the pitch, which is a common phenomenon in video audio, was naturally adjusted, as it had risen a little. And even the problem of the mono sound being biased to the right channel in the latter half of the show, perhaps due to deterioration of the recording by the camera crew, was adjusted. Although the sound becomes distant as if the recording settings were tampered with during “Acid Queen” as expected from a film crew, it cannot be fixed, but we aimed for a perfect live album. The show at the London Coliseum was the day just before the end of the energetic ’69 tour, and also two months before the show at Leeds University. The set list is almost the same, but the performance of “Young Man Blues” is completely different from Leeds, so it’s really interesting. In particular, Pete’s guitar playing shows a completely different development, so you can’t miss it. And the atmosphere of the show as a whole is not as aggressive as in Leeds, but instead you can see that they are trying to play very carefully. This seems to have been related to the fact that the “TOMMY” set that they had been playing every night since May had reached a solid level, and that it was also a performance at the Opera House. As for the location of the sound source, it is important as a show at the Opera House between the autumn 1969 sound sources such as Amsterdam and Ottawa and Leeds, and if you can hear it on the sound board recording, you can call it a new standard from the 1969 “TOMMY” show. Live at the London Coliseum, London, UK 16th December 1969 SBD Disc 1 (41:55) 1. Intro. 2. Heaven and Hell 3. I Can’t Explain 4. Fortune Teller 5. Tattoo 6. Young Man Blues 7. A Quick One (While He’s Away) 8. Happy Jack 9. I’m a Boy 10. MC Disc 2 (79:30) 1. Overture 2. It’s a Boy 3. 1921 4. Amazing Journey 5. Sparks 6. Eyesight to the Blind 7. Christmas 8. The Acid Queen 9. Pinball Wizard 10. Do You Think It’s Alright? 11. Fiddle About 12. Tommy Can You Hear Me? 13. There’s a Doctor 14. Go to the Mirror! 15. Smash the Mirror 16. Miracle Cure 17. Sally Simpson 18. I’m Free 19. Tommy’s Holiday Camp 20. We’re Not Gonna Take It 21. Summertime Blues 22. Shakin’ All Over 23. My Generation SOUNDBOARD RECORDING