Poll: When did you see The Who live on stage for the first time?

Excuse me, when did you see The Who live on stage for the first time:
in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, .... ?

Please, share your stories and memories
and, if you have, post pics of concert posters, tickets, etc.




The Who at the Coliseum, Charlotte, North Carolina, 20 November 1971

(From here)

 

1996 in Buffalo, New York. I drove from Indiana to Hartford, CN and then Buffalo to see the last 2 shows of Neil Young and Crazy Horse's tour. I had a day between shows and arrived in Buffalo the day before the last show. As I was driving in I turned to the local classic rock station. They were talking about The Who show that evening....I had no plans so I went to the box office and picked up a ticket.

And that's the story of the first time I ever heard "Quadropenia"!

 

Buffalo in December of 1979. Memorable as it was the night after Cincinnati.

 

Fillmore West, August 1968. Unbelievably powerful.

 

I missed the Ox by a month

 

Montreal 1980 - best concert I have ever been to, and a memorable night

 

Madison Square Garden 1974. Moon came down from the rafters on a harness and cable. Awesome.

 

August 1967 at the Rhode Island Auditorium.

 

Saw the original line-up twice :

11/24/1975 - The Omni, Atlanta, GA. Toots & The Maytals opening act. Lousy, nosebleed seats as I recall.

8/7/1976 - Gator Bowl, Jacksonville, FL. LaBelle and Black Oak Arkansas opening acts. Observed from front center of stage, about 3 people back, general admission. It was a lot of work to keep that spot all day long. I've written about this concert on this forum many times - maybe my best concert experience ever. So close I could see the sweat fly off Pete's face every time he landed from a jump. It was a hot, muggy day!

 

Never. Moon died before I was able to see them, and I knew right there it was too late.
Passed on seeing them in '82 to see Rush twice on the Signals tour.

 

The Hollywood Bowl-1967 ? along with The Animals The Everly Brothers

 

December 6, 1973. At the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland with Lynyrd Skynyrd.

 

Biggest Party in Texas!

 

Camden, NJ's E-Centre (now the BB&T Pavilion), July 7, 2000.

 

Not good with dates. The trio Who with Zach Starkey was touring Quadrophenia. Simon Townsend was there and I believe Billy Idol was Ace the Face. Just looked at Wiki, and if it was '96, Gary Glitter would have been part of that package, too.

 

October 16, 1976 at Northlands Colesium . Row 15 on the floor. My ears are still ringing!! What a show - Keith Moon was simply unbelievable!!!

 

I saw them in '76 and it was a powerhouse show. I remember the review by Peter Howell saying the set was made up of anthems rather than song. I think he meant it as a criticism but I'm not sure how or why.
The only other time I saw them was last year. You can't really compare the shows although the recent one was fine on its own merits, with a great set list (lots of early stuff and a nice chunk from Quadrophenia).
I also got to see Pete Townshend in a Rock Against Racism gig in the late 70s. It was pretty great.

 

I've posted a zillion times in other threads...but...May 30th, 1969 at Chicago's Kinetic Playground, from 10 or 15 feet from the band.
I left part of my hearing there probably.

The Who isn't my favorite band of all time, but if someone asked me what was the "best rock band concert" I ever attended this one fits that bill.

Joe Cocker and the Grease Band opened, wait for it... Buddy Rich Orchestra was second on the bill, with the Who headlining.
"Tommy" was released literally the week before I saw them. I had the album already so I was familiar with the songs.

Pre internet days, the rumor going around was that the Who would either play most of Tommy or their hits but not both, so I was pleasantly surprised when they played the Tommy songs and also about ten or twelve of their other songs.

I have a Who book where Pete or Roger mentioned that at my show everyone spontaneously stood up, and pretty much at every show after that it would happen at the exact same spot.

I've posted several cool pictures from my show here before but Photobucket won't let me post for free anymore, so I'd have to get them over to Imgur to get them here.

P.S. I found the pictures I posted from a pre Photobucket thread. Here they are:

Best live band of all time?

 

March 1968 at our teen club in Fort Lauderdale, Code 1

Amazing, of course. I set up to the left of Townshend, leaning on the stage. Could have grabbed his foot. He said hello to me when they came on, and I just nodded, trying to play it cool. Silly boy. They did the whole destruction bit. They were not all that famous, another band coming through town, but no one who was there forgot that night.

My kids first saw the Who at the Hollywood Bowl concert right after John Entwistle died. (It was canceled and then magically it was back on.) The Who two were excellent and of course if was an emotional, moving night.

 

Wednesday October 15th 1975 at the Glasgow Apollo theatre, with support from the Steve Gibbons Band. It's a night that I'll remember as long as I live. The Greatest Rock n Roll band in the world LIVE right in front of my eyes. I still get goosebumps. Phew !! I've seen them many times since, in many different line-ups, always exciting, always giving their all. But that first time...

 

I saw The Who at the Long Beach Arena in the early '70s. I didn't think it was this early, but in doing research, it appears they played only one gig in the early '70s at that venue, December 10, 1971: the infamous gig where Townshend exploded upon the audience as heard on the opening track of Thirty Years Of Maximum R&B. I do not recall this exactly, but do remember that he was an ass, wearing a big stupid crown and I was a little let down by them. It was the first show where I had waited a long time in line to purchase tickets (two hours, as I recall). I ended up enjoying opening act Ten Years After more, which I wasn't expecting.

 

2000, in Irvine. Absolutely loved it. But I wish I had been old enough to see them in the 70s.

 

Philadelphia in 1979. About a week after Cincinnati so I wondered if they might cancel the show. Memorable show and the first time my parents let me go to a concert on a school night -- even they recognized it was The Who.

 

June 1980 with Kenney Jones. LA Sports Arena. Not on your list.

 

2002 Watford Colosseum. Fantastic show in a small venue. For me it was spectacular, couldn't believe the sound coming from Townshend's guitar.

Tim