The Who Album: “Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 [DVD]”

First, for those who own and love the original release DVD - this remastered version sounds and looks MUCH better. Thanks to Pete and Murray for giving us that.

As for all the complaints about choppy footage, missing songs, out-of-order song list and the like, well, they're all true.

We should remember that, at the time, neither Murray nor The Who knew that this set was going to become one of the most legendary rock performances of all time. Murray Lerner was out to make a rock movie about the Isle of Wight Festival, and The Who (just one standout of the many acts who performed there) were going about the business of being The Who. They had performed hundreds of times before this, and had many, many shows to go afterwards. For them, it was just another night on the job, (although it seems to have been an exceptionally good one.)

No one knew that Keith would eventually semi-fry his brain and then leave us far too soon. No one knew that the short, fragile, golden age of authentic, people-driven rock was about to end. If Murray Lerner had been able to know all of these things, I'm sure he would have given us the complete set, in order, without a single note left out. And while we're dreaming, we'd have a DVD bonus feature of film from a camera pointed directly and unerringly at Keith for the whole length of the concert. Drummers everywhere would give a pint of blood for that one.

But we don't have these things, and we never will. The cut footage from the 1970's editing room floor has undoubtedly long since been swept into the dustbin of history. What we do have, is a glimpse of magnificence. We have a flawed gem, and an irreplaceable one. In a nutshell, if Rock and Roll moves your soul, then the Who's performance on this DVD will leave you slack-jawed.

And when you finally get tired of watching it, get off your couch, find some people with equipment, set up in your garage, and do something new, something fresh, something that says who you are and what you feel. Just be sure to do it loud enough to piss off your square neighbors. Somewhere, Keith will be raising a glass to you.

Here's the skinny on this. The two bonus tracks - "Naked Eye," which is great, although it's missing the Pete vocals that appeared in the song later, and "Substitute," which is pretty solid but a tad sloppy here and there - are just what they are. They're not inserted into the concert. They can be seen only as "extras." Why they weren't incorporated into the original film, I'll never know. The interview with Pete is the same 2004 which was recorded for the 2004 DVD version and limited theatrical release that year. The BIG difference here, though, is the widescreen presentation. It's widescreen, and there doesn't seem to be any cropping or "fake letterboxed" going on here. I compared the 2004 DVD to this new 2006 one, and more of the film image can be seen on the 2006 version. What baffles me, though, is I didn't think they shot this film with widescreen cameras. Still, though, there seems to be more of a visual image on this new version. So, it's worth it if you love The Who, but it's frustrating that they didn't include the two bonus tracks as actually part of the concert (main program) on the DVD.

What could have been a definitive document of the Who at the height of their powers as the world's greatest rock n' roll band is instead presented as a nearly-unwatchable mess of a film. Songs are obtrusively edited (sometimes in half), key numbers are missing (Tommy without "Amazing Journey/Sparks"?), and the whole show is shown out-of-sequence, as if we wouldn't notice.

And to add insult to injury, many songs contain footage from other songs, ostensibly edited in to cover for missing footage. It happens with disorienting frequency, until you're no longer sure of what you're watching... "Overture," in fact, seems to be contructed entirely from footage taken from other songs. You don't have to be a musician -- or even be particularly fluent in the Who's music -- to notice when what you're seeing doesn't match what you're hearing (just watch Keith).

All this adds up to make this video a singularly infuriating viewing experience. It's hard to know who this video is targeting -- only relatively hard-core Who fans will likely be interested, and such fans will be driven to distraction by its egregious inadequacies. Stick to the 2-CD audio set.

This show and this disc define The Who that I saw at The Fillmore East in 1968-69, and, define rock'n'roll - angry, loud ,funny, obnoxious...and mind-blowing. After Woodstock , The Who performed at England 's annual Isle of Wight Festival in August of 1970 before some 600,000 people.

This disc is a visual and sonic record of that performance, and the project was overseen by Pete Townshend. He supervised the sound mix from the original 8-Track tapes to 24 Bit Dolby Digital stereo and 5.1 surround and DTS Surround. The full-screen video was taken from the original negatives. The concert lasts 85 minutes and there is an extra - an excellent 2004 Pete Townshend interview. The disc comes in a no frills digi-pak.

Especially considering the age of the show, the sound is truly incredible and the video is richly colored, detailed and mostly on-stage with the band. I really hate poorly produced DVD's with all that MTV cliches filming stupid audience shoots most of the time!. Fortunately, this DVD is fantastic in every single aspect.

Stacks of Hi-Watt amps, Townshend's Gibson SG and ever-present white flight-suit, Daltrey's lion's mane of hair and bare chest, Entwistle's signature skeleton suit of the time coupled with his lightning-fast, unmistakeable, defining low-end sound, and Mooney's break-neck command of seemingly miles of drums surrounding him...it's all here. Townshend: the stomping, thumping, marching, jumping lurching angriest of angry young men. Moon the Loon: an excellent, up-close example of why and how he earned that monicker. Entwistle: the perfect stalwart anchor. Daltrey: the lion-voiced, scream-singing, mic swinging rock god. This DVD proves that each was, undeniably, the master of his own instrument.

Townshend, never bettered by any guitarist, ever...strangling, abusing, swinging, throwing, throttling, and generally playing his guitar into submission... and, my gawd, those patented Townshend windmills! Moon, easily killing that giant squid of a drum set entangling him from every direction, always smiling, with a gleam of the devil in his eye! Entwistle playing thick bass strings so hard and so fast his fingers become a blur, wringing so much outta that bass that you'd swear there was at least a five piece band up there, with all the fills and flurries he provides behind Townshend's lone guitar! And Daltrey's voice - huge and guttural, singing Townshend's lyrics as only he could - a look larger than life!

Loveable, smart-ass punks, the lot of 'em, as they quibble amongst themselves and with the audience. Highlites of the show include the usual suspects: "Young Man Blues", "Shakin' All Over/Spoonful/Twist and Shout", "Summertime Blues", "My Generation", "Magic Bus and 14 tracks from "Tommy"...Entwistle's unholy bass sound on "Pinball Wizard", "We're Not Gonna Take It"'s "Pictures of Lilly" riff, chorus and coda, "See Me, Feel Me/Listening To You" as it gains hurricane strength and builds into a tornado of sound, absolutely flattening everything in its path, and those Klieg lights aimed out at the audience from behind the band...I've seen it live, and believe me, it is like seeing God!!

If you truly want the real live Who experience, you gotta be willing to crank this mutha up to 11! I've heard and seen it all live and on video 100 times and I still get chills and goose bumps every time. How did Moon do it? He lived and played too fast and too hard...until he just burned out. There's a funky little video tribute to Mooney after the concert footage to the tune of "Tommy Can You Hear Me?"

This is so much a concert DVD as it is a historical documentary starring the heart and soul of the band featured within.

The Who's performance brings back the memories of their greatness at what was probably the peak of their reign.

The performance part of the DVD is interesting enough but gets a little stale an hour or so into it because the camera work is limited to mostly one side of the stage. There is barely a few glimpses of their bass player John Entwistle who was possibly the best rock bassist of his time and certainly one of my personal rock heroes.

What was really a special treat was the surprise 45 minute interview at the end with a very recent Pete Townsend. I was shocked to hear him say how he actually hated the band and felt he had "nothing in common with those yahoos". However, he was "getting commissioned to write more songs" after their first big hit "My Generation'.

Townsend explains what they were thinking before and during their heyday, how they evolved and what they were trying to achieve with the rock opera Tommy.

What I assumed was simply live performance antics was actually very calculated to achieve a oneness with the audience, to lift them up and then "machine gun them down".

The Who was one of the best rock jam bands around and they weren't afraid to improvise a slightly different version of their songs with each performance. They used body language and certain musical phrases to signal when to leave the jam and go back into the written melody, which made their live performances fascinating. I wish I could have seen more of John Entwistle's fingers playing during the video. He was amazing.

The explanation of their circumstances and many other things by Pete Townsend makes this DVD interesting and worthwhile in its own right. If you're a fan it's worth having in your collection.