The Who Album: “At Kilburn 1977 [DVD]”

Hey Zebba 9, what film were YOU watching?? The opener Can't Explain is kind of a warmup, after which Townshend is absolutely ferocious on guitar. And as animated & glassy-eyedly immersed as at any time in his career--this is definitely the Pete that would've kicked Abbey Hoffman off the stage again had he showed up. This performance demonstrates everything that makes the Who great~ these guys hadn't performed in a year, and they find spaces that hearken back to Leeds & Isle of Wight. Moon may look a little bloated, but he's in tremendous form musically. They all are, individually and as the collective organism that was the 'Orrible 'Oo.

Perhaps I'm making too much of it, but this performance is a revelation, in my opinion. At a time when they're supposed to have been a spent force, they reclaim and amply display their power here; they turn in a vintage performance for the lucky audience. There is a moment during Who Are You (which gave me chills when they went into it~ WHO KNEW?) where the communication breaks down (honestly, I think Pete aborts too early)....but they recover in spades with Won't Get Fooled Again (watch the roadies banging their heads) and the only reason for the breakdown in the first place was the willingness & confidence to take the chance and journey into open-ended territory.....just like they were doing in '70 during My Generation. Great My Generation here, too, by the way.

I agree about the camera angles, but not to the point of it being relevant to the basic thrill of this film. (Maybe they could release a you-control-the-angles version someday, like you can do for Baba O'Riley & Won't Get Fooled Again on the Kids Are Alright dvd).

I'd recommend this to any Who fan without another thought. I only wonder how this stayed hidden for so long.

Sometimes it is hard to be objective about a band that meant so much to me as a teenager. But, I have seen this band in concert and the Kilburn show is a disappointent musically. The band appears off, Townsend is trying too hard, and appears that he is agitated like he is on cocaine. Moon looks sick. Townsend even says the performance is poor, comparing it to feces, and recommending they stop filming. I agree with Townsend. No wonder it didn't get released sooner. This is an example of a professional band "going through the motions" for the cameras on a not very inspiring night.

However, the REAL gem on this disk is the performance at the London Coliseum of Tommy in 1969. Just compare how much more relaxed Townsend is here, and his guitar play reflects it. Too bad the sound quality isn't better as it sounds like it is coming from a tin can, but the MUSIC...Wow. What a gift to be present at that show.

A very interesting release---the 1977 Kilburn show that supposedly wasn't good enough to be used in the Kids Are Alright---now gets released in full. Was it good enough? Well, it was filmed so Jeff Stein would have some performances of Who's Next era songs non-existant on film: Baba O'Riley and Won't Get Foolded Again. The Kids Are Alright versions---filmed at Shepperton--of those two songs are a little better, especially WGFA. So Jeff made the right decision then to forget the Kilburn show. 30 years later, Who cares? Let's see everything that's still in the vault.

The fascination of this particular show is it's Keith's last proper concert appearance. Sadly, Keith is a shadow of his former self. He's only about 30 when this was filmed but looks 10 years older than he did on the 1975 tour--the last great Who performances.

The Kilburn show was the band's only performance of 1977 and it shows. They are all rusty. But a few times: Shakin' All Over, My Wife, Pinball Wizard, the old magic resurfaces. Townsend is clearly not happy, which results in a passionate performance. Daltrey forgets some lyrics but is generally in good form. The Ox is his normal, solid self. Always the best bass player on the planet.

The show is very well filmed. The sound is not as good as the film quality: Townsend is recorded well but Entwistle's bass is frustratingly low in the mix. It's hard to tell how Moon is recorded: he was not playing up to his normal standards and sometimes he's trying to hit all his drums at once, and not really hitting any of them at all. Other times he can still pull off a great fill or roll.

The London Coliseum show from 1969 is a quality addition and makes this package a great value. It's only stage lit--not lit for filming proper--but it's the Who at their performance peak. The sound is a bit muddy but still, any peak Who is a joy.

If you love the Who, you have to have this package. All Moon era film is a treasure. If you are a novice Who fan, this is not the first Who DVD to buy. The Kids Are Alright is the place to start.

Contrary to much "transcendent" speculation, the Kilburn show is just alright. The Who were not that tight, and although this was what made them interesting sometimes, this show ain't that happening. Okay in spots, but just average, as unfortunately, they had become for most of the '70's as a live unit. Arguably though the DVD could have been titled The Coliseum Show and that would be a different matter altogether. The boys are firing on all cylinders at this show. Just masters of the stage at this point. Oddly enough though, the main featured section of The Coliseum show has some songs from "Tommy", and then when you go to the extras section of the disc, the entire performance of "Tommy" (19 songs) is available??? One possible explanation may be that the relatively one hour performance on the disc may have been considered for a theatrical release at one point and was therefore not going to include all of the "Tommy" material??? Not clear. Also the booklet does not list the songs, and the material on each disc. You have to go to each disc and gather that information from there. Poor lighting and all, The Coliseum show gets a 5, and Kilburn gets a 3.

Roger Daltrey once described The Who's 1977 Kilburn show as, and I quote, "...an abortion." I recently used that term to describe a bad movie I did a review on, but I nicked the term from him in his comments about this show. It's too bad, fans waited decades on this, but sometimes when a performer refuses to release something, products like this are the reason. It was a swansong from the original line-up of the band, and here they just fizzled.

Though the band clearly wasn't ready for this show, this release does have its good side. The film stock itself is very good, with full, clear sound, dynamic color (or "colour," as the Brits say), and for once, John Entwistle gets equal face time. So many photos and film clips of The Who don't feature him at all, and just like Keith Moon, the band is a lesser entity without him; it's good to SEE him as one of the featured players, as well as hearing him.

But the performance suffers from the four members not even saying "hello" to one another in many, many months, then trying to pull this off. Though John Entwistle's bass playing is always technically superb, even he made a few blunders in this show, mostly in a song's structure, jumping to a wrong part and whatnot, but his mistakes aren't as pervasive as the rest. Roger Daltry often forgets lyrics, singing the wrong ones, and on "Dreaming From The Waist" (Townshend's most hated Who song), just blanks out while the rest continue without him until he finds his place. Keith Moon, the poster child for hyperactivity and Attention Deficit, let his health dive-bomb right into the ground while living in California, but somehow manages to get through the show (but doesn't have as rough a time as he did in the Shepperton show from 1978); he is much worse for the wear, compared to earlier shows, and Pete Townshend was in an awful mood, and only wanted to finish and go home.

It's a bad show, especially in comparison with disc Two, their 1969 London Coliseum show. This is a technically bad film, terrible production values, but a good document of The Who at their best. There are many glitches here, but it's a FANTASTIC show. Kilburn should have been the bonus disc.

This set would be of more interest to the die-hard fan (like myself), but regardless of who you are, the 1969 footage is well-worth watching.