Dec. 4, 1979 review: The Who in the Aud

 

A night that went down in history at the Aud.

Dec. 4, 1979

Tense Audience

Hears The Who

Play Its Best

         “We’re totally shattered,” singer Roger Daltry said before the music began in Memorial Auditorium Tuesday night. "But life goes on. We lost a lot of family yesterday. This show’s for them.”

         On the flight up here from Cincinnati, where 11 fans were trampled to death trying to get into a Who concert Monday night, the distressed Daltry had told a reporter he would rather not even get off the plane.

         But instead, Daltry and the band followed up the disaster in Cincinnati with a triumph in Buffalo. They honored the fallen by putting on one of the best rock shows this city has ever seen.

         Local authorities were determined to avoid repeating the Cincinnati disaster. Never have there been so many police officers surrounding a show at the Aud.

         “Have your tickets out and your jackets open before approaching the front gate, please,” a man with a bullhorn advised incoming crowds on Main Street.

         The start of the sell-out show had been moved back to 9:30 p.m. Young fans began streaming in three hours earlier and the doors opened shortly thereafter. The Who went without their customary sound check.

         Nevertheless, there was tension in the air as the crowd, estimated at 17,400, shuffled to its reserved seats. Stragglers shoved and bunched in the aisles when the lights went out several minutes before 9:30 for the showing of a preview of the Who’s new film, “Quadrophenia.”

         The preview showed mostly mobs of rampaging youths running and fighting with police in the streets. It was hardly reassuring.

         But the band put the anxieties to rest. Beginning with “Substitute,” they loudly celebrated the raging, outcast side of rock ‘n roll for nearly 2½ hours. There were no ballads on their song list.

         The hyperactive Daltry, his curly blond hair shorn short, quickly reestablished his reputation as one of the foremost primal screamers and microphone twirlers. With a black T-shirt over his Muscle Beach physique, he seemed ageless.

         Playing counterpoint to Daltry was skinny, bearded Pete Townshend, looking for all the world like a divinity student. Townshend’s guitar-smashing antics first brought the group notoriety in the ‘60s.

         What was overlooked back then was his pioneering exploration of the power chord, of which he still is a master. His windmill strumming was sufficient to spur the crowd to its feet again and again. He closed the three-song encore of an orgy of jumps and splits.

         John Entwistle was the very model of a solid anchorman on bass, taking the spotlight only to sing his “Boris the Spider” and to solo on “My Generation.” Kenney Jones, formerly of the Faces, proved to be a sober and marvelously precise driving force in Keith Moon’s old seat behind the drums.

         The new additions to the basic quartet remained on the sideline. John “Rabbit” Bundrick was hidden among his keyboards. The three horn players, who first showed up in “Music Must Change,” were barely visible behind Entwistle’s amps. Barely audible too.

         The peak moments of the show began in “Sister Disco,” as the circular lighting grid lowered above drummer Jones. Spirits were further fired with a high-powered “5:15.” Then a medley from the rock opera “Tommy” brought a full-house standing ovation.

         After Daltry’s opening remarks, there was no further mention of Cincinnati, just as there was no mention of the late Keith Moon. For this night, at least, the kids were all right. And so were the Who.

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IN THE PHOTO: The Who onstage at the Aud. Buffalo News photo by Ronald J. Colleran.

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FOOTNOTE: This was the band’s first tour following the death of Keith Moon in September 1978. The disaster in Cincinnati led to the banning of festival seating – unassigned seats – in many cities. The band was not told about what happened in Cincinnati until after they finished the show. According to setlist.fm, here's what the Who played in the Aud:

Substitute

I Can't Explain

Baba O'Riley

The Punk and the Godfather

Boris the Spider

Music Must Change

Drowned

Behind Blue Eyes

Sister Disco

Who Are You

5:15

Pinball Wizard

See Me, Feel Me

Long Live Rock

My Generation

Slip Kid (snippet)

I Can See for Miles

Sparks

Dance It Away

Won't Get Fooled Again

(encore)

Summertime Blues

Young Man Blues

How Can You Do It Alone

Not all was peaceable that night. Right beside the review was a police story – “7 Arrested on Drug Charges at Concert.”

         “Seven persons were arrested on drug charges in and around Memorial Auditorium before and during the concert by the Who, police said.

         “Franklin Station police said that seven other persons reported their parked cars were stolen while attending the concert.

         “One young woman from West Seneca and a friend heading for the concert never got to see it. A teenage boy grabbed a purse with two concert tickets and $5 from Jean Paluch near the auditorium, police said. When she held on, he punched her in the face until she let go.

         “And, police said, a Grimsby, Ont., visitor returned from the concert to find that stereo equipment plus a box of tapes he estimated to be worth $1,000 were taken from his parked car in a break-in.

         “Police said those arrested were booked on misdemeanor drug charges. Some suspected marijuana, hashish and LSD were seized.”