17 Jul 2012
May 31, 1976 – Charlton, South London, GB
Show Report
The Who played a three-date stadium tour in the UK to satisfy overwhelming demand, and 65,000 (including 5,000 gatecrashers) attended this lead-off show. All three concerts also featured the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Little Feat, the Outlaws, and Streetwalkers.; Monday
Probably their last great gig in the UK. Long day in the rain with the +60.000 crowd going berserk when The Who finally came on stage
the second concert I saw at the valley pissed with rain all day but it was worth it if pete said the first time they was substandard then this time they were out of this world I will never forget seeing the lasers hitting the mirrors on the pylons and crisscrossing the crowd
If I recall, and that’s a leap, there were great lights, amongst other things. They had spotlights behind the stage, the lasers from the stage reflecting around created a coloured “net” overhead. Keith Moon was wearing a union suit. He stood on the drums and proclaimed, “I don’t need your “expletive” sequins to be a star!” Lots more I could reminisce about, but those were highlights. Keith Moon, one of the greatest rock drummers ever.
What a show after a long wet day’s wait. That laser installation was cutting-edge for the time, and completely blew my socks off! The PA system was something like 100,000 watts too, I believe.
I do recall that between acts some individual, probably either over-refreshed or chemically enhanced, managed to climb one of the floodlight towers, and refused to return to ground level. A PA anouncement was made to the effect that the show would have to be halted until he did. There was a pause of a few moments as the rest of the audience considered this, then the mass chanting started; “JUMP…JUMP…JUMP”. He must have got the message, eventually coming down (the slow way), and the next act duly took the stage.
But the story doesn’t end there. During his aerial adventures, the miscreant had nudged one of the many mirrors which were to reflect laser light into the criss-cross “net” effect over the pitch area. So, when the laser display was fully activated (towards end of Won’t Get Fooled Again IIRC) one beam missed the next mirror, and reportedly shone in through a random bedroom window quite some distance away from the Charlton ground, severely puzzling the aged occupant.
Good memories of a band that I first saw play in 1974, and will see again in 2023; keep on going, The Who!
Didn’t go to the concert as I was revising for ‘O’ levels later that week, but you could hear the sound from where we lived at Plumstead Common (about 2 miles away).