I Was There When…The Who Crashed Tanglewood in Lenox, MA (July 7, 1970)

With “I Was There When…,” veteran music journalist Doug Collette reflects on his experiences in the glory days of live rock music. With each column, he takes us back to a specific concert he attended way back when, spotlighting bands like The Who, Pink Floyd, and The Allman Brothers Band, among many others.

The Who opened their 1970 summer tour in support of Tommy at New York’s famed Metropolitan Opera House with a two-night run, shows erroneously billed as the final performances of the “rock opera.” But when the quartet headlined a bill with It’s A Beautiful Day and Jethro Tull for one of the late Bill Graham’s “The Fillmore at Tanglewood” concerts, it was in fact the final performance of the ambitious piece in America with the original Lineup of this iconic band.

The Who played with equal measures of power and precision here within the lush greenery of the Berkshire Mountains. The almost (but not quite) out of control stage antics (including water fights amongst the band members during the early part of the show), images rendered indelible by the sound of them playing their famous piece flush with a sense of accomplishment and pride.

After the usual clutch of introductory numbers such as Mose Allison’s “Young Man Blues,” guitarist Pete Townshend, in unusually self-effacing and serious manner, stepped to his mike to introduce the Deaf Dumb and Blind Boy’s story. With Keith Moon a thundering whirling dervish, Roger Daltrey the definition of leonine grace when he wasn’t using his mike as a lasso, Townshend in one high-flying leap and guitar windmill after another, and the stoic ballast of bassist John Entwistle (he of the alternately machine gunned bass notes and swooping runs that served to ground his bandmates), the foursome moved with a practiced passion through their slightly abridged version of Tommy.

A glorious nonchalance permeated their playing, not surprising given it was close to year since their galvanizing appearance at the Woodstock Festival in August 1969. Their casual confidence only emphasized the natural theatrics of The Who: They needed few enhancements besides conventional stage lighting to truly dramatize their kinetic stage presence, particularly at such close quarters within the comparatively small open-air shed at the summer home of the Boston Symphony. At this point in their career, and for at least the next year, The Who defined thrilling in the context of a rock and roll show every time they took the stage.

Setlist:

01. Heaven & Hell
02. I Can’t Explain
03. Water
04. I Don’t Even Know Myself
05. Young Man Blues
06. Overture/It’s A Boy
07. 1921
08. Amazing Journey
09. Sparks
10. Eyesight To The Blind
11. Acid Queen
12. Pinball Wizard
13. Do You Think It’s
Alright/Fiddle About
14. Tommy Can You Hear Me?
15. There’s A Doctor/Go To The Mirror
16. Smash The Mirror
17. Miracle Cure/I’m Free
18. Tommy’s Holiday Camp
19. We’re Not Going To Take It
20. See Me, Feel Me
21. My Generation