'Quadrophenia' and 'Tommy' Live with Special Guests

Classic 3-DVD set with amazing never-before-seen footage and exclusive Daltrey/Townshend commentaries in MX Technology released 7th November 2005

Total Running Time (incl. commentaries): 6 hours 57 mins UK Cat. No. 034970500-2

"I think the beauty of the 'Quadrophenia' story is …..it's to do withadolescence. It's to do with theturmoil of growing up.

That's why it doesn't age in the same way as other rock music does.

In that sense that is a lot of the reasonwhy The Who is just as relevant today as we ever were. There'sa timelessness to those songs." Roger Daltrey commentary

'Tommy' is such a powerful piece when it's played live. Somethingabout its shape and its original function. You know, as I said, the story is clunky and it's got holes in the plot. But at the end……I don't know why but it works." Pete Townshend commentary

A unique 3-DVD package featuring never-before-seen footage and exclusive commentary from both Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey talking about two legendary stage performances of Tommy and Quadrophenia is released this autumn - an absolute must for all Who fans and anyone with even a passing interest in classic rock. The unseen footage includes some unearthed material from 1964 of The Who performing at a London pub shortly before releasing their first hit single, 'I Can't Explain'. This footage appears as part of an extraordinary sequence during the 'Quadrophenia' show.

The DVD, produced by The Who and Warner Music Video, comprises a live performance of Quadrophenia taken from the U.S. Tour of 1996/7. This was the first time Quadrophenia had been performed as Townshend and Daltrey had originally visualised it - with a combination of acting, specially shot film, and visual and audio treats. It features spell-binding newcomer Alex Langdon in the role of Jimmy, the disillusioned mod, as well as a memorable performance from Billy Idol as The Ace Face and P.J. Proby as The Godfather.

The second DVD features the 1989 live performance of 'Tommy' at the Universal Amphitheatre in L.A., with special guest performers Elton John, Phil Collins, Billy Idol, Patti La Belle and Steve Winwood. Highlights include Patti Labelle's show-stopping performance of The Acid Queen, Elton John's rendition of Pinball Wizard and the appearance of Phil Collins as you've never seen him before - as the creepy, filthy Uncle Ernie.

Both performances show Townshend, Daltrey and bassist John Entwistle at their musical peak and the many DVD extras include the first ever use of MX Technology as an interactive visual commentary which allows the viewer to access exclusive interviews/commentary by Daltrey and Townshend while the action progresses, simply by pressing the Enter button.

There are also mind-blowing menus containing souvenirs and photos of the shows, a new interview with Billy Idol, the Story of Quadrophenia with Aubrey Powell -director of the special film shot for the live performance - telling how the show was put together.

A third DVD in the package has nearly two hours of live Who and Townshend solo hits including some rare acoustic performances of some Who favourites making this truly an exceptional piece of Who history all in stunning 5:1 sound.

Both 'Tommy' and 'Quadrophenia' include a candid commentary from Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend about the events surrounding each performance, insights into each song and many asides - often funny, sometimes moving, always fascinating. While discussing the 'Tommy' performance, Daltrey explains that after Elton John had had a bit of a 'moment' in rehearsal, no-one knew whether he would turn up to perform at the actual show! "I was quite ready to jump in and sing it ('Pinball Wizard') if he hadn't appeared on stage. I remember the night before at rehearsal I had to sit pretending I was playing piano and singing like Elton John sings it, in his key - because we thought well we'd better do it in his key just in case he does turn up. And I remembered sitting at his piano and singing through his microphone and I don't know what they do to his voice on the microphone but I was absolutely amazed that I sounded like Elton John!"

There's also a definitive answer to the question of why Townshend smashed up a few guitars in his time: "The guitar smashing thing in my life was not what it appeared. I was never ever angry on the stage. I was never out of control of my emotions. I was very, very cool. I've never been nervous on stage. The bigger the audience, the less nervous I am. I'm very detached, quite cold on the stage. It was definitely an artistic act. When I was at college, I studied with a whole bunch of really fascinating people and, I came out with what I felt was an idea which was that I would be in this band and we would destroy ourselves. That was the thesis, in a word. And the guitar-smashing was just a part of it. And we failed. I think we failed really because we had a hit and really an artist's vanity got me. I desperately wanted The Who to be like what the Sex Pistols actually went on to do later, which was to be a band for five minutes. If you look at my interviews of the day, I say, 'The Who is a band chopping away at their own legs.' This is what we wanted."

Aubrey Powell, speaking about how he and the band had trawled through the vaults to uncover the 'new' footage, explained: "I feel that we are acting almost as documentarians for future generations. I believe these works, which sound as relevant today as they did when they were written, will still resonate hundreds of years from now."

In 2005, The Who's status has never been higher - with an acclaimed and show-stopping performance at Live 8, a raft of new bands ,paying homage to their influence and a new album on the way, the band enter their fifth decade arguably more relevant than ever.

The full track-listing on each DVD is:

DVD - 1
Quadrophenia - Live on US Tour 1996


Extras: The Quadrophenia Story (documentary piece), Visual Commentary by Roger Daltrey & Pete Townshend

DVD - 2
Tommy - Live at Universal Amphitheatre, Los Angeles 1989 featuring special guests Elton John, Steve Winwood, Patti Labelle, Phil Collins and Billy Idol.

Extras: Photo Gallery, Visual Commentary by Roger Daltrey & Pete Townshend

DVD - 3
TOMMY ENCORE
QUAD ENCORE
Extras: Billy Idol interview

They will not stop until every note they have ever played is officially released.

41 YEARS OF MAXIMUM R&B!!!

No, make that 14 years of maximum R&B; 27 years of maximum R&R (Rest and Relaxation).

So? The Who should have quit years and years ago...

"In 2005, The Who's status has never been higher - with an acclaimed and show-stopping performance at Live 8, a raft of new bands ,paying homage to their influence and a new album on the way, the band enter their fifth decade arguably more relevant than ever."


No way was their Live 8 performance show-stopping. It was tired. Pink Floyd wiped the floor with them.

Pink Floyd was OK, but no more than that. The Who ruled Live 8 surpreme.

JumpingKentFlash

I´ve always found Floyd rather boring as an liveact..

yeah that new who album is due out in 2025!

Great News!! The Live Tommy concert in particular, was absolutely superb, taking the album to new heights. I can throw my badly worn VHS tape out now!

Wonder if Toronto 82 will ever come out in DVD.

Ofcourse, Reptile is Right (again).

They are the old generation and they've got nothing (new) to say. Nor have they had anything new to say for nearly 25 years.

I'm a big Who fan, but it is embarassing how they keep sticking around even though they have nothing new to say. They have been promising us a new album for at least five years. Townshend's recent whinings on his website about how hard it is for him to write Who songs and how it is going to take umpteen more years to finish the new album was pretty much the last straw for me. That, and their live 8 performance, in which they performed with a pickup rhythm section from Paul Weller's band. It's bad enough that Moon and Entwistle are dead, but now they can't even get their replacements to play with them anymore (Zak Starkey is now drumming for Oasis and Pino Paladino is playing with John Mayer - I guess those guys know the Who is done for).

I can't get too excited about this DVD release, either. The 89 tour and the 96/97 tour had some good moments but overall were their two worst tours ever. Those were the only two tours where Townshend did not even play electric guitar (except for a few songs in 96/97, otherwise he played acoustic). Boz Bolton played electric lead guitar in 89 and Pete's brother Simon played it in 96/97. The band rebounded in 99-01 when Pete went back to electic guitar and they played with just the three surviving founding members plus Starkey on drums and Rabbit Brundrick on keyboards. Those were some awesome shows - I wish they'd put those out on DVD. But that was their last stand as a truly excellent live band IMO.

say them in 02 & they were incredible ,,, check out the new live 8 dvd next month ,,fooled again was mindblowing @ that gig minus the great Starkey..

chippy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> say them in 02 & they were incredible ,,,
> check out the new live 8 dvd next month ,,fooled
> again was mindblowing @ that gig minus the great
> Starkey..

Yeah, they were great in 02, they seemed to be playing with a real sense of purpose, trying to prove that could still go on without John. But they were not as good as in 2000 when they still had Entwistle. Those were the best shows since the Keith Moon days.

You know, I went back and watched the live 8 songs again, and won't get fooled again was a really good version. The newbies had to be thrilled to be up there with their idols and were giving it their all. I like that bassist better than Pino, I think.

I'm just tired of hearing that song, something I didn't think could ever happen. Give me either a new album or five years away and I can regain my enthsiasm for the Who. Townshend will probably still be trying to write new material at that point. I just hope Pete and Roger are still alive and able to play in five years!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2005-09-26 23:41 by ohnonotyouagain.

OK then, let's count all the new bands that are better than them and actually saying something.

No.1 is er, er...........

I'll get back to you on this one.

LOGIE Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> OK then, let's count all the new bands that are
> better than them and actually saying something.
>
> No.1 is er, er...........
>
> I'll get back to you on this one.

1. The White Stripes
2. The Black Keys
3. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
4. Beck
5. Green Day

And I could go on and on ...

Please do. I like a good laugh!

Hello,

Ohnonotyouagain wrote:

--------------------------------------------------------
The band rebounded in 99-01 when Pete went back to electic guitar and they played with just the three surviving founding members plus Starkey on drums and Rabbit Brundrick on keyboards. Those were some awesome shows - I wish they'd put those out on DVD.

------------------------------------------------------

They have done - the Live at the Albert Hall DVD from the show in 2000 is excellent.

Declan

DD Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hello,
>
> Ohnonotyouagain wrote:
>
> --------------------------------------------------
> ------
> The band rebounded in 99-01 when Pete went back to
> electic guitar and they played with just the three
> surviving founding members plus Starkey on drums
> and Rabbit Brundrick on keyboards. Those were some
> awesome shows - I wish they'd put those out on
> DVD.
>
> --------------------------------------------------
> ----
>
> They have done - the Live at the Albert Hall
> DVD from the show in 2000 is excellent.
>
> Declan
>

Didn't know that was out, I am going to have to get that one. I have an audio recording of that show but can't wait to see the video!

ohnonotyouagain Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> DD Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Hello,
> >
> > Ohnonotyouagain wrote:
> >
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > ------
> > The band rebounded in 99-01 when Pete went
> back to
> > electic guitar and they played with just the
> three
> > surviving founding members plus Starkey on
> drums
> > and Rabbit Brundrick on keyboards. Those were
> some
> > awesome shows - I wish they'd put those out
> on
> > DVD.
> >
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > ----
> >
> > They have done - the Live at the Albert
> Hall
> > DVD from the show in 2000 is excellent.
> >
> > Declan
> >
>
> Didn't know that was out, I am going to have to
> get that one. I have an audio recording of that
> show but can't wait to see the video!



They also released the first show as a fivepiece band in 1999 on DVD.
It´s called "vegas job"

And BTW.. check this out:

[www.thewhomovie.com]

Check out Live in Boston as well. So much better than Vegas Job.

By the way, Ohnonotyouagain, I was only kidding!!! That's an impressive list of the new torch bearers in rock music, and I could add many more myself. None as good as the Who mind.

check out" The Concert for New York City ",,the Who were the only band out of say 20 bands including mick & keith & bowie that got a 4 song set ,, every1 else got 2 songs 2 do,,the Who put on a classic performance ,,if u r a Who fan ,,get this dvd ,,,enwhistle is incredible on this ,,his playing will never b matched