DVD REVIEW: THE WHO – Live At Shea Stadium, 1982

Shane | 8 July 2015 | Reply

DVD REVIEW: THE WHO – Live At Shea Stadium, 1982
Shock Entertainment
3 July, 2015
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
6/10

By 1982 The Who – like many bands – had been forced to make changes. Punk had redressed the “dinosaur” rockers of the ‘60s and ‘70s, fashion had gone all new wave, and radio wanted something less raucous than they had forged their career on.

So it’s a toned down Who playing at Shea Stadium on 13 October, 1982 (their second night there). Roger Daltrey has a shiny suit & tan more befitting Spandau Ballet; Pete Townshend’s guitar is subdued; and Kenny Jones, on his last tour with the band, is rock solid but not the right guy for the job (though in all honesty, could ANYONE have escaped that criticism once stepping into Keith Moon’s shoes?). The only one who comes across without their integrity slightly challenged is The Ox: bassist John Entwistle. He’s his own man and always was.

Suspicions are first aroused when Daltrey and Townshend casually sit down on the drum riser during fourth song in, Sister Disco: it’s a long way from the rollicking R&B of their earliest gigs or the huge riffs and knee slides-across-the-stage of their ‘70s wonder years.

The track listing too is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it’s great that it’s not just a run-through their greatest hits: there are some real obscurities in the mix. On the downside, there’s far too much filler from their less-than inspired album of the same year, It’s Hard.

There are highlights though. Daltrey’s extended harmonica solo in Drowned is great, and the band get down to some kick-arse rocking on Love Reign O’er Me and Won’t Get Fooled Again, though with little crowd noise it’s hard to get worked up about anything, and the absence of You Better You Bet, My Generation (which appears as an extra from Night One, alongside 5:15 ) and more in favour of the aforementioned filler and a handful of ambivalent covers make Live At Shea Stadium one to come to for the good bits and a rare glimpse of the era of this classic band, as long as you just try to ignore some of the dodgier elements and do your best to not acknowledge that the mighty Quadrophenia was released only three years previous.