Who: Live At The Isle Of White

Culled from a historic three-hour performance at the Isle of Wight Festival, the English response to Woodstock, this 85-minute Who performance captures the quartet's vivid, dramatic stage presence, whilst gamely wrestling with technical problems and musical lapses dictated by the relatively combat conditions of the show. The 1970 show reflects a band in transition, starting with a raw and lively set of early Pete Townshend classics ('I Can't Explain', 'My Generation', 'Magic Bus'), familiar concert covers ('Summertime Blues', 'Young Man Blues', and 'Shakin' All Over/ Spoonful'), and a then new, post-Tommy original, 'Water'. The bulk of the set is devoted to a 13-song suite that captures the high points of Tommy itself. Townshend paces the stage, jumps midchord, and teases the crowd with his signature windmill strumming (yawning playfully, in fact, during 'My Generation'); the late Keith Moon whirls across the top of his drum kit, crouches tensely as he reins in his formidable power for quiet accents, and mugs shamelessly, perpetually moving; whereas bassplayer John Entwistle stands otherwise motionless as he studiously plucks intricate, melodic lines that anchor the melee. Stage center, of course, is Roger Daltrey, whose matador poses, lassoed microphone flourishes, and tossing curls set the scene for generations rock frontmen.