Customer Reviews

The Who, Live: Featuring Rock Opera Tommy [VHS]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This video is a must for any WHO fan. Pete's vocals are as crisp and piercing as ever! Great Video! Special appearances by Elton John, Phil Collins, Steve Winwood, Billy Idol, and a standing ovation rendition of Acid Queen by Patti Labell. Also classic who songs done after the Tommy performance make this a sure winner.

My favourite "Who" Video. This is an excellent performance by The Who. Accompanied by a band large enough to play the rock opera TOMMY. Of course we all miss Moon... Phillips is a powerhouse of a drummer, he is very precise. It carries all the energy of the live Who. A FANTASTIC, QUALITY RECORDING... PLEASE BRING THIS OUT ON DVD. I'LL BUY IT... I'VE BEEN WAITING SINCE THE RELEASE OF THE DVD FORMAT. MY TAPE IS SUFFERING DROPOUTS NOW DUE TO THE FREQUENCY OF USE.

This is one amazing concert! Althought it is not as stellar as their music before they lost Moon, Simon Phillips more than compensates for that loss. Special guest appearances by Billy Idol, Phil Collins, Patti LaBelle, Elton John and Stevie Winwood add to the experience. A must-see!

Saw The WHO at the Hollywood Bowl a few weeks ago and they were awesome. I am old timer with this band and like most tend to gravitate towards the old classic stuff. With that said, you are doing yourself a great disservice if you don't purchase this video and play it LOUD!!! Sure, it's not The WHO of Woodstock, Leeds or the GBOWR (what was it? 112 Decibels?) But if you enjoy great music, pure spectacle, and a kick-ass band - BUY THIS NOW!!! You will not be disappointed. It needs to be on DVD! And for those critics out there, please remember that this show was done entirely for charity. For that, I'd hope you'd check your purist chops at the door and support the world's greatest rock band! (And Loudest!!!)

First of all, I love The Who. They are an awesome band and certainly the greatest Live band ever. For me it has never been The Beatles - Rolling Stones, but The Beatles - The Who.

This video is very enjoyable. I'm a WHOFAN, so I love everything they put out.

This show is clearly divided in two parts: Tommy and Who Classics.

Great moments during the performance of Tommy. Specially SPARKS, which takes your breath away. CHRISTMAS, GO TO THE MIRROR, I'M FREE, WE'RE NOT GONNA TAKE IT are another great moments.
The Guests artists:
- Steve Winwood: The hawker. Very nice performance. He's a great talented musician and singer.
- Phil Collins: Funny moments. He plays the Uncle Ernie perfectly well.
- Elton John: Good to have him since he sang Pinball Wizard in the movie, but he sings here in a lower key and the voice lose power.
- Billy Idol: Cousin Kevin, oh well, where is the gun? Far the worst moment in Tommy, the whole video, and in music history. He is more concerned in shouting and swearing (m*ther f*cker included), which makes no sence at all, than singing the song. A total mistake.
- Patti Labelle: The Acid Queen. Well, she has a great voice, but she seems to be trying to show in 4 minutes her vocal talent more than singing the song, so the melody of Acid Queen is lost. It reminds me of people like Yngwie Malmsteen playing the guitar, 200 notes a second, but no melody. She shines for moments though.

The second part is nice too. Some Who classics live that won't be found anywhere else like I CAN SEE FOR MILES and JOIN TOGETHER and a fantastic live version of YOU BETTER YOU BET.
Again something to say about this part and it's that I don't get why there are some Pete Townshend solo songs. Probably because the back-up band is his band as a solo. I don't want to be misunderstood anyways, because I have Pete Townshend solo videos as well as his solo albums and I treassure them.

At last, I wonder through the video why Pete Townshend during Tommy is playing just the acoustic guitar, being a rhythmic guitarist. He's almost missed except when singing now and then.

Anyways. If you are Not a WhoFan and enjoy good music, you will enjoy this video a lot. As a WhoFan myself, I was just mentioning some points that a WhoFan misses here.

Four stars for me. I took off one star only 'cos of Billy Idol's performance which really makes you want to fast forward the video. Thankgoodness the song lasts 4 minutes more or less.

I felt this concert was outstanding, some people feel that the orchestra wasnt necessary but i feel that to perform Tommy you really need the horns and the percussion section. However, the guest appearances by Patti Labelle and Billy Idol really didnt do it for me. Idol spoke the lyrics to "Cousin Kevin" and Labelle thought she was some diva doing "Acid Queen" (and by the way she said "watch his body rise" instead of "watch his body writhe". Besides these two, the appearances by Elton John, Steve Winwood and especially Phill Collins were spectacular. A great show except for Idol and Labelle

You can't miss Moon enough during this one. While Phillips is a powerhouse of a drummer, he is too calculating and predictable. And trying to insert your own mark on Who songs is blasphemous. I don't care if it's Jones, Phillips or an entire percussion unit. These drummers can't touch Moon. This should be called the gual concert as Townshend says at the end of this side show. Don't sweat it if you can't get your hands on this. A very poor facsimile of what was the best band ever.

This is an excellent performance by The Who, accompanied by a band large enough to play the rock opera TOMMY as originally recorded on the album. It carries all the energy of the live Who, and presents the music in a way that two guitars and a drum set, however well played, can never achieve. Here's hoping we'll see a similar release of the live QUADROPHENIA!

I liked this video but of course i like everything that the who has put out. Musically of course it is great, the band looks good, but they play better without all the other people on stage, the who is best as a 4 or 5 person band, 20 some people on stage is just not for them.

I must agree here. If you want to hear the who the way the should be heard, I suggest you buy the Live at Leeds CD. Another good thing to get would be the 30yrs Max. R&B tape they have on here. This year The Who is touring and I have seen them twice...THIS YEAR they are amazing. In 89 when they did tommy and in 96 when they did Quad. you would not see the who on stage. You saw 3 members of a great band who just stood up front while 50 people behind them played their music. I would never suggest buying this tape. Your money will be much better spent on the 30yrs tape OR...Pete Townshend is releasing his Lifehouse concert soon on VHS...that will be a buy.