The Who at Kilburn

One thing that's nice about being in the generation following the baby boom -- and one of the only nice things about it -- is that their cooler stuff is suddenly "classic" and classy.

For instance, I was flipping channels a couple nights ago and PBS was featurn a Who concert as part of their fundraising campaign. And not just any concert ...

Picture this: It's December 1977. The Who haven't played together in ages, but this documentary is being done about them, The Kids are Alright. They realize that they controlled filming around them so well that there really aren't any decent performances of their famous songs, like Baba O'Reilly and Won't Get Fooled Again recorded for posterity. So they decided to do one show in Kilburn, London. Of course, that ended up being one of Keith Moon's final performances.

When I found the concert, I wondered why it all looked so familiar. After all, the only other concert film I'd seen of the Who was the Isle of Wight concert and that's mostly Tommy and they're wearing really weird stuff. Entwhistle is dressed as a skeleton, if I remember.

Then I realized that it was so familiar because I saw the documentary all those years ago. But it's so much better just seeing the uncut concert footage. Daltry in that midriff tight blue striped T-shirt is pretty dated, but it brings back so many memories.

If you live in the U.S., look for this show on your PBS station. If not, they have a DVD available.