New Releases: Live Who!

Just as the smoking embers of The Who, grizzled old lions Pete & Roger & a whole buncha drama, take it out on the road one more time (43 years(!) after teenage me saw their first "farewell tour"), they've released an old 1971 gig to help us all relive the glory days. Live At The Oval, recorded in London in 1971, captures them in peak form during the Who's Next era, leaving behind most of the Tommy set in favor of some then-new numbers (alongside the usual chestnuts; alas, the band has never been known for the most surprising setlists). 

It's a little less interesting than their prior 1971 live release, the Young Vic show (often bootlegged and finally officially released on one of the myriad Who's Next deluxe reissues) where they workshopped a bunch of the Who's Next/Lifehouse songs which would soon be dropped from the setlist--the one time they actually rolled out some surprises on stage--but it's still pretty cool. The rousing "Naked Eye"/"Magic Bus" set closers are alone worth it. Now if only they'd keep opening up the archives; it'd be great to get some more 70s shows as they took Quadrophenia (with mixed success) and By Numbers on the road.

Grab it on Amazon.

Here's "Naked Eye" from the show:

...and "Won't Get Fooled Again":

Meanwhile, can't imagine this stays up on YouTube very long, but here's an entire performance from last week!