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Rating: More than 600,000 souls still awake at 2 in the morning to await the sudden and immense entrance of Pete Townsend and company, "cheerful rock band from Shepherds Bush," as announced by Jeff Dexter. One of the greatest concerts I have ever seen, alas on DVD, the historic participation of The Who at the Isle of Wight Festival in August '70, from the 26th to the 30th featured names such as Joni Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix Experience, Jethro Tull, Doors. The thunderous roar in the young night: Heaven and Hell, the audience went wild, the voice of John Entwistle, in a skeleton suit with an improbable black bob, together with Roger Daltrey, a seduction monster with his chest and abs always on display, the fringes of his hippie jacket back and forth meeting that microphone that rises and falls, twists and drops. On the right, the monster of guitars masturbated and smashed to the ground, in a white suit, red boots, and socks. In the center, that crazy friend of the crazy Bonzo of Led, the funny and invaluable for his technical skills, Keith Moon, one of the symbols of rock and its destinies of excess. The sounds of the years to come will pass through here.
Hands up, long-haired everywhere, flashy clothes, the flights, the jumps, Pete's pirouettes, with his head barely staying attached to his body, "I Can’t Explain" and the images of the virtuosos’ speed. Keith’s glances, the hypnotic and badass blues, with the inspired Roger, "Young Man Blues," Pete seems to go into a short circuit, trembling, the arm goes crazy and spins, without stopping, as already at Woodstock. Roger, Keith, and Pete joking about the American pronunciation and Water (pronounced “uora” in American) starts, more than nine minutes with the final screams "give me water!!”. The medley with "Twist and Shout" and then "Summertime Blues" and again "Magic Bus" with Roger on harmonica and the punk spirit of "My Generation," Keith pours a glass of something over himself, they close the first part with Pete's Guitar swirling in the air to move on to the second dedicated to Tommy's pieces, the comic sketches between Keith and Pete, and damn it I don't understand why I'm not an English translator(!), Overture, and the magic of those notes lead us into the world of the deaf-blind-dumb boy, Pete's voice, "It's a Boy," "The Hawker" and the legendary rhythms leading to Christmas, with Keith jumping and Pete shouting with a hoarse voice "Tommy can you hear me" amid Roger's "see me, feel me touch me", then "The Acid Queen" and the immortal B minor of Pinball Wizard. It’s deep into the night, and who’s leaving now!
The disturbing "Fiddle About" sung by John precedes "Go to the Mirror," "Miracle Cure," the wild "I'm Free" with that riff so simple yet so powerful, and the conclusion with "We're Not Gonna Take It," certain guys in the audience move and scream still, like everyone else, and seeing them in their faces perhaps under the effect of some substance. Applause, screams, the carousel of Pete, Roger, Keith, and John seems crazy by now at 5 am full of alcohol.
The footage closes with a funny tribute to that drunken caricature that was Moon. The concert actually lasted longer than what appears in this wonderful fresco of energy and life. It is a must-see! They wrapped up as I already mentioned at 5 in the morning and I believe, actually I am sure, that no one would have dreamed of going to bed with all that rock in their body.
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