The Who
The Who live at the Fillmore East 1968

If anyone still harbors doubts about the innovative and disruptive nature of rock music, here is a highly recommended album like "The Who live at the Fillmore East 1968". The band has always been, since their beginnings in the mid-60s, one of the most suitable to represent the anxieties and youthful anger of the time, and not for nothing, an anthem of such dissatisfaction was precisely the song "My generation".

The live album under review is a historical document that had been somewhat sidelined under the bootleg category in The Who's discography, whose official live recordings on other occasions include "Live at Leeds", "Live at Hull", "Live at the Isle of Wight 1970". It was only in 2018 that this Who concert, held over two nights on April 5 and 6, 1968, at the Fillmore East in New York, was released. The band was not new to the US: already riding the mod wave in Britain, they arrived in the States in 1967, participating in the first Monterey Pop Festival in California and causing a great stir with their usual explosive show closing with the performance of "My generation" and the accompanying destruction of musical instruments. More eccentric than them, as is well known, was only the Jimi Hendrix Experience, where Jimi also thought it wise to set fire to his guitar.

Returning the following year to America, the four London boys found themselves taking the stage at a particularly volatile moment in Yankee history (and not only that, since 1968 was full of turbulent events in the name of youth protest): indeed, on April 4, 1968, Reverend Martin Luther King, spokesperson for the African American community's struggle to obtain long-neglected civil rights in much of the USA, was assassinated in Memphis. Needless to say, after such a crime, the atmosphere on American soil was very tense.

And, taking into account this general situation, the air at this concert is even more explosive than usual (the Who's live set was never soporific in so many years of their career). The concert kicks off in grand style with a searing performance of "Summertime blues", a classic rock and roll track by Eddie Cochran, and all the songs from that pioneering era of rock ("Fortune teller", "My way", "C'mon everybody", "Shakin' all over", by Benny Spellman, Eddie Cochran, Johnny Kidd & the Pirates, respectively) are performed impecably by The Who, infusing them with fresh life and energy. There is also plenty of room to showcase all the band's hits (at least the most notable ones composed from 1965 to 1968). The list is already impressive for a young and fierce group like The Who: "Tattoo", "Little Billy" (an authentic gem composed by Pete Townshend to indicate the health dangers posed by cigarette consumption) "I can't explain", "Happy Jack", "Relax" (in an extended version with nods to "Sunshine of your love"), "I'm a boy", "A quick one" (an example of an early rock mini-opera), "Boris the spider". The grand finale arrives (and it couldn't be otherwise) with "My generation" that unfolds for a full 33 minutes, ending with the ritual destruction of Pete's guitar and Keith Moon's drums, leaving the show's spectators awestruck (as noted in the long-playing cover notes). Even I, who have listened to The Who's live recordings on vinyl for so many years, am always impressed by the energy displayed by the four every time they performed live. In the specific case of the concert at Fillmore East, in addition to capturing the heartbeat spirit of American times in 1968, The Who display a sound that is not only exquisitely rock but also proves to be so versatile as to venture into endless improvisations, reaching distinctly psychedelic tones, much beloved by the early Pink Floyd led by Syd Barrett (just listen carefully to the performances of "Relax" and "My generation").

In short, as fundamental and well-known as they are in the history of rock, listening to The Who again is always rewarding and an example of energetic music. How could it be otherwise with a singer like Roger Daltrey, who boasts a powerful "white negro" voice (in line with James Brown's style), a bassist like John Entwistle so pounding and precise, an obsessive and lightning-fast drummer like Keith Moon, and finally a composer and guitarist like Pete Townshend, so innovative and disruptive as to deserve to be on the level of notable guitarists like Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck?

Even today, after so much time and after Moon and Entwistle have left us, The Who's music is still there to remind us that rock is not dead as some believe, but lives on and continues to trouble the sleep of the well-behaved.