Fort Worth 1976 (Heart Breakers HB-2050-1/2)
Convention Center, Fort Worth, TX – March 16th, 1976
Disc 1 (40:05): I Can’t Explain, Substitute, My Wife, Baba O’Riley, Squeeze Box, Behind Blue Eyes, Dreaming From The Waist, Magic Bus
Disc 2 (55:20): Amazing Journey, Sparks, The Acid Queen, Fiddle About, Pinball Wizard, I’m Free, Tommy’s Holiday Camp, We’re Not Gonna Take It, See Me Feel Me, Summertime Blues, My Generation → Join Together → Roadrunner → My Generation, Won’t Get Fooled Again
The Who began their first of two tours of North America in 1976 on March 9th in Boston, a truncated show due to Keith Moon’s serious bout with the flu. A week later they played their only show in Texas at the Convention Center in Fort Worth.
Fort Worth 1976 is the only silver pressed title documenting this show. Utilizing a fair audience recording of the entire concert, it seems to be the entire show. There is a strange cut after “My Generation” and the sound quality changes dramatically for “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” becoming more distant and somewhat distorted. It could be due to the recorder walking further back from the stage, but more likely it is edited in from another tape source. Whether it’s the Forth Worth concert or not is unclear.
Before the opening number there is quite a bit of tape recording the excitement of the crowd. The Who were one of the premier live rock bands in the mid-seventies, and their performances actually met reputation.
There are no surprises in the setlist. But the show reaches a wonderful climax with one of the best versions of the “My Generation” medley (including “Join Together”) and the finale “Won’t Get Fooled Again” every committed to tape. For this, Fort Worth 1976 is an essential Who title to own.
