Isle Of Wight Festival & Popgala 1973 Outtakes (no label)
The Who’s reputation as an extraordinary live band is based mainly upon their performances in major festivals in the late sixties.
They staked the same claim with their incendiary performance at the Isle Of Wight festival in 1970. That appearance was both professionally filmed and recorded and has been available through official means for many years.
But their appearance at the 1969 Isle Of Wight had been wrapped in relative obscurity both by the appearance of Bob Dylan at the event and for lack of good documentation. However, several years ago film surfaced and was released by 4Reel.
Isle Of Wight Festival & Popgala 1973 Outtakesis the second DVD release with this footage. The manufacturers also include the rare 1973 Voorburg footage (also first released by 4 Reel) and four rare bonus tracks taken from the 4Reel Isle Of Wight release. This is, in essence, the Isle Of Wight release but with Voorburg replacing the Woodstock footage.
The quality looks exactly the same between the titles. For those who already own the two 4Reel DVDs there is nothing that makes this new release stand out.
Isle Of Wight Festival, Forelands Farm, Woolton, Isle Of Wight, England – August 31st, 1969
Heaven And Hell, I Can’t Explain, Fortune Teller, Young Man Blues, It’s A Boy, 1921, Amazing Journey, Sparks, The Hawker, Christmas, The Acid Queen, Pinball Wizard, Do You Think It’s Alright, Fiddle About, There’s A Doctor, Go To The Mirror, Smash The Mirror, I’m Free, Tommy’s Holiday Camp, We’re Not Gonna Take It, Shakin’ All Over
The Isle Of Wight 1969 footage surfaced several years ago. It captures sixty-two minutes and thirty-one seconds of the set in black and white filmed from one camera directly in front of the stage from the photographer’s pit.
The Who played in the afternoon, so the picture is very bright and as clear as possible given the limitations. There are times when the pictures become distorted, and there are lines present throughout most of the performance.
Isle Of Wight 1969 was a big festival with estimates up to 150,000 attendees, compared to 10,000 the previous year. Two weeks after their appearance in New York at Woodstock the band play a similar set. They start off with Entwistle’s “Heaven And Hell” and “I Can’t Explain,” but then add “Fortune Teller” and “Young Man Blues.”
The Tommy suite is slightly abbreviated compared to performances earlier in the year. The set ends with the long jam in “Shakin’ All Over.” Some sources claim they also played “Summertime Blues,” “My Generation” and “Naked Eye.” The following year they would play a highly similar set but with much more passion.
But the footage on this disc reveals a very intense performance worth having.
Grand Gala du Pop, Sporthal de Vliegermolen, Voorburg, The Netherlands – March 10th, 1973
Pinball Wizard, Baba O’Riley, Summertime Blues, Won’t Get Fooled Again, My Generation, See Me Feel Me, Magic Bus
The show was part of the Grand Gala du Pop, organised by the Dutch Broadcasting Association VARA at sporting hall De Vliegermolen in Voorburg, near The Hague. It was first pressed before on Voorburg 1973 (4 Reel) in similar quality.
The production is a multi-camera color shoot with excellent sound and a very clear and steady picture. A time counter on top of the screen is visible. The entire set except for the final song “Naked Eye” is present on the tape. “My Generation” from the Thirty Years of Maximum R&B Live video and DVD comes from this show.
The band were in the middle of recording Quadrophenia when they agreed to this appearance. It was their first live show of the year and would be their last until the fall. Nothing from the new album was played, but only older material.
Their performance is tight but very strict and conservative. Townshend on “Baba O’Riley” shows a tremendous amount of restraint and in “Won’t Get Fooled Again.” The final twelve minute “Magic Bus” is a lot of fun, however, with Townshend and Daltrey dueling on guitar and harp.
Bonus Footage: Pictures Of Lily Sessions (Bouton Rouge ORTF TV France 21st May 1967), I’m A Boy (Radiofussion TV France 30th December 1968), Pinball Wizard (This Is Tom Jones, ATV UK 20th April 1969), Go To The Mirror (Isle of Wight in 1969 Filmed by French TV Crew in Colour, 20 seconds)
The bonus footage is the exact same on Isle Of Wight(4 Reel). The first is black and white footage from the French television show Bouton Rouge. It’s a straight forward film of the band recording “Pictures Of Lily” in the studio.
“I’m A Boy” is in color from the Radiofussion television show in France. Moon is very animated throughout the performance. “Pinball Wizard” from Tom Jones, showing the band miming to the studio track. It is in very clear black and white. The final twenty second clip in color from the 1969 Isle Of Wight festival is from French TV and is the only professionally shot footage in circulation.
1 Comment
Magic Bus from Voorburg appears on the official release “Who’s Better, Who’s Best”. However, its edited to only 4:04 minutes of the performance. The bootleg not only gives you the entire 16 minutes plus of this track but you will notice when the song begins, the video clearly upgrades to a better source, although the timecode still remains. Still, its a great version and nice to have the whole thing in excellent quality.