Saturday, April 3rd, 1976

Billboard magazine carries a review of The Who's March 21st concert at Anaheim Stadium

 

Transcript:

Who Draws 55,000 To Anaheim Stadium

LOS ANGELES—The largest pop-rock concert ever held at nearby Anaheim Stadium took place March 21, when the Who played to more than 55,000 fans, with the gross soaring over the $500,000 mark. This also was the first outdoor major show of the season in Southern California.

Promoters Steve Wolf and Jim Rissmiller were blessed with 80-degree Sunday weather, which helped in last-minute ticket sales. As a result, it was a festive crowd, complete with frisbee throwing and ball playing in the audience. Many of the crowd were in cutoffs and bathing trunks.

With more than 250 security guards to assist the local police, security was at a minimum problem. There were the usual cases of drug ODs, but police and firemen, along with the guards, handled it all promptly.

Because the event took place at a baseball park (home of the California Angels), there were adequate concessions and sanitary facilities.

The show started at 2 p.m. and ran past 8, with the Who putting on a two-hour show. Others on the bill were Little Feat, Steve Gibbons Band plus Rufus.

Traffic coming into the stadium was stretched out over a period of hours, causing no problems. There was ample parking inside and outside the stadium area. Not until the show broke shortly after 8 p.m. did the congestion start. An estimated 15,000 cars were let out at once, causing traffic tie-ups for hours on the surface streets and nearby freeways. The 25-mile ride to downtown Los Angeles took almost two hours.

The huge stage was set up in deep centerfield, and the baseball infield was completely roped off and protected. The crowd sat in grandstand seats, or stood in the special centerfield area. There were added bleacher-type seats erected around the stage. Showco of Dallas handled the entire sound and lighting production.

A diver plunged 100 feet from a scaffold to a small sponge, and an acrobatic stunt pilot flew his plane over the stadium area to provide extra thrills for the crowd. A spectacular fireworks display went on at the end of the concert.

This was the fourth concert in two years at the stadium, and facility manager Tom Liegler indicates that there will be other major shows at the ball park this summer. He had been in conference with Anaheim civic officials before the concert to determine whether other shows would be forthcoming, and the answer was affirmative.

The Who played Anaheim Stadium in 1970, the first time that facility had ever hosted a rock show. Following that concert, the stadium forbid rock concerts until last year.

Last Sunday's show drew a record-breaking number of celebrities backstage, as well as a large crowd of managers, promoters, agents and others in the music business.

In all, it was like an Anaheim homecoming for Roger Daltrey, Keith Moon, Peter Townshend and John Entwhistle.