THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, WEDNESDAY MORNING. AUGUST 4,1971
hell ;
en!
Mar
By JACK LLOYD
0/ The Inquirer Stuff
If you like rock music, you
have to be somewhat dis-
turbed when you listen to
those who say the rock scene
has turned sour.
Maybe this is just so much
hogwash, but there were cer-
tainly no reassuring signs dur-
ing the shambles that was bill-
ed as a rock concert at the
Spectrum on Tuesday night.
A pity, too, because it should
have been a beautiful evening
of entertainment.
On hand was The Who, a
super group from England
that is in contention with the
Rolling Stones as the world’s
most spectacular rock band.
Q You can measure The Who’s
popularity in that the concert
was sold out weeks ahead of
time.
ROCK OPERA
But, after all, it was The
Who that started the whole
rock opera binge with its
”Tommy.“ And even before
“Tommy,” the group’s guid-
ing light, Peter Townshend,
was turning on the crowd with
his gymnastics and the peri-
odie demolishment of his gui-
tar.
However, The Who's potent
rhythmic, soaring brand of
rock could not be heard under
more miserable conditions
’ than Tuesday night at the
' Spectrum.
To start with, the sound was
lousy. That in itself might have
been tolerable had the vibra-
tions in the big arena been bet-
ter. But the crowd was in an
ugly mood from the beginning.
The opening act, La Belle
9
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OSEVELT DR.-IN
..t abv. Lmtmle Spay.
)xy (former Pattie La Belle and
““"WWR- the Belles, originally from
stSTREET Philadelphia) never had a
?IVE-IN chance.
sthassyunk .
. EXCL’SE
t5? FORGE This was due partially to the
ZallmgotPrusm fact that the crowd had come
IRNER to see The Who and partially
stCneste' ”em, because the sound system was
ARNER not properly geared to the
rumpus Ueaan trio's needs.
Sound System, Rude Crowd
Spectrum Rock Concert
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James Gang also (’ig‘tgwrir't’rl m2 bill m the Spectrz/m
At any rate, there is no ex-
cuse for the kind of rudeness
demonstrated by too large a
percentage of the crowd. The
opening act was booked. to play
whether the crowd liked it or
not
And then when The Who did
not appear quickly enough af-
ter an intermission, the
crowd‘s restlessness became a
hit sticky. And, of course.
several hundred rushed to ti e
front of the stage to stand be-
fore their heroes —— never mind
those who remained in their
seats and couldn’t see.
Meanwhile, the Speetrum
doors were locked, barring the
exit of anyone during the show
out of fear that those standing
on the outside would rush the
guards. It seems on one pre-
vious occasion, the arena‘s _
doors were literally lifted Off
their hinges by those intent on
“doing their thing.”
It wouid be nice to be able to
say that The Who's latest Phii-
adelphia appearance was the
triumph it should have been.
But the music was often noth-
ing more than a rumble and
Peter Townshend's flashy act
— featuring his. customary gy-
ration< and leaping into th
air —— swemei more of an at-
fexeci :~'idC’>h(,-'~.‘.' dating had:
to reeks infanti‘te period.