The Who's Canadian caper: taking a sober look back

By Stephen Williams

Globe Correspondent

Behind blue eyes, Peter Townshend slumped exhausted into the thick orange sofa in the lobby of the Colonnade Hotel.

It was 6 p.m. last Monday, two hours before The Who took over the Boston Garden before a frenetic gathering of 15,400 persons and an hour since Townshend and the group had deplaned from an Air Canada jet. The general of The Who had whipped through the past two days without more than a half hour's sleep, drunk much of the time and in jail some of the time.

"Had a lovely time, we did," Townshend snorted, sinking into the orange, his black raincoat, draped about him like a cape, bunching at his shoulders. "We all 'ad a lovely time in the cooler."

The cooler he referred to was the Montreal City Jail, where The Who and 32 members of their entourage spent seven hours Monday after Peter and his friends ("mainly it was me and Keith Moon") had destroyed a television set, a window and part of a wall at the swanky Hotel Bonaventure after a concert at The Forum.

"They overreacted," said Townshend. "It's the first time we've ever been put in jail for this sort of thing. Normally we just have to pay."

They did have to pay — $3000 in damages. But no charges were pressed by the hotel.

"I've never been so scared in my life," said Townshend. "The police came into our room, truncheons hanging out, and stood over us for what seemed like an hour, I dunno. Keith and I were drunk on brandy when they took us out, but I was sober this afternoon. I think we all stopped laughing after the fifth hour.

"Y'know, hotels don't like this sort of thing; it's like a mugging in the lift."

A few feet away, diminutive drummer Moon was talking to a taciturn registration clerk, a blonde who was unimpressed by both his heel-length coat and his name. "A mere bagatelle, it was," said Keith, waving a Band-Aided right hand, his round face stamped with a curious smirk. "French don't like the British, y'know."

John Entwistle, the bassist, slipped a copy of the Montreal Star from his bag. "Who Arrested After Rampage," the headline read, "$10,000 Damage at Bonaventure." "What happened there?" someone asked Entwistle. He leaned toward Moon, who was leaning toward the clerk. "He slipped," Entwistle said.

The band began its "Fallout Shelter" tour Nov. 20 in typical Who style: Moon collapsed twice during the set at the Cow Palace in San Francisco; he was carried offstage the second time, and a 19-year-old Iowan volunteered to fill in at drums for the rest of the show.

"By the way," Townshend said, pulling himself from the depths of the sofa, "Roger's having throat trouble. In fact, he's at the specialist's now."

A member of the company told me after Townshend went to his room that Roger Daltrey, The Who's lead singer, was suffering from nothing more serious than what he called "public speaker syndrome."

FILM TIMES

ABBEY CINEMA 1 — "Clockwork Orange," 7:45, 9:40.

ABBEY CINEMA 2 — "Fly Me," 3:30, 6:35, 9:40; "Invasion of the Bee Girls," 2, 5, 8:05.

ART CINEMA I — "Walking Tall," 12:30, 2:40, 4:50, 7:00, 9:10.

ART CINEMA II — "5 Fingers of Death," 12:30, 4:00, 7:30; "Enter The Dragon," 2:15, 5:45, 9:15.

ASTOR THEATRE — "Coffy," 11:15, 2:36, 5:57, 9:18; "The Mack," 12:46, 4:07, 7:28.

BEACON HILL — "Jesus Christ Superstar," 10, 12, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10.

CHARLES CINEMA — "The New Land," 2:30, 5:30, 8:30.

CHARLES EAST — "Day For Night," 2:15, 4:15, 6:15, 8:15, 10:15.

CHARLES WEST — "The Grande Bouffe," 1:00, 3:15, 5:30, 7:45, 10.

CHERI COMPLEX — "Executive Action," 1:30, 3:10, 4:50, 6:35, 8:15, 10.

CHERI COMPLEX — "American Graffiti," 1:30, 3:40, 5:50, 8, 10:05.

CHERI COMPLEX — "Mean Streets," 1:35, 3:40, 5:45, 7:55, 10:00.

CINEMA 57 COMPLEX — "Charley Varrick," 10, 12, 2, 4:05, 6:10, 8:15, 10:15.

CINEMA 57 — "Paper Chase,"

CINEMA, KENMORE SQ. — "The Harder They Come," 2:00 & 9:30; "Get To Know Your Rabbit," 3:30 & 8 p.m.

CINEMA 733 — "Slaughterhouse 5," 1:40, 5:00, 8:30; "Barbarella," 12:00, 3:20, 6:45; 10:15. Fri. & Sat. Midnite! "Heat," "Fellini's Clowns."

CIRCLE CINEMA — "The Way We Were," 1, 3:15, 5:20, 7:30, 9:55.

GARDEN CINEMA — "Last Tango In Paris," 6:00, 8:00, 10 p.m.

GARY THEATER — "Nurses Report," 10, 11:30, 1:15, 3:00, 4:45, 6:30, 8:15, 10.

PARAMOUNT — "Thunderfist," 9:30, 11, 12:30, 2:00, 3:30, 5:00, 6:30, 8:00, 9:30.

PARIS CINEMA — "Fritz the Cat," 1:45, 4:25, 7:15, 10:00; "The Cheerleaders," 3:00, 5:50, 8:40.

PARK SQ. CINEMA — "Harold & Maude," 4:25, 7:40, 10:45; "Take the Money & Run," 2:50, 6, 9:15.

PI ALLEY THEATER — "The Long Goodbye," 1:30, 3:40, 5:50, 8:00 & 10 p.m.

PLAZA—BROOKLINE — "Doll's House," 8 & 10 p.m.

SAVOY I — "The Don Is Dead," 10, 12, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10.

SAVOY II — "Sacred Knives of Vengeance," 12:30, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10.

SAXON — "Playmates," 10, 11:30, 1, 2:30, 4, 5:30, 7:00, 8:30, 10 p.m.