November 27th,1982:From the Magic Kingdom to the Herpes Master Class

WE ARE THE MODS, WE ARE THE MODS, WE ARE - WE ARE , WE ARE THE MODS!



A recollection of my first live Who concert

I had been a Who fan for maybe 7 or 8 months or so (late 1981) when my brother Mike and I find out a new Who record is coming out in early 1982 called "It's Hard" and then hear that they will be doing a Final "Farewell" Tour in the Summer/Fall of 1982.



 The Orlando,Florida Concert - November 27th,1982

The tour schedule is out, and The Who are coming to Florida for one show, and it would be in Orlando at the Tangerine Bowl. So, no South Florida show. But my brother and I were not complaining. A road trip to see the Who would be like going to Disney World for the first time and then some!


Waited on line at a Mall in Hollywood,Florida for 24 hours for tickets, complete with house speakers on top of the car. When the main doors to the Mall finally opened, Mike and I ran all the way to the record shop inside that had the ticketron while trying to out run 200 other teenagers. It was a free-for-all to the record store line. We did alright. Ended up like 4th in line and lower bowl seats on Pete's side (if it even mattered in those days in a large stadium).


We drove to Orlando from South Florida in a car with 5 Who freaks in our Gold "Rockford Files" 1979 Firebird. We see our first Who concert at the Tangerine Bowl. First time I ever heard "Tattoo" - recorded or live. At the time, I thought the song was a bit odd sounding for The Who but it felt right for the Disney town, lol. But later it ended up being one of favorite songs of all time. The concert was a religious experience. It sealed it for us as Who freaks.


The B52's and Joan Jett & The Black Hearts were the two opening acts. Why the B52's at a Who concert? What was the promotor smoking? Not the same shit as us that's for sure! The B52's came on first but they didn't last long. They were bombarded with paper cups and anything the fans could get their hands on. The girls in the band or the one girl who had the beehive hair-do, ended up with paper cups stuck in her hair! The band lasted about one minute and ran for cover. It was, til this day, the most unusual thing I have ever seen at a rock concert.


Joan Jett came on next and I liked her music. She was rock n roll all the way, so I didn't expect what was about to happen to her as well. The fans were screaming obcenities at her. When she would sing the refrain from this song, "Do you wanna touch me", the whole 60.000 strong would yell back, "Noooooo".

Next thing we knew she was screaming back at the crowd and giving the crowd the finger and yelled "fuck you Orlando" and she slammed her microphone down on the stage and stormed off. She last maybe 30 minutes.


The Who came on upon darkness and the big fucking stage with the overtop part that said THE WHO in huge letterered shape design. The Who had just recently reinstated "My Generation" into the setlist a few shows before they reached Orlando. I guess they realized, despite the perceived negative line in the song (fucking critics), it had to be played - it was the one song that fans complained about that was missing. As Pete says, "it was not about really wanting to die before I got old, than it was about an attitude of how you feel when you are young and you feel outcasted, and how you don't ever want to be like them, the grown ups,your parent, teachers,and so forth". So right Pete. You were are are about attitude and the rest of The Who. The show was simply amazing. A life changing experience! Pete's guitar playing was blistering. Roger's voice anthemic, The Ox and his red suit and blazingly thunderous playing, and Kenney his usual solid self. The show included a long, jamming version of "Magic Bus". At one point Pete said to the crowd, "From the Magic Kingdom to the herpes master class".


And from another fan's account on a Who website, explained Pete's attitude that I was talking about:

I had heard from interviews with Pete Townshend that he is pretty viscious on stage. Never even thought of it until during the show he stopped playing, hugged his guiter and told a group of people up front in the crowd, "You can't have my fucking guitar and I'm not going to smash it"! I thought that was very unusual for an artist to come off like that with fans but then I remembered the interviews. They went on to play an excellent set that night and confirmed my opinion of them being on of the greatest rock groups there has ever been.

Setlist

My Generation
I Can't Explain
Dangerous
Sister Disco
The Quiet One
It's Hard
Eminence Front
Behind Blue Eyes
Baba O'Riley
I Can See For Miles
Drowned
Tattoo
Cry If You Want
Who Are You
Pinball Wizard
See Me Feel Me
5.15
Love Reign O'er Me
Long Live Rock
Won't Get Fooled Again

Encore:

Squeeze Box
Magic Bus