Marvel At The Complete 1970 Isle of Wight Festival Performance Of The Who

You can’t call yourself a rock fan if you’d never even heard of The Who’s growling set in the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival. You can watch the full video of the concert below.

The Isle of Wight Festival was a hippie dream; a counterpart to the American Woodstock. While the festival’s nightmarish myths were yet to be proven (a fight broke out during Joni Mitchell’s performance, and most of the concertgoers were high on LSD), there was still so much to look forward to in this major festival that changed the façade of rock n’ roll.

Among those that defined the festival’s own entity was The Who. The band, who didn’t perform until 3 am on a Saturday, were among the loudest bands to perform in front of the estimated 600,000 people. The Doors went before them, so the pressure of following a phenomenal performance was altogether real. But they didn’t care.

Firing the loud drums, thunderous bass, sonically blinding guitar, and vocals that were as energetic as ever; this is a set cut-out of a true rock fairytale. Playing their classic hits as well as some surprising tracks, this was how the band wanted to be remembered in the world.

Keith Moon’s performance was never intended to be copied, John Entwistle still had it in him the power of going to the top, Pete Townshend is as fiery as ever, and one shouldn’t ignore Roger Daltrey’s full-cry. This is The Who in its ragged glory.

You can check out the setlist below.

“Heaven and Hell”

“I Can’t Explain”

“Young Man Blues”

“I Don’t Know Myself”

“Water”

“Shakin’ All Over” / “Spoonful” / “Twist and Shout”

“Summertime Blues”

“My Generation”

“Magic Bus”

“Overture”

“It’s A Boy”

“Eyesight To The Blind”

“Christmas”