Who / Los Angeles 1980 5th Night: Mike Millard Master Tapes / 2CDR

Who / Los Angeles 1980 5th Night: Mike Millard Master Tapes / 2CDR / Uxbridge

Live at Sports Arena, Los Angeles, CA, USA 28th June 1980

Play sample :

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So far, The Who 1980 series of LA performances recorded by Mike Millard have all been recorded with the highest quality that seems to be him, but this time the final day of the 1980 LA performance finally appeared.
At that time, The Who was at the peak of their popularity in the United States, and as a result, they were so enthusiastic that they held five nights at the Memorial Sports Arena in LA and two nights at the LA Forum, for a total of seven performances.
The first series of mirrored recording titles was created from among them, but what is consistently conveyed from these recordings is that this period was the peak of The Who’s live performances when Kenny Jones was enrolled.
The LA audience was very excited on each day, and the group’s performances in response to that were also hot. It goes without saying that it will be the last day of the LA performance.
After all, the wonderful clearness and freshness unique to Millard, as well as the power of the sound image, are bursting again this time, and it would not be surprising if it was released as a press CD.

In that case, the band’s engine is at full throttle, and especially in the first half of the live, they show a strong performance that is as strong as this. Pete and Roger should have clearly felt that The Who after the death of Keith Moon was finally on track. Especially up to “See Me, Feel Me” is a solid performance.
However, there is no way Pete will end the show quietly, and he starts pulling the band in high spirits from “Long Live Rock”. With that momentum, I ran through the second half of the live at once, but unexpectedly “Summertime Blues” exploded in Pete’s specialty ad-lib mode.
Surprisingly, it’s interesting that Pete doesn’t try to play that riff, which should be called the treasured sword of the family, and instead bursts into a snowstorm with a light atmosphere. It was clear that Pete on this day had no intention of playing the songs that he had been playing until he got tired of it, and he performed “Summertime Blues”, which was so light that it sounded like a different song except for the singing part.
From here, Pete, who has a desire to ad-lib even more, tried to sing Kingsmen’s standard “Louie Louie” as if he was conscious of America, but none of the other members followed (laughter).
Just when it seemed that the performance was going to fall into a fog, John safely sang “Twist And Shout” and became a lifeboat.
Just by listening to this free development scene, it’s so thrilling that you can be sure that 1980 LA was the peak of The Who during the Kenny Jones era, and it’s a really interesting scene to listen to.
And the sound quality is exceptionally good, and the stable mirrored quality explodes again this time. Like his 80 years LA performance so far, this time is also a piece that will be a superb guide as an introduction to Kenny’s Foo Live.

これまでマイク・ミラードの録音によるザ・フー1980年一連のLA公演はどれも彼らしい最高のクオリティにて録音されていたのですが、今回は遂に1980年LA公演の最終日が登場。
当時のザ・フーはアメリカにおいて正に人気の絶頂にあり、その結果LAでもメモリアル・スポーツ・アリーナで五夜、さらにLAフォーラムで二夜、合計で何と7公演もセッティングされるほどの過熱ぶり。
それらの中から生み出されたのが最初に挙げた一連のミラード録音タイトルだった訳ですが、これらの録音から一貫して伝わってくるのは、完全にこの時期こそがケニー・ジョーンズ在籍時ザ・フーのライブにおけるピークであったということ。
どの日もLAのオーディエンスは大いに盛り上がっており、それに応えるグループの演奏がまたアツい。それがLA公演の最終日ともなれば言わずもがな。
何と言ってもミラードならではの素晴らしいクリアネスと鮮度、さらには音像の迫力が今回も炸裂しており、それこそプレスCDでリリースされたとしても何ら不思議でないレベル。

となるとバンドはエンジン全開となっており、特にライブ前半はこれでもかというくらいに強靭な演奏を見せつけてくれる。ピートやロジャーもキース・ムーン亡き後のザ・フーがいよいよ軌道に乗ってきたという手応えをはっきりと感じていたはず。特に「See Me, Feel Me」までは盤石な演奏ぶり。
しかしピートがそのままショーを大人しく終わらせるはずもなく、「Long Live Rock」からハイテンションにバンドを引っぱり始めます。その勢いでライブ後半を一気に駆け抜けるのですが、ピートお得意のアドリブ・モードが炸裂したのは意外にも「Summertime Blues」。
驚いたことに伝家の宝刀というべきあのリフをピートが弾こうとせず、 代わりに軽やかな雰囲気で雪崩れ込むのが面白い。この日のピートは飽きるほど演奏してきた曲を素直に弾く気が無いのは明らかで、歌パート以外は別の曲に聞こえるほど軽快な「Summertime Blues」が披露されたのでした。
ここからさらにアドリブ欲の止まらないピートは何を思ったかアメリカを意識したかのごとくキングスメンのスタンダード「Louie Louie」を歌い出してみたものの、他のメンバーが誰もついてこなくて（爆笑）あえなく玉砕。
このまま演奏が五里霧中になってしまうかと思えたところでジョンが無難に「Twist And Shout」を歌い出して助け舟となったのでした。
この自由な展開の場面を聞いただけでも、やはり1980年LAこそがケニー・ジョーンズ時代ザ・フーのピークだったのだと確信できるほどスリリング、なおかつ聞いていて本当に面白い場面なのです。
そして音質が抜群に良く、今回も安定のミラード・クオリティが炸裂。これまでの彼の手になる80年LA公演同様、今回もケニー期フー・ライブの入門編として極上な手引きとなるであろう一枚です。

Disc:1 (65:33)
1. Intro
2. Substitute
3. I Can’t Explain
4. Baba O’Riley
5. My Wife
6. Sister Disco
7. Behind Blue Eyes
8. Music Must Change
9. Drowned
10. Who Are You
11. 5:15

Disc:2 (63:25)
1. Pinball Wizard
2. See Me, Feel Me
3. Long Live Rock
4. My Generation
5. I Can See For Miles
6. Naked Eye
7. Won’t Get Fooled Again
8. Summertime Blues > Louie Louie (snippet)
9. Twist And Shout
10. The Real Me

Uxbridge 1969