Herman's Hermits / The Who

John Cremer Dec 18, 2021

My music-loving parents, indulged me after a relentless wheedling campaign and bought a ticket to this show as a gift for my 14th birthday. The deal maker was that a friend's father (the Rev. Hoffhines) drove us from our town of Gresham to the Coliseum.

We were pretty stoked with the Blues Magoos opening set, followed by Herman's Hermits (the band we'd come to hear: I admit it) and then, The Who.

The Hermits, dressed in matching blue suits and ties, played a snappy - good time set including their hits - which were flooding AM radio at that time. I recall The Blues Magoos played a rockin' version of TOBACCO ROAD. But it was The Who's stunningly energetic, and original wild performance that rocked our world.

The only song of theirs I remember hearing on Top 40 AM radio before that show was HAPPY JACK. So we really had no idea who these guys were. By the time they finished SUBSTITUTE we were converted to The Who . The rest of the show is kind of a blue now, but I vividly recall the wild, anarchic closer, MY GENERATION, played with extended feedback, guitar strings raked by the mic stand, tossed instruments, and general chaos. None of which we'd ever heard or seen before - ever.

I remember actually thinking that this band (especially that guy wearing a British Flag jacket) must be furious about something; maybe they didn't get paid, or was the sound system failed or something. Why else would they be tearing the stage to shreds and throwing guitars around?

When the smoke charges went off it went to another level; we were Dumbfounded, frightened and amazed; our eyes were out on stalks. Where were the Cops or the Fire Department? We thought they'd gone berzerk.

It's hard to imagine it now, but NOBODY had seen anything like it before. We jabbered to our friends for days about it.

That was my introduction to rock concerts my first of many, and I'm still going -- I saw The Who two years ago at CHASE Center in SF playing in front of the San Francisco Symphony. They remain great.