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36 years ago this week: The Who in San Diego

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/oct/07/33031/

36 years ago this week --10-7-76 -- the Who played at the San Diego Sports Arena.

Beneath Keith Moon's drum kit that evening was a Persian rug that the day before had graced a reception area near his room in a Phoenix hotel.

According to the biographical DVD The Most Dangerous Man Alive, Moon was "accused by another hotel guest of urinating on the expensive carpet...easily seen by anyone walking past the room."

Moon told hotel management that the wet spot had been caused by a spilled drink. "When told the band would be billed for the full value [of the rug], Moon moved some furniture off the carpet, rolled it up, slung it over his shoulder, and took it immediately to the band's tour bus, using it that night and over the next few dates [including San Diego] to anchor his notoriously unstable drum kit."

The 21-song set included cuts from their newest album, The Who by Numbers, including "Squeeze Box" and "Dreaming from the Waist," as well as an eight-song medley from Tommy (the movie version having debuted the previous year).

Setlist: "I Can't Explain," "Substitute," "My Wife," "Baba O'Riley," "Squeeze Box," "Behind Blue Eyes," "Dreaming From the Waist," "Magic Bus," "Tommy" Medley: Amazing Journey/Sparks/Acid Queen/Fiddle About/Pinball Wizard/I'm Free/Tommy's Holiday Camp/We're Not Gonna Take It, "Summertime Blues," "My Generation," "Join Together," "My Blues," "Won't Get Fooled Again."

No local news reports surfaced of damage to the Westgate Hotel, where the band stayed that night before driving to Oakland. That wasn't the case when the Who came to town on June 13, 1970.

That was the night Who drummer Keith Moon trashed a room at the Mission Bay Hilton Hotel.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/oct/07/33032/

According to local musician and DJ Gary Ra’chac, “I had hooked up with the band on their first trip through San Diego about a year prior — and especially hit it off with Keith, with whom I shared a love of early surf music — so it was no problem for me to gain access. The band had rented out the entire fifth floor of the Hilton for an after-show party."

"And party we did, with Keith leading the grand march through the evening festivities. Yes, I did help Keith Moon drop a sofa, albeit a small sofa, from his hotel room balcony five floors up, to land on top of one of the Who’s equipment trucks.”

And that wasn’t the night’s capper. “At about 3 a.m., me, Keith Moon, bassist John Entwistle, their road manager John Wolff, and a few girls poured into a rented station wagon and went to the all-night drive-through of the Jack in the Box on Morena Boulevard. Entwistle and his girl were in the backseat with Moonie, who was shouting out our order to the clown head at the menu stop."

"I’ll never forget Keith’s jabbering at the poor nighttime employee trying to take the order, who to this day probably doesn’t realize his brief brush with rock-and-roll greatness.”

The Who first played San Diego on August 27, 1968 at the Community Concourse. Their next local appearance was the above-referenced June 13, 1970 show, followed by a Sports Arena show on December 8, 1971.

The October 7, 1976 concert was their final San Diego appearance with Keith Moon before the drummer died in September 1978. Kenny Jones manned the kit for their June 18, 1980 show at the Sports Arena.

A bootleg DVD captures the band on their supposed "Final Tour" at Jack Murphy Stadium on October 27, 1982, a date that was opened by Loverboy and a Springsteen-esque rocker named Johnny Cougar, later known as John Mellencamp. The Who returned to the Stadium on August 22, 1989, and then played the Sports Arena on August 17, 2000.

The Who (well, one half of the Who anyway) will bring their 2013 Quadrophenia tour to the Valley View Casino Center, formerly the Sports Arena, on February 5.

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http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/oct/07/33031/

36 years ago this week --10-7-76 -- the Who played at the San Diego Sports Arena.

Beneath Keith Moon's drum kit that evening was a Persian rug that the day before had graced a reception area near his room in a Phoenix hotel.

According to the biographical DVD The Most Dangerous Man Alive, Moon was "accused by another hotel guest of urinating on the expensive carpet...easily seen by anyone walking past the room."

Moon told hotel management that the wet spot had been caused by a spilled drink. "When told the band would be billed for the full value [of the rug], Moon moved some furniture off the carpet, rolled it up, slung it over his shoulder, and took it immediately to the band's tour bus, using it that night and over the next few dates [including San Diego] to anchor his notoriously unstable drum kit."

The 21-song set included cuts from their newest album, The Who by Numbers, including "Squeeze Box" and "Dreaming from the Waist," as well as an eight-song medley from Tommy (the movie version having debuted the previous year).

Setlist: "I Can't Explain," "Substitute," "My Wife," "Baba O'Riley," "Squeeze Box," "Behind Blue Eyes," "Dreaming From the Waist," "Magic Bus," "Tommy" Medley: Amazing Journey/Sparks/Acid Queen/Fiddle About/Pinball Wizard/I'm Free/Tommy's Holiday Camp/We're Not Gonna Take It, "Summertime Blues," "My Generation," "Join Together," "My Blues," "Won't Get Fooled Again."

No local news reports surfaced of damage to the Westgate Hotel, where the band stayed that night before driving to Oakland. That wasn't the case when the Who came to town on June 13, 1970.

That was the night Who drummer Keith Moon trashed a room at the Mission Bay Hilton Hotel.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/oct/07/33032/

According to local musician and DJ Gary Ra’chac, “I had hooked up with the band on their first trip through San Diego about a year prior — and especially hit it off with Keith, with whom I shared a love of early surf music — so it was no problem for me to gain access. The band had rented out the entire fifth floor of the Hilton for an after-show party."

"And party we did, with Keith leading the grand march through the evening festivities. Yes, I did help Keith Moon drop a sofa, albeit a small sofa, from his hotel room balcony five floors up, to land on top of one of the Who’s equipment trucks.”

And that wasn’t the night’s capper. “At about 3 a.m., me, Keith Moon, bassist John Entwistle, their road manager John Wolff, and a few girls poured into a rented station wagon and went to the all-night drive-through of the Jack in the Box on Morena Boulevard. Entwistle and his girl were in the backseat with Moonie, who was shouting out our order to the clown head at the menu stop."

"I’ll never forget Keith’s jabbering at the poor nighttime employee trying to take the order, who to this day probably doesn’t realize his brief brush with rock-and-roll greatness.”

The Who first played San Diego on August 27, 1968 at the Community Concourse. Their next local appearance was the above-referenced June 13, 1970 show, followed by a Sports Arena show on December 8, 1971.

The October 7, 1976 concert was their final San Diego appearance with Keith Moon before the drummer died in September 1978. Kenny Jones manned the kit for their June 18, 1980 show at the Sports Arena.

A bootleg DVD captures the band on their supposed "Final Tour" at Jack Murphy Stadium on October 27, 1982, a date that was opened by Loverboy and a Springsteen-esque rocker named Johnny Cougar, later known as John Mellencamp. The Who returned to the Stadium on August 22, 1989, and then played the Sports Arena on August 17, 2000.

The Who (well, one half of the Who anyway) will bring their 2013 Quadrophenia tour to the Valley View Casino Center, formerly the Sports Arena, on February 5.

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