THE WHO RELEASE LIVE AT KILBURN DVD FROM THEIR ARCHIVE VAULT

Roger Daltrey discusses The Who’s intense performance in 1977 from Kilburn, which just happened to be one of Keith Moon’s last live performances.

The Who have officially released a powerfully intense performance from 1977’s show at Kilburn and it clearly captures the band in peak form and in their prime. On December 5th, 1977 The Who performed an intimate show before a select audience of invited friends and family and it was recorded for the film “The Kids Are Alright.” The Who’s concert that night was one of the last live performances by drummer extraordinaire Keith Moon, who passed away from his destructive lifestyle in 1978.

Artisan News caught up with Roger Daltrey at the premiere screening of “The Who Live at Kilburn” to get his thoughts on what a powerful drummer Keith Moon was and even during Moon’s battles with his demons, he was still an amazing musician.

“So he’d been living in Malibu for just over a year and his drink problem and drug problem got the better of him and he wasn’t at his best. So it was a very tricky time in that sense but he was…even Keith Moon at his worst was amazing. It was really you can’t keep a drummer out of work. They have to drum and if you don’t get that energy out of course they are like athletes and he was not very disciplined to do it on his own. At least the band were there for him but he sadly went backwards very quickly.”

Roger Daltrey also shared his thoughts on forming The Who and why Keith Moon was the perfect complement to bassist John Entwhistle and guitarist Pete Townsend.

“I obviously very quickly picked up John (Entwhistle) was an extraordinary musician and he had a different style than any other bass player I was listening too. And then Pete (Townsend) joined and of course that again shifted the dynamic and it took us ages to find the right drummer to fit between those two. Their styles were…I mean it really is amazing four such individuals and with such individual styles could ever gel in any form what so ever but somehow it worked. As soon as Keith Moon joined our trio and played that first night, we were playing with stand in drummer and he cheekily said ‘I can do better than him!’ And we said ‘OK go have a go.’ He did and it was literally like starting up an engine of The Concord. It just roared.”

So what was it about usually stoic John Entwhistle and the intense Keith Moon that worked so well in forming on of Rock N Roll’s most formidable rhythm sections?

“But what worked between them I don’t really know. I can’t, there’s something mathematical going on in the brain with live music. And it’s that, you can’t put it down to any one thing. It’s all telepathic but it’s the speed and anticipation of ‘Where is it going to go?’ And picking up at the same time and handing it over and throwing it back to individual musicians, we manage to find people who can do that in excess and we did it well in excess.”

The 1977 Kilburn performance is a long-sought holy grail for Who fans who saw only a few tantalizing glimpses of this special show filmed for “The Kids Are Alright.” The DVD, which is available in stores on November 18th, is completely mastered in high-definition and mind-blowing surround sound from the original film and for a limited time will be screened at movie theaters around the U.S. a select locations. Also included in the DVD are special selections from their rare, never-before-seen 1969 London Coliseum gig where they perform the complete Tommy live for the first time.The Who just recently finished a short run of U.S. Tour dates that as well as a few fundraisers for Michael J. Fox’s fundraiser for Parkinson’s Disease. Roger Daltrey said that the fundraiser was actually the catalyst for the U.S. tour, which was arranged after the band had agreed to take part in the ongoing fight against Parkison’s Disease. The Who will next be performing in Japan before a few select shows in December close out the year. Who fans from down under can look for The Who in March of 2009 as the band plans to hit Australia and New Zealand.