The Who at Kilburn: 1977 is a film of two live performances by British rock band the Who released as a two-disc DVD set on 17 November 2008 by Image Entertainment. The first disc included the band's performance at the Gaumont State Cinema on 15 December 1977, while the second disc featured the band's performance at the London Coliseum on 14 December 1969. The film restoration was produced by Nigel Sinclair's Spitfire Pictures in association with Trinifold Management.
The Kilburn show was recorded for Jeff Stein's documentary film The Kids Are Alright and was The Who's first show in over a year. However, due to sound problems, it was shelved for over 30 years, with only two small portions of the whole gig actually made it to The Kids Are Alright: Townshend saying "There's a guitar up here, if any big-mouthed little git wants to come up and fucking take it off me"; and when all four members of the band meet in the centre of the stage after the conclusion of the show. "My Wife", however, made it to the soundtrack of The Kids Are Alright, albeit without any sound restoration, and slightly shortened (comparisons to bootleg versions of this show indicate portions of John Entwistle's vocals were later overdubbed to correct pitch errors). It includes their first ever live performance of "Who Are You", which would also be their last performance of the song with Moon on stage.
The Coliseum concert on 14 December 1969 was recorded during a tour of European opera houses. Combined with the features in the Extras, nearly the entire performance can be seen.
Background, production and restoration
The footage for the two concerts that appeared on The Who at Kilburn: 1977 was found by Nick Ryle in 2002. The first recorded performance, at the Coliseum, was filmed by Chris Stamp and Kit Lambert—who were the group's managers at that time—using 16 mm film with the music being recorded on a two-track tape recorder in 1969. The 16mm cameras had 12 minutes roll so as one was running the rest were reloaded. The concert at the Gaumont State Theatre was filmed by Jeff Stein and the Who using 35mm film and a 16-track tape recorder.[1] It was the Who's first show in a year.
On Disc 2 in the main title movie (total time of 1:12:48), the full performances of the group's rock opera, Tommy, and mini-opera, "A Quick One, While He's Away" (from the album, A Quick One) from the Coliseum show were both edited significantly. The full performances (with a total time of 1:10:33) are located in the extras menu. "Substitute" (performed just before "Happy Jack") is the only song performed at the show that is missing from the DVD. The movie trailer for the entire release is also included in the extras.
