Set List:
I Can't Explain, Summertime Blues, My Generation, I Am The Sea, The Real Me, The Punk And The Godfather, I'm One, Helpless Dancer, 5.15, Sea And Sand, Drowned, Bell Boy, Doctor Jimmy, Love Reign O'er Me, Won't Get Fooled Again, Magic Bus, See Me Feel Me, Smokestack Lightning, Spoonful, Naked Eye
The 1973 North American tour got off to an inauspicious start when Keith collapsed on stage during 'Won't Get Fooled Again'. He was carried off, revived in a shower backstage and given a short break before he rejoined the rest of the group who had carried on as a trio. Then he collapsed again, not to return.
Although considered a disaster area in terms of Who concerts, it should be emphasised that much of the music played during the early stages of the show was very good. Particularly notable was 'The Real Me' where John Entwistle's careering bass lines gave the song a manic energy. Quadrophenia progressed well until 'Drowned', which got into the middle solo section before Moon started to flag. The song was completed, however, and Keith then managed to give 'Bell Boy' his usual panache, amending the chorus lyric to "get the fucking baggage out!" Moon's drumming ceased entirely during 'Won't Get Fooled Again' where he failed to complete the solo passage towards the end. With Moon backstage, Pete tried to explain to the audience that there was a problem, concluding by saying: "The 'orrible truth is that without him we're not a group!"
While Pete was standing guitar-less at his mike, Moon reappeared from the left of the stage and Pete then grabbed him and hauled him into the stage centre. Townshend and Moon then grappled for a few moments until Pete - holding Keith in a mock wrestling hold - pulled the ailing drummer over towards his mike and shouted a few jokey comments about Moon trying to bottle out of finishing the gig. Soon afterwards, Daltrey also grabbed Moon and he and Townshend dragged him backwards towards his drums. Keith took all this in good part despite the fact that he obviously must have been feeling lousy.
With Moon seemingly ready to complete the performance, Pete picked up his Les Paul and began to tune it up. Soon after this The Who began playing 'Magic Bus', with Keith tapping together his two wood blocks. When he came to play the actual drums, however, he faltered once more, finally slumping forwards onto the kit amid a noisy climax in which Daltrey threw his mouth organ into the crowd. Roadies lifted Keith from the kit while Townshend started to play an improvised riff, Daltrey ad-libbing some singing. Then, without any interruptions, they moved directly into a drumless 'See Me, Feel Me', which was tightly paced, Daltrey using a tambourine to add some percussion. After the song had gained an overwhelming response, Townshend applauded the audience for putting up with a 75 per cent complete band.
Instead of leaving the stage, however, Pete - tentatively and jokingly - said: "Can anybody play the drums?" Then he repeated the question more forcefully, adding "I mean somebody good!" Soon afterwards Scott Halpin of Muscatine, Iowa, appeared on stage. After a roadie showed him to the kit, Townshend shook his hand and went straight into the riff of 'Smokestack Lightning'. This was a very loose arrangement, and Halpin's drum work fitted in well enough, and it shortly became 'Spoonful'. Less successful, however, was his contribution to the more complex 'Naked Eye', and he failed to provide the contrasting tempi despite Pete attempting to give him instructions. Halpin didn't look at all flustered and established a steady beat during the guitar solo. The second verse was missed entirely and Pete and Roger took turns to sing the final verse. Towards the end, Pete indulged in a mad spate of windmilled power-chords before the drawn-out "it don't really happen that way at all..." passage. Thus ended one of the most bizarre occurrences in the band's career. Pete later explained why they didn't leave the stage after 'Magic Bus': "When Keith collapsed, it was a shame. I had just been getting warmed up at that point. I'd felt closed up, like I couldn't let anything out. I didn't want to stop playing. It was also a shame for all the people who'd waited in line for eight hours" (Rolling Stone, January 4, 1974).
Halpin had bought a scalper's ticket to get into the show and suddenly found himself as a temporary member of The Who! Afterwards he enjoyed the post-show backstage hospitality with the group and then slipped back into obscurity. The incident was captured on camera and can be seen in the video Thirty Years Of Maximum R&B Live.
The Who had sold out all 13,500 seats in four hours three weeks prior to the concert. Lynyrd Skynyrd was the opening act for the entire tour. The whole concert was recorded on a crude 2-camera video system in B&W which was part of Bill Graham's personal archive.