The last of the two epic gigs at Charlton for The Who. Once again there was violence and a great deal of confusion at the London venue due to forged tickets and gatecrashers. Many with legitimate tickets could not get in , but were given a free bus ride to the Swansea show as compensation.
The show was delayed due to a few idiots in the crowd scaling the lighting towers in the vain hope of getting a better view.( see below ) It rained for much of the day yet again and the crowds had to wait hours to get into the stadium. But it was all worthwhile for those prepared to put up with the hassles as the Who delivered a great set .
Come on own up... i wasnt born till 1980 so thats my excuse ;-)
Going to see them tommorrow night, down here in sunny Perth WA! Cant wait, awesome band, seen them a few times before, but would have loved to have been around to see them in SE7!
Me and wife (then girlfriend) were there. It rained all day, but stopped just before The Who came on. When Daltrey ran onstage, he couldn't stop and slid right across on the wet stage.
Came very close to getting hurt on the way out. As we exited the ground a large 'gig' lorry reversed out from behind the West stand and blocked the road. People kept exiting and the crowd grew and were pushing from behind, but we had nowhere to go! Eventually we all spilled into peoples gardens, in Harvey Gardens, resulting in their hedges and prize blooms being trashed. One old boy came out and was shouting insults and accusations at us. We had no way of explaining and he wasn't listening. If anyone had fallen over they would have been crushed.
Eventually the Police made the lorry driver re-enter the ground and we were able to get away. The new shopping bag my future mother-in-law let us use to carry our belongings, was split nearly in two. I let the girlfriend explain that.
Remember the dj at the time trying to urge the bloke up the floodlights to come down, the alex harvey band were brilliant, the whole place singing along to delilah,great day got wet and the who were brilliant i was right at the front.
I was just thinking, that must have been about the only day it rained that whole summer from April until September.
Absolutely scorching summer, day after day, week after week, temperatures in the 90's, blue skies and scorched brown grass everywhere. Girls in bikini tops.
Remember the water shortages and the old slogan, "Save water - bath with a friend", lol
I was at the concert in 74 but not at the 76 one. My wife, Magali (still together,I'm thrilled to say) was pregnant in 76, so we didn't go.
I recently did a photo-feature on the '74 concert in Uncut magazine. My god , the ground was a dump then, I must say but it was certainly the biggest crowd I'd seen at the Valley. In 74 we were getting home gates of 9-10,000 in div three. Which I guess is round about what we will get next season, eh?
'74 - The Who, Lou Reed, Lindisfarne, Montrose, Bad Company, Maggie Bell, Humble Pie
The Who were brilliant, and I remember Lindisfarne being particularly good having just had 2 recent hits with Meet me on the Corner, and Lady Eleanor. It was (I think) Bad Company's first gig and they did well. Well impressed having the chance to see Lou Reed who came out with bleached blond hair - good set especially Heroin, Sweet Jane and Walk on the Wild Side, but a open-air gig was not the right place for him.
'76 - The Who, Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Outlaws, Little Feat
The Who again superb, and as mentioned above a great set by SAHB.
Went to 74 and 76 gigs - Absolutely brilliant. Roger Chapman ex-family fronted a band ....widowmaker? something like that..which might have been the 76 gig. Agree about The Senational Alex Harvey Band...but shame about the rain. I think I still have some merchandise from the gig....well at least a badge.
I recently saw the who at the O2 indigo - poor Pete was in a good mood that night so he didn't play to he's usual awesome self.
Don't know if anyone's interested but one of these adverts that are being inflicted on me every time I switch on is an e-bay auction for a video of The Who-Live at Charlton 1974-Rare (it says). It's got a day to run and is currently at .99p.
Comments
Great pics Adam
The last of the two epic gigs at Charlton for The Who. Once again there was violence and a great deal of confusion at the London venue due to forged tickets and gatecrashers. Many with legitimate tickets could not get in , but were given a free bus ride to the Swansea show as compensation.
The show was delayed due to a few idiots in the crowd scaling the lighting towers in the vain hope of getting a better view.( see below ) It rained for much of the day yet again and the crowds had to wait hours to get into the stadium. But it was all worthwhile for those prepared to put up with the hassles as the Who delivered a great set .
Come on own up... i wasnt born till 1980 so thats my excuse ;-)
Going to see them tommorrow night, down here in sunny Perth WA!
Cant wait, awesome band, seen them a few times before, but would have loved to have been around to see them in SE7!
lol
Yep, I was there, and '74 too.
The Who were great at the end .... but I thought the Sensational Alex Harvey Band were brilliant. Next?
;o)
There was another concert in brilliant sunshine in 1974, but I was on holiday at the time. Henry was probably there.
Nigel W too.
And Curbs.
;o)
Was at both gigs, and I agree Alex Harvey Band were brilliant - the crowd were really rocking when he sung Delilah
Came very close to getting hurt on the way out. As we exited the ground a large 'gig' lorry reversed out from behind the West stand and blocked the road. People kept exiting and the crowd grew and were pushing from behind, but we had nowhere to go! Eventually we all spilled into peoples gardens, in Harvey Gardens, resulting in their hedges and prize blooms being trashed. One old boy came out and was shouting insults and accusations at us. We had no way of explaining and he wasn't listening. If anyone had fallen over they would have been crushed.
Eventually the Police made the lorry driver re-enter the ground and we were able to get away. The new shopping bag my future mother-in-law let us use to carry our belongings, was split nearly in two. I let the girlfriend explain that.
Absolutely scorching summer, day after day, week after week, temperatures in the 90's, blue skies and scorched brown grass everywhere. Girls in bikini tops.
Remember the water shortages and the old slogan, "Save water - bath with a friend", lol
I recently did a photo-feature on the '74 concert in Uncut magazine. My god , the ground was a dump then, I must say but it was certainly the biggest crowd I'd seen at the Valley. In 74 we were getting home gates of 9-10,000 in div three. Which I guess is round about what we will get next season, eh?
I was living at the top of Shooters Hill at the time and you could hear it loud and clear from there both times!
Remember buying the ticket after a home game, which game could that have been? Memory has gone awol...
The Who were brilliant, and I remember Lindisfarne being particularly good having just had 2 recent hits with Meet me on the Corner, and Lady Eleanor. It was (I think) Bad Company's first gig and they did well. Well impressed having the chance to see Lou Reed who came out with bleached blond hair - good set especially Heroin, Sweet Jane and Walk on the Wild Side, but a open-air gig was not the right place for him.
'76 - The Who, Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Outlaws, Little Feat
The Who again superb, and as mentioned above a great set by SAHB.
I recently saw the who at the O2 indigo - poor Pete was in a good mood that night so he didn't play to he's usual awesome self.
Lol, me too, we bunked in at lunchtime, watched a few bands, went home for our tea and bunked in a second time to watch the Who, kin priceless!!
And only £4 to get in!
http://www.whocollection.com/Charlton1974.jpg
What no 'Stone the Crows'?