The Who @ Oakland Coliseum 1980-04-19

 LIMITED TIME / LAST TIME

The Who
19 April 1980
Oakland Coliseum Arena
Oakland, California
JEMS Master / JEMS Archive

Recording Gear: Teac M-100 Microphone > Sony 153SD cassette deck

2022 transfer: JEMS Master Cassettes > Nakamichi CR-7A azimuth-adjusted transfer > Sound Devices USBPre 2 > Audacity 3.1 (24/96) capture > resample to 16/44.1 > FLAC > iZotope RX 10 / ozone 9 (mastered) > Audacity 3.7.3 (tracking and finishing)

01_Intro
02_Substitute
03_I Can’t Explain
04_Baba O’Riley
05_My Wife
06_Sister Disco
07_Dreaming From the Waist
08_Behind Blue Eyes (false start)
09_Behind Blue Eyes
10_Drowned
11_Who Are You
12_Five-Fifteen
13_Magic Bus
14_Pinball Wizard
15_My Generation
16_I Can See For Miles
17_Sparks
18_See Me, Feel Me
19_Long Live Rock
20_Won’t Get Fooled Again
21_Young Man Blues
22_The Real Me

Musicians:

Roger Daltrey (vocals, harmonica, tambourine)
John Entwistle (bass, vocals)
Kenney Jones (drums)
Pete Townshend (guitar, vocals)

with John (Rabbit) Bundrick (keyboards) and horn players Reg Brooks (trombone), Dave Caswell (trumpet), and Dick Parry (saxophone)

The Who played three nights at Oakland Coliseum Arena in April 1980. This recording, made by the late, great Jared Houser, captures night two — April 19. Transferred from the master cassette tapes to digital in 2022, it’s one we’ve eyed for a while. Something of a sleeper hit.

My recollection from talking with Jared is that this second night followed a bit of a downer the night before. Alas, Jared isn’t here to confirm. One account — by Greil Marcus, writing in "Rolling Stone" that June — described the first night as “superb: shot through with fun and movement.” More notably, Marcus wrote that “no one in The Who ever seemed bored by the material.” In any case, April 19 wasn’t just a rebound — it stood tall on its own merits, with Pete Townshend’s demonstrable engagement being the key variable.

It’s a funny thing, balancing what I remember from conversations with Jared and what I hear now in playback. We obsessed over this stuff for decades. And Marcus, no ordinary observer, didn’t have the benefit of comparing multiple nights as the 1980 spring tour rolled down the West Coast. Now, that privilege is yours. Listen closely. Sit in judgment — or just enjoy.
You’ll hear a lot of truly fine John Entwistle playing — fans of The Ox, step right up. Our friend Goody, who ran this through pitch correction to make sure we’re “getting in tune,” called this an Entwistle tour de force. That helped ease my usual gripe: not having quite enough volume on Townshend’s guitar in the house mix. That’s our default preference — it does go to 11, and it should!

Even so, April 19 sounds rock solid: a fine start, a tight middle section, and a strong closing stretch. My old pal BK is a big fan of “Sparks” — friends, this one is better than cotton candy. (His desert island “Sparks,” at least from 1980, comes from Seattle, April 15 — for more, check out MS’s stellar capture.) Whether in the more straightforward numbers (“Baba O’Riley,” “Who Are You”) or the looser, more exploratory moments (a top-shelf “Drowned,” “5:15”), excellence abounds throughout. This show also includes a rare-for-1980 “Magic Bus,” plus the always-welcome “I Can See For Miles.”

The Who typically kept its encores short, but there was some variation. Here, “Young Man Blues” leads into “The Real Me.” Readers of the great "Who’s News" fanzine know what that means: according to our good friend ML, all the best shows include “Young Man Blues.” Case closed!

With this, we add another gem to the collection of 1980 Who recordings. We’ve already shared Jared’s April 20 master recording, and while it predated the “Who’s on First” series, the exceptionally clear 1st-gen. pull from Zürich (3/28) is an absolute must-listen (BK: I call your “Sparks,” and raise you one “Relay”).

No discussion of 1980 Who tapes — or of field recordings writ large — would be complete without tipping our hats (careful, now!) to Mike Millard, whose above-and-beyond efforts gave us a treasure trove from Los Angeles. Mike the Mic recorded five Who dates that summer, including shows at both The Forum and Sports Arena.

Thanks as always to mjk5510 for the remastering effort, and to Goody for the pitch correction. Our main man BK keeps all the planes flying — and gets them to land, too. Lastly, join us as we raise our mics just a bit higher to Jared and Stan for their sound contributions. Until we meet again, friends.

Share it freely, and for free.

 – slipkid68

https://pixeldrain.com/u/67d2uaFk