The Who @ LA Sports Arena 1980-06-28

 

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he Who
Sports Arena
Los Angeles, CA
June 28, 1980
Mike Millard Master Tapes via JEMS
The Lost and Found Mike the MICrophone Tapes Volume 198
1644 Edition

Recording Gear: AKG 451E Microphones (CK-1 cardioid capsules) > Nakamichi 550 Cassette Recorder

JEMS 2023 Transfer: Mike Millard Master Cassettes > Nakamichi Cassette Deck 1 azimuth-adjusted playback > Sound Devices USBPre2 > Audacity 3.1 capture > iZotope RX > iZotope RX8 Advanced and Ozone 10 > MBIT+ resample to 16/44.1 > Audacity > xACT 2.50 > FLAC

01 Substitute
02 I Can't Explain
03 Baba O'Riley
04 My Wife
05 Sister Disco
06 Behind Blue Eyes
07 Music Must Change
08 Drowned
09 Who Are You
10 5:15
11 Pinball Wizard
12 See Me, Feel Me
13 Long Live Rock
14 My Generation
15 I Can See For Miles
16 Naked Eye
17 Won't Get Fooled Again
18 Summertime Blues > Louie Louie (snippet)
19 Twist And Shout
20 The Real Me

Known Faults:
-None

Introduction to the Lost and Found Mike the MICrophone Series

Welcome to JEMS’ Lost and Found Mike the MICrophone series presenting recordings made by legendary taper Mike Millard, AKA Mike the MICrophone, best known for his masters of Led Zeppelin done in and around Los Angeles circa 1975-77. For the complete details on how tapes in this series came to be lost and found again, as well as JEMS' long history with Mike Millard, please refer to the notes in Vol. One: http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=500680.

Until 2020, the Lost and Found series presented fresh transfers of previously unavailable first-generation copies made by Mike himself for friends like Stan Gutoski of JEMS, Jim R, Bill C. and Barry G. These sources were upgrades to circulating copies and in most instances marked the only time verified first generation Millard sources had been directly digitized in the torrent era.

That all changed with the discovery of many of Mike Millard’s original master tapes.

Yes, you read that correctly, Mike Millard’s master cassettes, long rumored to be destroyed or lost, have been found. Not all of them but many, and with them a much more complete picture has emerged of what Millard recorded between his first show in late 1973 and his last in early 1992.

The reason the rediscovery of his master tapes is such a revelation is that we’ve been told for decades they were gone. Internet myths suggest Millard destroyed his master tapes before taking his own life, an imprudent detail likely concocted based on the assumption that because his master tapes never surfaced and Mike’s mental state was troubled he would do something rash WITH HIS LIFE’S WORK. There’s also a version of the story where Mike’s family dumps the tapes after he dies. Why would they do that?

The truth is Mike’s masters remained in his bedroom for many years after his death in 1994. We know at least a few of Millard’s friends and acquaintances contacted his mother Lia inquiring about the tapes at the time to no avail. But in the early 2000s, longtime Millard friend Rob S was the one she knew and trusted enough to preserve Mike’s work.

The full back story on how Mike’s master tapes were saved can be found in the notes for Vol. 18 Pink Floyd, which was the first release in our series transferred from Millard’s original master tapes:

http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=667745&hit=1
http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=667750&hit=1

The Who, Sports Arena, Los Angeles, CA, June 28, 1980

Vol. 198 of the Lost and Found series brings to a close Mike's impressive recording run of five Who shows in 1980 with this presentation of the band's final area appearance on the tour.

As we wrote in the notes for Vol. 181, which captures the penultimate show the night before, The Who's seven-show LA stand in 1980 marked a triumphant return for the band following the death of Keith Moon in 1978. It's worth pointing out that their rise back to the top of the rock heap is at least due in part to the power of cinema.

The year 1979 saw the release of two Who-related films: the career-spanning documentary The Kids Are Alright (released in June) and Quadrophenia (released in November). In the pre-video rental, pre-cable television era, the appearance of rock music programming at the movie theater was something special. The powerhouse FM-rock radio stations that invented the classic rock format promoted those films heavily in markets across the country. Surely many of us of a certain age saw The Who movies at our local theater.

The release of Quadrophenia on film also explains the return of songs like "5.15," "Drowned" and "The Real Me" to their set, as The Who had effectively stopped playing songs from the album after touring it 1973-74. On their previous tour in 1975-76, they focused on songs from another successfully album-to-film project, Tommy.

The Who's 1980 setlists drew from both rock operas, recent material like "Who Are You," "Music Must Change" and "Sister Disco," plus the resurrection of rarities like "Long Live Rock" and "I Can See For Miles," both of which featured on the Kids Are Alright soundtrack.

This is the last of five Who '80 shows recorded by Mike "The Mike" Millard and The Who gives another fine performance. You'll here Pete Townshend thanking the SoCal crowd for their support at the end of the night following "The Real Me." The setlist includes the welcome inclusion of "I Can See For Miles," the return of the Ox singing "Twist and Shout" in the encore and marks the first of the five shows Millard recorded to feature the epic "Naked Eye."

As Jim notes below, he and Mike are seated slightly back from their sweet spot in the 13th row. But what the recording slightly loses in closeness is made up in clarity as the detail and instrument separation of this recording are excellent. As you listen closely, you can not only hear what they are playing but how they are playing it. Samples provided.

Here's what Jim R recalled about the Who's last night in LA 1980:

Mike and I together attended The Who show on June 28, 1980 at the LA Sports Arena. As previously mentioned in the notes for the other LA shows released in the Lost and Found series, the wheelchair was not used for this run. A payoff was made to security staff to get our gear in.

On June 28, we sat in the 13th row of Section B, Dead Center. "Way back" in the 13th row--boy were we spoiled! These were the third-best seats of the five Who concerts we attended and recorded in 1980. The 13th row is a little behind our ideal sweet spot, but Mike's recording came out pretty good, though it was a little too far back for me to take ideal photos. Regardless, I tried my best as you'll see in the original images used in the cover art.

June 28 was closing night of a seven-show run of LA shows. The Who opened with two gigs at The Forum, followed by five concerts at the very strict security-wise LA Sports Arena, home to over 500 busts when Pink Floyd played there five years prior.

As a fan looking to get the best possible seats at face value from the box office, the worst three words you can hear are "Mail Order Only" for a ticket sale.

“Mail Order Only” is code for box office corruption, as that system provides no visibility to the general public. The brokers would get all the best seats and most of the average ones. Tickets for the LA Sports Arena were tightly controlled by the downtown LA scalpers. We had an "in" with a key person at Al Brooks’ agency who gave us a "deal" on our tickets. Even so, the seats were very costly at the time; therefore, we could sanely afford to attend only five of the seven LA concerts. Plus, don't forget the cash we needed to pay off security to get our gear in!

The Who triggers a little nostalgia. The first concert Mike ever recorded was The Who in 1973 on the Quadrophenia tour (Vol. 100 in the Lost and Found series). I was there, too. We didn't know each other at the time, but destiny awaited us both. By the way, whenever I think of the early Who shows I saw, one thought springs to mind: Keith Moon was a maniac on the drums.

Back to the June 28 show. If I had to choose a few words to describe the concert they would be explosive, high energy. The Who attracted a largely blue collar, rowdy group of dedicated fans. We rarely if ever sat in our seats. In fact, at times we had to stand on our seats. With Mike standing on his, he relied on me to check the level meters on the Nak 550. We used hand signals to communicate. Sitting in the 13th row did have its benefits, as we were a safe distance away from security once we got to our seats.

Roger Daltrey was in fine form throughout the LA run, his voice was strong. Pete Townshend did his thing despite a brace on his right hand due to a hand injury. John Entwistle remains one of my favorite bass players of all time; at times he is a "Lead Bass" guitarist. Kenney Jones did a great job on the drums, and dare I say he was more reliable and consistent, but less dynamic than Mr Moon.

I hope you enjoy this one as much as Mike and I did.

Cheers to my buddy Mike. RIP.

###

JEMS is proud to partner with Rob, Jim R, Ed F, Barry G and many others to release Millard's historic recordings and to help set the record straight about the man himself.

We can’t thank Rob enough for reconnecting with Jim and putting his trust in our Millard reissue campaign. He kept Mike’s precious tapes under wraps for two decades, but once Rob learned of our methods and stewardship, he agreed to contribute the Millard DATs and cassettes to the program. Our releases would not be nearly as compelling without Jim’s memories, photos and other background contributions. As many of you have noted, the stories offer an entertaining complement to Mike’s incredible audio documents.

The entire JEMS team came through this week. Thanks to Jim R for his fine photos of the show and notes; Rob S for the transfer; Professor Goody for his rapid pitch recommendation, and mjk5510 for pulling it all together in post.

Our series is two releases away from the Volume 200 milestone and we'll drop a couple of recordings worthy of that achievement in the next two weeks. After that, the Lost and Found series will pause our weekly releases and go on summer hiatus for several weeks. Rest assured there are still many more Millard tapes to come, but we need a moment to catch our collective breath and attend to other matters before we get back to sharing his incredible body of work again. Thanks in advance for your understanding.

Finally, cheers to the late, great Mike the MICrophone. His work never ceases to impress. May he rest in peace.

BK for JEMS