The Who, Fairfield Halls, Croydon, 1969. Seeking Pete quote

[adrianw]

The Fairfield Halls in Croydon is known for having exceptionally good acoustics. Years ago, I recall seeing a brief quote from Pete, referring to the acoustics in relation the The Who's gig on 21 September 1969. For reasons linked to Croydon soon becoming London Borough of Culture, I'd like to find the exact quote, but I've so far been unable to, although I found a website stating: “Pete Townshend rated this show as his favourite ever performance of Tommy”.

If by any chance anyone has Pete's quote at hand, or can point to where it appeared, I'd be very grateful for the information.

[bertie01]

If I remember correctly, the quote about the acoustics in Fairfield Halls were in either the Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere book under the entry for that gig date.

Either this book, or it was in The Who Concert file book. I can’t quite remember. I must dig the books out just out of curiosity.

In the new Edoardo Genzolini book  “Concert memories from the classic years 1964-1976”, there is on page 167 a picture of the master 8- track cartridge, of the recording of this gig.

hope this helps!

[adrianw]

Many thanks for your input! I don't have 'Anyway' but I've just just ordered a copy, hoping it has the quote, although I'm sure it will be worth having even if it doesn't.

I'd love to hear that recording, which would hopefully give a sense of why it was an exceptional evening. It's interesting that it made such an impression on Pete, as I'd imagine the sound on stage was so loud that he wouldn't necessarily have noticed how the acoustics of one venue differed to another.


 

[johnnoes]

It’s in the Concert File book. Pete says:

’The best performance of all was at Croydon, Fairfield Hall. It was the first time we played it (Tommy) including Sally Simpson and a few other things we did specially. The sound in that place - oh, Croydon, I could bloody play there all night…It is just a good acoustic. It’s as though the whole place was designed so that you could hear the conductor banging on his rostrum and not the orchestra. It’s a freak but it’s great for rock.’

[adrianw]

Many thanks for the quote - much appreciated, and hopefully it will soon be used in the Music Heritage Trail in Croydon. Perhaps the source was Pete's Dec 1971 Zigzag (No.24) interview, and it can be seen in this as well. 

[johnnoes]

No problem. According to The Who Concert File book, this quote is from Zigzag no.44, August 1974.