The Who: Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

The Who: Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 11, 2009

Capturing legendary British rockers The Who at the top of their game, “The Who: Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970” arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Eagle Rock Entertainment. Newly remastered and fully restored, the entire concert-film has been personally supervised and approved by Pete Townshend.

Ready to Rock

The Who were formed in the mid 1960s when vocalist Roger Daltrey, bassist John Entwistle, drummer Keith Moon, and guitarist and vocalist Pete Townshend got together and began performing covers of their favorite songs. By the early 1970s, the four Brits were already stars.

Prior to their memorable performance at The Isle of Wight Festival, The Who earned a reputation as a band whose behavior on stage was as colorful and unpredictable as their music. For example, Pete Townshend and John Entwistle’s guitar smashing became so popular that people would leave their shows upset if they did not trash most of their equipment after they were done performing.

After the death of drummer Keith Moon in 1978, The Who managed to release only two albums - Face Dances (1981) and It’s Hard (1982). In 1983, after a much publicized disagreement between drummer Kenny Jones and Roger Daltrey, the band broke up.

The Who: Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 is a live concert-film that captures the band's third and final performance at the famous festival. It is incredibly energetic and, as far as I am concerned, indicative of the The Who's ability to drive their fans wild. The concert was filmed by director Murray Lerner, who went on to win an Oscar for his documentary feature From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China in 1981.

Generally speaking, The Who: Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 is a fairly uneven film. It chronicles only a fraction of The Who’s performance at the festival and their interaction with the audience (when you watch the film you would notice that there are plenty of notable gaps between most of the songs The Who perform where the musicians actually talk to their fans). Unsurprisingly, the pacing of the film is somewhat problematic.

On the other hand, the estimated 600 000 people that attended the festival must have been absolutely thrilled with The Who’s performance. The energy that oozes from “Shakin' All Over”, “Heaven and Hell”, “I’m Free”, and “My Generation” is remarkable.

If The Who: Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 is your first exposure to this legendary British band and their music, I believe that you will have a difficult time understanding what made them so popular in Europe during the early 1970s. Yes, this specific concert provides a good look at The Who's terrific stage presence as well as the type of atmosphere that followed their performances, but it does not necessarily offer a convincing summation of their talents as musicians (not to be picky, but The Who sound much differently on vinyl and CD). However, if you are old enough to have seen The Who performing on stage, then Eagle Rock Entertainment’s restored presentation of The Who: Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 should be a gift impossible to resist.

Tracklisting:

1. Heaven And Hell
1. I Can't Explain
2. Young Man Blues
3. I Don't Even Know Myself
4. Water
5. Shakin' All Over
6. Spoonful /Twist/ And Shout
7. Summertime Blues
8. My Generation
9. Magic Bus
10. Overture
11. It's A Boy
12. Eyesight To The Blind (The Hawker)
13. Christmas
14. The Acid Queen
15. Pinball Wizard
16. Do You Think It's Alright?
17. Fiddle About
18. Go To The Mirror
19. Miracle Cure
20. I'm Free
21. We're Not Gonna Take It
22. See Me Feel Me / Listening To You
23. Tommy Can You Hear Me?
24. Substitute (Bonus Track)
25. Naked Eye (Bonus Track)

The Who: Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC, and granted a 1080i transfer The Who: Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Eagle Rock Entertainment.

The Blu-ray transfer for this memorable concert is in surprisingly good shape. It must have been sourced from a very healthy master as I did not detect any disturbing debris, marks, or scratches. Furthermore, contrast and clarity are also very pleasing. I actually own the old DVD release by Eagle Rock Entertainment and did a quick comparison with this new, approved by Pete Townshend, Blu-ray release. To make a long story short, the 1080i transfer is superior in practically every area that we tend to focus on in our technical evaluations. From the color-scheme, to contrast, to clarity and grain, this Blu-ray disc clearly offers a superior treatment. Finally, I was not bothered by any excessive edge-enhancement or macro-blocking patterns either. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray disc which you will be able to play on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location).

The Who: Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are three different audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: Music DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Music Dolby Digital 5.1, and Music LPCM.

I viewed this concert in its entirety with the LPCM track on. Later on, for the purpose of this review, I did a few random comparisons between the LPCM track and the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. To be honest with you, both of these tracks are very well mixed and I am certainly having a difficult time deciding which one to recommend to you. The LPCM track appears to be slightly more convincing in terms of balance. The guitars in particular are well blended with Roger Daltrey's singing, and I did not detect any disturbing drop-outs. Furthermore, the LPCM track is also well rounded and potent.

The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track adds a bit more depth (especially as far as the drums are concerned). This being said, I thought that the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix also makes it quite easy to tell that the concert is rather old. I am unsure how to describe to you exactly what I mean, but I suppose resonance is what the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix enhances a bit too much for my taste. As a result, I wasn't able to hear the roundness and potency I heard on the LPCM track (though, again, the bass comes off slightly stronger). Finally, I did not detect any disturbing hissings, pops, or cracks, on any the two audio tracks.

The Who: Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

In addition to two bonus tracks (Substitute, Naked Eye), on this Blu-ray disc you will also find a very large interview with Pete Townshend conducted by Murray Lerner, the director of The Who: Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970. During the course of the interview, Pete Townsend addresses just about every aspect of The Who's history, their commercial success, what made them big during the 70s, what it meant for Pete Townshend to work with the rest of the musicians in the band, etc.

The Who: Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Legendary British rockers The Who get a royal treatment in Eagle Rock Entertainment's Blu-ray release of "The Who: Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970". Personally supervised by the band's own Pete Townshend, this new restoration certainly looks mighty impressive. I believe that fans of classic rock music will be thrilled with it. Highly Recommended.