Baby, Don't Do It
The Who, Dayton Hara Arena 1971
The ad was in the Springfield News Sun. We all saw it. We hightailed it to the gift wrap department at Wren's Department Store to buy tickets from the little old bag (few years earlier it would have been my grandmother) working there. Tickets were $6.50. My sister told me I was getting ripped off. No rock concert should cost more than $4.00 !
The seats were about a third of the way back up on the left side. Back then different outlets got real tickets and different locations had better or worse seats. Later we would drive to Dayton and get tickets at Rikes or Hara for better seats, but then Ticketron/Master came along and added a little democracy to the process.
I digress.....
I forget how we got there. I think Pete drove that weird gold colored Oldsmobile ?
Walking across the parking lot (The Hara parking lot parties were pretty nuts) we spotted columns of police in riot gear. Ferreal, helmets, batons, clear plastic shields. Absolutely nothing happened, but it was kinda neat to see. Doubt the Dayton PD had much call to ever put the stuff on.
The Who were touring Who's Next. All those iconic songs like Baba O'Reilly, Behind Blue Eyes and, of course, Won't Get Fooled Again were all brand new at the time and absolutely blowing our teenaged minds.
During this tour, Townshend was asked when was the last time he had smashed a guitar. He relied, "Last night". He explained he had a contract with Gibson that stipulated free SGs as long as he smashed them. Kalamazoo sell out.....
From the first song, Love Ain't for Keeping, with it's first three chords thundering through the hockey arena through to the end, it was just glorious rock and roll. After Won't get Fooled Again, somebody in the audience called out, "Play some rock and roll !" Townshend asked, "Play some rock and roll ? What do you think THAT was ? Mantovani ?"
By the end of the show my friends & I were hoarse from singing along at the top of our lungs (nobody could hear, so what the heck ?) and our legs aching as we had Keith Mooned our legs with our fists the whole time.
We were happy boys.

Some folks from Antioch's WYSO recorded the concert and I believe that is where the bootleg recording of the show came from. It was released as a single and double vinyl disk edition. Not sure what all is on the double album, this is the setlist:

• Love Ain't for Keepin'
• Pure and Easy
• My Wife
• I Can't Explain
• Substitute
• Bargain
• Behind Blue Eyes
• Won't Get Fooled Again
• Don't Know Myself
• Baby Don't You Do It
• Pinball Wizard
• See Me, Feel Me
• My Generation
• Magic Bus
• Naked Eye