THE WHO - TEENAGE WASTELAND

Back in March 2023 I reviewed Edoardo Genzolini's excellent book on The Who, Concert Memories From The Classic Years 1964 to 1976 which can be read by following the link. I also gave a brief overview on the band's career so won't repeat that here.

Schiffer Publishing has now published his second book on The Who, Teenage Wasteland, that looks at the concerts played in 1968 and 1976 at Winterland in San Francisco.

Winterland, located on the corner of Post Street and Steiner Street in San Francisco, opened in June 1928 as the New Dreamland Auditorium, an ice skating rink that could also be converted into a seated entertainment venue. It was built at a cost of $1 million which is equivalent to around $17 million today. In the 1930s the building was renamed Winterland and during the 1930s and 1940s hosted many events including the Shipstads and Johnson Ice Follies, a production of the Fiolies Bergere, boxing tournaments and tennis matches.

In September 1966 concert promoter Bill Graham began renting the venue for concerts due to its capacity, which was larger than the nearby Fillmore Auditorium. His first double bill was Jefferson Airplane and the Paul Butterfield Band. With the Fillmore closing in 1971 regular shows were held at Winterland. 

Rock acts that have appeared at Winterland include The Rolling Stones, Cream, Yes, Fleetwood Mac, The Band, Deep Purple and The Who. Many live albums have been recorded at the venue most notably Frampton Comes Alive (Peter Frampton), The Last Waltz (The Band), Live At Winterland (Jimi Hendrix) and Live Cream (Cream). A few concert films were also made at the venue, The Last Waltz, The Grateful Dead Movie and the Sex Pistol's The Filth And The Fury.

Winterland closed on New Year's Eve 1978/New Year's Day 1979 with an eight-hour concert by the Grateful Dead, New Riders of the Purple Sage and The Blues Brothers. Like so many iconic music sites the venue was pulled down and replaced by apartments in 1985. Fortunately we still have the live albums, concert films and books to remind us what a great venue it was.

Teenage Wasteland opens with a look at The Who's first time in San Francisco back in 1967 and covers their first concerts in America at the Fillmore along with a look at the Fillmore Seminars, a series of seminars about the music industry organised by Bill Graham. Moving onto 1968 the book gives more information about concerts at the Fillmore on 22 February before looking in detail at their first gigs at Winterland in February of 1968.

The Who played two sets on 23 February and a further two the following day and these are covered in detail with a wealth of photos and a text giving a background to the shows.

Their set-list for these concerts saw them open with Substitute and included Pictures Of Lily, Happy Jack, I'm A Boy, I Can See For Miles, I Can't Explain and My Generation. 

It would be eight years before they returned to Winterland for concerts and this period is covered in a chapter that covers the years between, that would find the band achieve a status they could have only ever dreamed about when they started out.

They released a number of classic albums including Tommy, Quadrophenia and Who's Next along with a number of hit singles. There was also a live album, Live At Leeds and a number of compilations, Direct Hits, Odds & Sods, The Story Of The Who and Meaty Beaty Big & Bouncy.

In 1976 they returned to San Francisco once again to play at Winterland. Concerts on both 27 and 28 March are covered in the book with a mix of colour and black and white images both on and off stage, although there is no accompanying text to this section of the book.

At these shows they performed a set that included I Can't Explain, Substitute, Squeeze Box, Magic Bus, Pinball Wizard and My Generation closing with Won't Get Fooled Again.

Within the 256 pages are over 400 images, mainly black & white although there are many in full colour. Besides the many great live shots there are backstage images and memorabilia including tape boxes and boxes of slides and negatives taken at the shows. The book is printed on high-quality gloss paper which shows off the photos at their very best.

Once again author Edoardo Genzolini has amassed an amazing amount of information about the shows and this period of the bands career and his dedication and enthusiasm is evident in every single page.

Looking through the hundreds of photos you start to wish that you had been part of the audience at one of these shows... or maybe you were there in the audience. Like his previous book on The Who, this book will be well received by fans and anyone who has an interest in the rock music of the 1960s and 1970s.

With thanks to Victoria Hansen at Schiffer Publishing Ltd for providing a review copy of the book.