The Who Isle of Wight

Filmed in 1970 at the Isle of Wight Festival, this classic concert captures The Who at the height of their powers, delivering the only live performance ever recorded of the rock musical "Tommy" in its entirety…

In 2004 The Who returned to the Isle Of Wight Festival for the first time since their legendary performance in 1970. After a long absence, the festival had been reborn in 2002 and continues to this day. Their UK concerts in 2004 were the first in their home country since the death of founder member John Entwistle…

August, 1970: With Jim Morrison's ongoing Miami obscenity trial casting an ominous shadow over the band, The Doors flew to England to play the Isle of Wight Festival. Waiting for them at "The Last Great Festival" were over 600,000 fans who had already torn down the barriers, crashed the gates, and enjoyed performances by the world's top acts such as Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Miles Davis and Joni Mitchell…

Eagle Records’ 2010 release of The Who Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 is essentially a repackaged reissue of Legacy’s 1996 archival release, containing the same 30 songs over two discs. This, of course, makes sense: both CD editions contain the entirety of the concert, which was heavily bootlegged before the official 1996 release. Eagle Records doesn’t change anything but the cover art, but it doesn’t need to: this is one of the Who’s legendary live shows, not as good as Live at Leeds but running a close second, and is certainly worthwhile for any serious fan.

August, 1970: With Jim Morrison's ongoing Miami obscenity trial casting an ominous shadow over the band, The Doors flew to England to play the Isle of Wight Festival. Waiting for them at "The Last Great Festival" were over 600,000 fans who had already torn down the barriers, crashed the gates, and enjoyed performances by the world's top acts such as Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Miles Davis and Joni Mitchell. The Doors took the stage at 2 am, playing with the weight of the trial on their backs, and showed fans they still had the magic that had propelled them to the top during the Summer of Love…

In 1970 the Isle of Wight Festival was one of the largest musical events of its time. Bigger than Woodstock, and controversial from the get-go, hundreds of thousands of people descended on the island. Many of those without tickets set up camp on a hill overlooking the festival site, opposing the consumerism of the event and intent on taking the music back by any means necessary. It was a celebration of hippy counter culture gone awry, and in Joni's words "they fed me to the beast". Joni Mitchell took to the stage to deliver an outstanding performance against all odds…