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Tatsunori Tanaka's Collection

The Who   11/20/1973

Cow Palace, Daly City, CA
Media DVD   1 disc
Notes My Notes:

Cow Palace is a Pro-Shot Black & White video, filmed for Bill Graham's personal collection,
chronicalling one of the most famous Who concerts of all time. It was the first night of
the 1973 American tour. What an amazing experience it must have been for Scott Halpin.
The Who could quite easily have quit the concert on a couple of ocassions. Keith Moon
passed out twice towards the end of the concert, before Pete Townshend recruited a drummer
from the audience.

There is some sound/noise interference present, but not all the way through. BGP Archive
Timestamp is present throughout, at bottom of screen. Picture quality is very good to
excellent (for a B&W shot video). Sound quality is average to very good, as the main
description states; it is bassy.

Other noticable highlights: John Enwistle is sporting his Skeleton Suit. Roger Daltrey
has the obligatory 70's shaggy perm. Pete Townshend dons a skinny-fit shirt and wide flairs.
And Moon The Loon, well, enough said. By Hntgzr.


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The following text is by Brad Harvey:

It was November 20, 1973, and The Who were at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, opening their
first American tour in two years. Halpin and a friend, both Who fans, were in the audience.

Before the show, The Who's madcap drummer Keith Moon had been drinking with two girls backstage.
Unbeknownst to Moon and the girls, someone had spiked their drinks with monkey tranquilizer.
When Moon took the stage, the deadly drug was already coursing through his veins.

As the concert went on, the 19-year-old Halpin and the audience began to realize something was
wrong--the normally effervescent Who drummer was dragging. Midway through the classic song
'Won't Get Fooled Again', Moon slumped over his drum kit, passed out cold. Who guitarist Pete
Townshend, no doubt having seen Moon in this condition many times before, joked to the crowd,
"We're going to try and revive our drummer by punching him in the stomach and giving him a
custard enema."

A half-hour later, after reviving Moon in the shower, The Who returned to the stage but Moon
lost consciousness again. At this point, Townshend turned to the crowd and announced, "Can
anybody play the drums? I mean somebody good!"

By this time, Halpin and his friend had made their way through the crowd to the left side of
the stage. Moon, still well out of it, had staggered over and was arguing with a security guard
when concert promoter Bill Graham arrived on the scene. Gazing at the sea of hands of would-be
drummers in the audience, Graham took note of Halpin's friend pushing Halpin forward. Next thing
he knew, Halpin found himself backstage with Graham and Moon's drum roadie, getting a quick
lesson on Moon's drum set-up.

Taking his place behind Moon's massive drum kit, far bigger than anything Halpin had ever played
in his life, Halpin introduced himself to Who singer Roger Daltrey. The band and their
substitute drummer proceeded to crash through several songs, finishing the show. Afterwards,
Daltrey praised Halpin, saying, "None of the papers picked up on it but he was good." Halpin
told Rolling Stone magazine at the time, "I really admired their stamina. I only played three
numbers and I was dead."

Moon and his drinking companions survived being dosed (though one of the girls nearly died)
and the drummer went on to five more years with The Who before succumbing to an accidental
drug overdose in 1978.

Since that night, Scott Halpin's literal 15 minutes of fame with The Who has been chronicled
in numerous magazine articles. It's mentioned in two major book biographies on the band and
film footage of the night has even made it to video store shelves via the documentary, 'The
Who: Thirty Years of Maximum R&B Live.'
Tech Notes NO SUB-MENU's or CHAPTERS, but best copy around.
B&W and same LOUD bassy audio, but cleanest version.

A Mad Raving Stark Production.

Above information from MRS.
Trades Allowed Yes
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Owned by Tatsunori Tanaka · Last Updated May 23, 2023