Roger Daltrey Believes Who Fans Come To The Show Expecting A Trainwreck

Roger Daltrey maintains that some fans only come to Who gigs to see a train-wreck — or worse. Back when the band was on the road in the 1970's — Roger Daltrey was quite often the only sober member of the band onstage — with Pete Townshend and the late-Keith Moon and John Entwistle clearly feeling no pain during many of the Who's most iconic gigs.

During a chat with The Mirror, Daltrey recalled, “People used to wonder whether the Who would make it to the gig. Now they wonder whether they will make it through the gig.” As was the case on several instances — Keith Moon did not make it through the gig. One of the most famous instances was on March 9th, 1976 in front of 15,000 fans at Boston Gardens when Moon crashed after only two numbers

Daltrey, who's now 76, went on to joke that time haven't really changed with fans expecting the worse from the Who: “I think that’s a lot of the reason people come see bands like us and The (Rolling) Stones. They think it might be the night one of us pops it on stage. But if you’re going to go anywhere, why not go there?”

Pete Townshend recalled how Keith Moon's over indulgences rarely showed while performing live with the Who: “He often used to get a bit excited. He was also. . . because he had such a huge adrenalin rush as a drummer on the stage, often — mostly — what he took he could overcome with his body chemistry, and then after he came off he would often collapse.”