It was 48 years ago today (April 14th, 1974), that the Who's Pete Townshend played his first ever solo concert in London at The Roundhouse. The concert, which took place on Easter Sunday, was scheduled during a break from Townshend's recording sessions for the Tommy – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. He had originally envisioned a mellow low-key gig to benefit the Camden Square Community Playhouse Theatre, but heavy publicity from the British rock trades made the show the high-profile show of the spring.
Townshend spent about a week rehearsing the show and creating tape loops and rhythm tracks to provide backing for his acoustic and electric set, in which he also played the clavinet — an electric keyboard. Tapes of the show that have been making rounds with collectors reveal a particularly rowdy crowd — with Townshend handling himself pretty well against at least one drunken heckler.
Among the Who classics performed were “The Seeker” — which opened the show, “Happy Jack,” “Substitute,” “See Me, Feel Me,” “Tattoo,” “Let's See Action,” “Pinball Wizard,” as well as covers including Tim Hardin's “If I Were A Carpenter,” Traffic's “No Face, No Name, No Number,” Jimmy Reed's “Big Boss Man,” “Amoureuse” by Veronique Sanson — later the wife of Stephen Stills, and the Bob Dylan-related standards “Girl From North Country,” and “Corina, Corina.”