THE WHO/THE WHOLE STORY

What a motley crew, they were, so to speak. All mixed up at first, to say the least, but the kids turned out alright in the end. And here is how they did it, on a new 2 DVD feature film.

The DVD was actually kicked off in early November with key Who members Townshend and Daltry on stage for a Q&A and a screening of the new, feature length film in London, , in HD and 5.1 surround sound

That was for the lucky few, who had £25 for the privilege. Now everyone can share in the experience, as the film, formally title, ‘Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who’, takes viewers on an intimate trip from the group’s wartime memories, through early years’ cock-up when sudden wealth and too many imitations were almost as a big a threat to their success as bust ups on and off stage.

But they all weathered the worst of it, from drummer Keith Moon’s madness to Townshend’s lyrical dark nights and laid down a new benchmark in rock.

It is a good tale well told, with some interesting insights on offer from Daltry and Townshend, often enemies but now best of best friends, following the startling death of bassist John Entwhistle in Las Vegas after the four got together for a NY bash post 9/11.

Yes, as is often the case with such film, the chatter can seem to get in the way of the main business, the music itself, but if you hang in through the gossip there is much fabulous performances, including, for the first time ever, incredible raw footage of their breakthrough London performance at The Railway Hotel as The HIgh Numbers and, of course, lots of guitar smashing.

'Amazing Journey' covers the whole 40 year Who story on two discs, 120 minutes each.

Filed November 26, 2007.