The Who – Chicago, IL (12/08/79)

The Who
12/08/79
International Amphitheatre
Chicago, IL

soundboard

Lineage: Low generation cassette => Stand-alone Pioneer CD burner => EAC => Magix Audio Cleaning Lab => WAV => FLAC front end (level 8)

Disc 1 (74:37):
(1) Substitute (3:34)
(2) Can’t Explain (2:43)
(3) Roger comments (0:37)
(4) Baba O’Riley (5:13)
(5) Roger/Pete comments (1:37)
(6) The Punk and the Godfather (4:58)
(7) John intro (0:49)
(8) My Wife (6:47)
(9) John comments (2:07)
(10) Sister Disco (5:48)
(11) Behind Blue Eyes (3:48)
(12) Banter (1:32)
(13) Music Must Change (false start) (0:56)
(14) Music Must Change (9:46)
(15) Drowned (10:29)
(16) Who Are You (6:51)
(17) 5:15 (6:54)

Disc 2 (69:43):
(1) Pete Comments (0:38)
(2) Pinball Wizard => See Me Feel Me (9:18)
(3) Long Live Rock (5:09)
(4) My Generation (4:08) =>
(5) I Can See For Miles (4:27)
(6) Sparks (5:48)
(7) Won’t Get Fooled Again (9:40)
(8) Encore break (1:04)
(9) The Real Me (1:45)
(10) Dancing In The Streets (3:48) =>
(11) Dance It Away (4:06) =>
(12) Young Man Blues (5:00) =>
(13) Roadrunner (2:05) =>
(14) Big Boss Man (3:29) =>
(15) How Can You Do It Alone (9:11)

Comments from the original uploader:
This came to me in trade in 1994; I can’t prove the lineage although it was represented to me as a 2nd gen. from the soundboard. It sounds as though it comes from the pro shot video source; whether the generation is counted as being from the original video master or whatever source tape was used down the line. In any case, it is a low generation recording — the fidelity is pretty good and there is minimal tape hiss. There is more crowd than one typically hears in a board tape, but I think the crowd was miked pretty loudly.

This show happened at what I think is the peak of the post-Moon era; the performance is great and the band are in great spirits. The show sold out so quickly that the show was broadcast via closed-circuit to movie theaters throughout the Chicago area; Roger, Pete, and John occasionally shout out to the various suburbs with funny comments. I think the heavy crowd miking was for the benefit of the remote audiences to create more a “live” feel.

I burned this onto audio-grade CDRs with a stand-alone CD burner, then used Magix Audio Cleaning Lab to break up the tracks and apply light dehissing. No further processing was done.

The audience version torrented a couple of weeks ago is great for the era; no question. IHMO this version is superior. Perhaps an enterprising person can make a matrix and surpass both.