The Who - Live at Hull - 15 Feb 1970

[Zells]

On the 14th and 15th days of February 1970, The Who performed and recorded two Hiwatt-fueled live shows with the intention of releasing their first official live album. The performances were located at the University of Leeds Refectory building and the Hull City Hall building, respectively. The Who reportedly liked the Hull performance better particularly since it was a larger venue with more room for the sound waves to breathe. However, there were problems recording The Ox's bass at Hull. For years, I was itching to hear to hear this performance. The Who were compelled to release the Leeds performance. The original 1970 Live at Leeds LP including only six songs and none of the talking banter between songs as there's a limit to the total length of tunes that can be etched onto to a vinyl record. It wasn't until 2001 that the full Leeds performance was released...a 2 CD package with 33 sings including the complete Tommy live set.

In 2010, The 40th Anniversary edition of Live at Leeds was released as 4 CD package including the full length Leeds and Hull performances. I didn't find out about this until mid-2011, but I've listened to Live at Hull plenty since then. I haven't seen any discussion on VHC about Hull, so I'd thought I'd offer my thoughts with comparison to the Leeds show that we all know:

The song set was nearly the same at both shows with the only exceptions being the absence of 'Magic Bus' at Hull and a little 'Spoonful' blues jam added to 'Shakin' All Over' at Hull that was not played at Leeds. Entwistle's bass is definitely more boomy throughout Hull compared to the more mid-rangey sound at Leeds; this may have had something to do with bass cab microphone issues. The overall sound quality suffers during the early part of the Hull performance ('Heaven And Hell', 'I Can't Explain', etc.), but the later portion with Tommy and 'My Generation' sound absolutely stellar. The medley part that follows 'My Generation' is the one part of Hull that I like significantly better than Leeds...there is some seriously juicy feedback drenched rockin' in this version and it's a better executed jam altogether at least in my humble view. Additionally, the guitar solos and breakdowns in various songs are somewhat different, as one would expect, between the two performances. There is a stark difference in Pete's tone on the two versions of 'The Amazing Journey' simply due to pick attack variation and maybe knob settings. And we all know how LOUD Hiwatts are sensitive to pick attack. One will notice this in other songs, too, of course. Uniqueness is part of the appeal to any live show. Pete's riffing on 'Summertime Blues' was more fancy at Hull.

A picked out a few subtle lyrical changes. One that sticks out is "Little girl...Why don't you stop your miserable bloody whimpering" during 'A Quick One' at Hull rather than 'Why don't you stop your crying' at Leeds and the original studio release. Leeds definitely included more banter and talking between songs.

I do sense that the venue size made a difference in sound. The later portion of Hull simply has a bigger sound than Leeds. I slightly prefer the Hull Tommy over Leeds Tommy, and I fervently like the Hull 'My Generation' + medley better. For the rest of the songs...Leeds still has the edge.

Anyway, have a listen to Live at Hull if you like (songs not in the same order as performed live)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1dW6KvU ... ults_video

"It's a bloody opera, shut up and listen" - Maestro Moon, conductor.

[ak-47]

One of the definitive releases of all live rock recordings IMO... it does not get much better than this... only Band of Gypsys comes close... nice comparison Zells!