BruceBarnard - 3 Aug 2017

I took my girlfriend to see The Clash, then we sat outside on the concrete entrance ramp looking into a huge garage door barely listening to the next two bands....we were just sitting and enjoying the evening...it was awesome. 35 years later the Clash are still my #1 fav, and we're still great friends. We were 19 & 17 then.

Review from The Scene 13 October 1982. ....

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Scene, October 7-13, 1982
The Who, the Clash, Eddie Money Pontiac Silverdome Sept. 30

"We're trying not to compare this tour toomuch to the (Rolling) Stones last tour because if it's not the Second Coming, people will be disappointed."
—Mason Buck, represen tative of Mahoney/ Was serman, publicists for The Who's American Tour.

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PONTIAC, MICHIGAN — Not to worry... not a single soul should have left ihe Silverdome this night feeling that The Who fell short of expectations. I detest superlatives (you know. you've read 'em all:best; worst; greatest; etc.); they're only crutches that critics use white filling in blanks on editorial review sheets to make their jobs all the more easy. But, I Concede ... The Who ARE the World's Greatest Rock 'N'Roll Band.

ed. Bullshit. I saw them and they are wank. Townsend 10 minute guitar solos, thank god for punk

Okay, don't take my word for it. just ask any one of the nearly 75, 000 fans who witnessed the Silverdome's Main Event. Or, even better yet, flip the bird to recession and start saving up for tickets for one of the two forthcoming Who concerts at the Coliseum in mid-December (the dates have been confirmed bui not yet announced). Despite the Hype of this being The Who's "First (?) Farewell Tour" and the reservations. of The Tour's publicists of promising too much — you won't be disappointed!

It's hard to imagine The Who being capable of delivering a much better show than the famed British quartet put forth this night. The houselights hadn't even yet dimmed when The Who had already worked the crowd into (and beyond) a frenzied state. It seemed the crowd would be spent of its energy only a few seconds into the set-opening "Substitute." But The Who dared the crowd to press its energies to the max, and the crowd eagerly accepted the challenge. The crowd rocked recklessly through The Who's two-hour plus show during which The Who dished out countless favorites (among them "I Can't Explain." "Baba O'Rellty." "Sister Disco," "See Me, Feel Me"..,) and a healthy portion of the new album (getting especially strong responses were the title cut, "It's Hard," and John Entwistle's "Dangerous").

What was so refreshingly exciting about this show was its obvious emphasis on the music— bare-assed rock 'n' roll — and the performers rather than on flash and flair that detracts from so many other concerts. Except for an imposing stage set (and expansive stage with W-H-O spelled out in 60 foot high letters with the bar of the H as the roof of the stage and the W and 0 covering the scaffolding on either side), all that was there was Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, Entwistle and Kenney Jones. They don't need any gimmickry. just their instruments, microphones and an audience. God love 'em!

And any fears that The Who would be unable to gel their message out loud and clear to the upper reaches of the cavernous Silverdome were quickly laid to rest. The Who's awesome sound system boasts a 110.000-watt main system and a 15,000 watt stage monitor (for the sake of comparison, a quality. powerful home stereo system boasts 150-200 watts). Before the show, Townshend noted that the Silverdome "was hardly meant for rock'n'roll. "But then the Silverdome had never before had the pleasure of playing host to . the Who.

The Clash were in the wrong place at the wrong time. But they did very little to help themselves either. The Silverdome's gates were opened at 3 p.m. and two hours (5: 30) before the show's start the crowd was already nearly 40,000 strong. At 7:30 sharp when Eddie Money look the stage, the arena was tilled near to capacity and the fans who'd already been standing toe-to-toe about 45-feet deep and across the width of the stadium floor were ready to "rock and roll the place."

But by 9 p.m. when the Clash emerged from backstage, the crowd was ready lot the Who, and vocally displayed their collective sentiment with a booming chorus of "Boo." In fact, the boos began as early as when The Clash was pre-announced immediately following Money's opening set.

Still. The Clash could have effectively stifled the restless crowd's catcalls by performing a rocking set of accessible material instead of being so damned self-serving. The boos and cheers were almost canceling each other out as The Clash worked its way through a strong set-opening "London Calling." But then the band inexcusably chose to ignore its more popular attractions ("Train In Vain," "Jimmy Jazz," "Washington Bullets." to name a few) and instead trudged through numerous (read: too many) songs from their latest LP, COMBAT ROCK. Despite their protestations to the contrary. The Clash are apparently as interested as the next group in selling albums.

The Clash appeared to be trying to salvage its set with an energized version of "Should I Stay Or Should I Go." but it was a classic tale of too little too late. The boisterous crowd left no doubt as to their answer: they unanimously

encouraged the band to "Go!" The Clash overextended its stay with a set-closing "1 Fought The law" before succumbing to the crowd's wishes and leaving without an encore.

Before the show Eddie Money was banling to control his nerves and anxiety. He had something to prove: that he deserved to be second-billed on this show. "I've got the number two selling album (NO CONTROL) in Detroit," he hitched. "And instead I'm dropped to the third bill. I got shaded, but you can't keep a good man down."

Not coincidentally, Money chose "You Can't Keep A Good Man Down" to kick off his 10-song, 45-minute set. Money's enthusiastic stage presence was unfortunately lost in the spacious Silverdome, but the energy he displayed in his vocals did not fall on deaf ears. The crowd provided Money with a response as strong as he could have elicited at his own headlining gig. And the crowds appreciation no doubt served to ease the hurt of Money's bruised ego.

Especially gratifying had to be the crowd's revved-up reactions afforded the new album's title cut and its two singles. "Think I'm In Love" and "Shakin'." Money's performance grew stronger with each song as his pre-show nervousness was driven away by by the crowd's repeated thundering ovations.

The crowd, already 70,000 strong when Money look the stage, demanded an encore and Money responded with as spirited a version of "Rock 'N' Roll The Place" as he's ever delivered.

Keith Rathhun