The Who: Live in Concert

The band that once held the world record for the loudest concert in history is featured this week. Turn up The Who live in concert Saturday night on RKR.

On May 31, 1976, The Who cranked out 76,000 watts at 120 decibels to earn a spot in the Guinness Book of World records. Today, 27,000+ hooligans yell for the Charlton Athletic Football Club at that same venue. This week on Live in Concert, the venue is over 5,000 miles away with The Who cranking out the hits in 1999 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The show was a special one, as it was a reunion for the band. They had broken up a couple of times, but played together at Live Aid and their Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction in 1990, but the iBash event was special as "the Who performed as a five-piece for the first time since 1985."

Even more interesting is the occasion. Wired tells us an internet startup company called Pixelon.com, "rented out the MGM Grand; hired a slew of top-drawer recording artists including Kiss, The Dixie Chicks, Sugar Ray, and Brian Setzer; and, to cap it off, paid top-dollar for a reunion performance by The Who."  The organizers promised they’d stream the concert to billions of people around the globe. The only problem was that back in 1999, most of the world was still using dial up modems, and streaming wasn’t possible. Investors were bilked out of millions, bands were duped, but The Who played on.

Dire Straits also make an appearance on the show this week with a superb live version of "Sultans of Swing," and you'll hear Pat Benatar sing "You Better Run," "Heartbreaker," and her version of John Mellencamp's "I Need a Lover." Talking Heads round out the lineup on Live in Concert.

We've comped your ticket, don't miss the show Saturday night at 8, exclusively on Kalamazoo's Rock Station 107.7 RKR.