Rewatching the DVD of The Who’s “final” (or not) concert performance in 1982 over the holidays, I had forgotten it included this bit at the start of “5:15”, where Roger’s spun microphone cord wraps itself around Pete’s guitar cord:

5:15 from Toronto, starting with a bit of mishap

The microphone still hopeless entangled when it’s Roger cue to sing, he has little choice but to bend toward the mic. Pete doesn’t realize the problem at first, and Roger is forced to follow him around like a puppy to stay amplified. When Pete does realize what’s happened, he smirks and pats Roger on the back.

An instrumental break finally gives Roger sufficient time to free his mic. The line, he sings then, arms raised triumphantly:

“Leave me alone!”

It’s hilarious.

As for the DVD as a whole, well, the sound and audio quality is pretty poor—basically “VHS transfer to DVD” quality. And I’m not sure the band were really at their best, at the end of this long tour, slightly hating each other at that point.

(And warning: That cover shot is not from this concert. It‘s from Live Aid in 1985. There is no bare chest on display in this DVD, believe it or not.)

But, I’m still happy to have it. It’s an interesting set list, with numbers from the all stages of their career, including rarities like “It’s Hard,” “Dangerous,” “Love Ain’t for Keeping”, and “Naked Eye”. It also brings back fond memories of watching it at the time, on the CTV channel in Timmins that aired it after I wrote to them asking them to. (Did I really influence them in any way? Who knows.)

In retrospect, of course, it’s probably just as well this wasn’t their very last show. They had many highlights to come, including their amazing performance at the Concert for New York in 2001, and closing out the London summer Olympics in 2012.

But the 1982 show does have its moments.