1 00:00:00,440 --> 00:00:18,279 Speaker 1: Disgraceland is a production of Double Elvis. This is a 2 00:00:18,360 --> 00:00:21,160 Speaker 1: story about rock and roll and a rock and roll 3 00:00:21,200 --> 00:00:25,160 Speaker 1: tragedy about eleven rock and roll fans who died too 4 00:00:25,239 --> 00:00:29,160 Speaker 1: young in a rock and roll band who somehow is 5 00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:34,400 Speaker 1: still alive. It's a story about the Who. Our second 6 00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:38,479 Speaker 1: story about the Who, actually a band who made great music. 7 00:00:39,600 --> 00:00:42,040 Speaker 1: Unlike that music at the top of the show that 8 00:00:42,159 --> 00:00:45,159 Speaker 1: wasn't great music. That was a preset loop for my 9 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:51,040 Speaker 1: melotron called Eminence Blunt MK two. I played you that 10 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:54,600 Speaker 1: loop because I can't afford the rights to No More Tears, 11 00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:59,240 Speaker 1: Enough Is Enough by Barbara Streisan and Donna Summer. And 12 00:00:59,320 --> 00:01:03,160 Speaker 1: why would I play that specific slice of your Mom's cheese? 13 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:07,560 Speaker 1: Could I afford it? Because that was the number one 14 00:01:07,640 --> 00:01:12,000 Speaker 1: song in America on December third, nineteen seventy nine, And 15 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:14,319 Speaker 1: that was the day that a crowd crush outside the 16 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:18,920 Speaker 1: Riverfront Colisseum before a concert by The Who killed eleven 17 00:01:18,959 --> 00:01:22,279 Speaker 1: people at the time the deadliest rock and roll show 18 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:30,360 Speaker 1: in history. On this episode, a crowd crush, asphyxiation, eleven dead, Cincinnati, 19 00:01:30,680 --> 00:01:36,399 Speaker 1: the Riverfront Colisseum and the Who. I'm Jake Brennan and 20 00:01:36,600 --> 00:02:06,720 Speaker 1: this is disgraceland. Rock and roll is more than music. 21 00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:12,359 Speaker 1: You know this. Pete Townsend knows this. Pete Townsend, the guitarist, 22 00:02:12,639 --> 00:02:17,040 Speaker 1: sometimes singer and chief songwriter for The Who, once described 23 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:20,600 Speaker 1: rock and roll as one part music and one part 24 00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:25,400 Speaker 1: quote the celebration of energy, losing yourself and getting high 25 00:02:25,880 --> 00:02:30,960 Speaker 1: un quote. The getting high part doesn't necessarily mean illegal drugs, 26 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:33,840 Speaker 1: though many who have performed and or listened to rock 27 00:02:33,880 --> 00:02:36,040 Speaker 1: and roll course over the years have done so while 28 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:40,480 Speaker 1: on one substance or another. Getting high was scraping the 29 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:43,720 Speaker 1: strings of your rickenbacker on the mic stand and then 30 00:02:43,919 --> 00:02:47,320 Speaker 1: thrusting the guitarist headstock through the low ceiling above you, 31 00:02:47,919 --> 00:02:51,160 Speaker 1: as Pete Townsend did in nineteen sixty four inside a 32 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:55,120 Speaker 1: West London club. Getting high was smashing the shit out 33 00:02:55,120 --> 00:02:57,600 Speaker 1: of your cherry sunburst gives them less Paul, or your 34 00:02:57,919 --> 00:03:00,760 Speaker 1: gold top gives them less Paull or your sg or 35 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:03,440 Speaker 1: he gives a thunderbird, which Pete did over and over 36 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:08,480 Speaker 1: again at WHO shows throughout the nineteen seventies. That was 37 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:13,519 Speaker 1: getting high, That was losing yourself, and that was a 38 00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:18,760 Speaker 1: rock and roll. Rock and roll was violence and euphoria wrapped. 39 00:03:18,360 --> 00:03:21,359 Speaker 2: Into one, and it had a beat you could dance to, 40 00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:24,959 Speaker 2: and no one on the planet was a better example 41 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:28,799 Speaker 2: of that violent, euphoric hi than Pete's band me the 42 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:32,680 Speaker 2: drummer Keith Moon, a wild man on and off the 43 00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:36,160 Speaker 2: stage who assaulted his drum set with equal vigor and 44 00:03:36,240 --> 00:03:39,560 Speaker 2: abandon as Pete Townsend assaulted his guitars. 45 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:45,160 Speaker 1: But this was January nineteen seventy nine and Keith Moon 46 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:49,320 Speaker 1: was dead. Pete Townsend assumed it was a swift and 47 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:53,280 Speaker 1: painless way to go. So many prescription sedatives were found 48 00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:57,120 Speaker 1: in Mooney's stomach that twenty six of them were still undissolved. 49 00:03:57,760 --> 00:04:00,280 Speaker 1: And as much as Pete missed having his friend or around, 50 00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:05,560 Speaker 1: missed that fearless sense of humor, Keith wasn't really gone gone, 51 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:11,840 Speaker 1: not really. He was inside Pete's years, endlessly ringing that 52 00:04:11,960 --> 00:04:17,159 Speaker 1: non stop, high pitched tone, driving him mad. Keith Moon's 53 00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:22,599 Speaker 1: cymbals reverberated throughout Pete Townsend's cranium. In fact, the tonight 54 00:04:22,720 --> 00:04:25,400 Speaker 1: is He'd developed from years of maximum rock and roll 55 00:04:25,839 --> 00:04:29,040 Speaker 1: was so bad that Pete had decided, even before Keith 56 00:04:29,080 --> 00:04:34,880 Speaker 1: shuffled off this mortal coil, that the Who would stop touring. Besides, 57 00:04:35,320 --> 00:04:39,359 Speaker 1: they'd made their point eight albums, two rock operas one 58 00:04:39,440 --> 00:04:42,359 Speaker 1: hundred and twenty six decibels. That's according to the Guinness 59 00:04:42,360 --> 00:04:45,880 Speaker 1: Book of World Records and millions sir from Woodstock to 60 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:50,760 Speaker 1: the University of Leeds. But then Keith died, which you 61 00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:54,280 Speaker 1: would think would only underscore Pete's desire to quit the road. 62 00:04:55,440 --> 00:04:58,200 Speaker 1: It was impossible to imagine the Who without Keith move 63 00:04:58,400 --> 00:05:01,320 Speaker 1: flailing away at his drum kit, just as it was 64 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:05,520 Speaker 1: impossible to imagine them without John Entwhistle's thunderfingers rattling the 65 00:05:05,560 --> 00:05:09,520 Speaker 1: bass guitar, or Roger Daltrey belting out that iconic rock 66 00:05:09,560 --> 00:05:15,039 Speaker 1: god's scream. There was no one like Keith Moon. Who 67 00:05:15,040 --> 00:05:18,240 Speaker 1: else would install spotlights on the beach of his Malibu 68 00:05:18,320 --> 00:05:21,200 Speaker 1: home and point them at the home of his neighbor 69 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:24,440 Speaker 1: Steve McQueen and hopes that he could catch a glimpse 70 00:05:24,440 --> 00:05:33,120 Speaker 1: of Stevee's girlfriend Ali McGraw naked. Pete Townshend sat in 71 00:05:33,240 --> 00:05:36,479 Speaker 1: silence as his dead friend split his head open from 72 00:05:36,480 --> 00:05:39,240 Speaker 1: the inside out with Tonight's and he tried to think, 73 00:05:40,200 --> 00:05:44,480 Speaker 1: what if, What if Keith's death was a parting gift. 74 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:50,040 Speaker 1: What if in Keith's absence there was opportunity, and not 75 00:05:50,120 --> 00:05:55,599 Speaker 1: just opportunity but duty. A feeling came over Pete, something 76 00:05:55,640 --> 00:05:58,719 Speaker 1: so overwhelming that it elbowed the ringing in his ears 77 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:02,840 Speaker 1: out of the way. Fuck is tonight's Fuck the haters 78 00:06:02,839 --> 00:06:05,920 Speaker 1: who had never acknowledged the band without Mooney, and fuck 79 00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:09,000 Speaker 1: the fact that Pete's marriage was falling apart. And by 80 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:12,400 Speaker 1: going back out on the road where temptation and indiscretion 81 00:06:12,520 --> 00:06:15,960 Speaker 1: were plentiful, he was essentially saying so long to that 82 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:20,320 Speaker 1: once happy union. Pete didn't care about all that. He 83 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:24,080 Speaker 1: felt an unwavering desire to prove himself again, as if 84 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:27,240 Speaker 1: to who were starting over. And that's all there was, 85 00:06:28,040 --> 00:06:32,880 Speaker 1: making music, writing songs, touring and performing. If he simply 86 00:06:32,920 --> 00:06:36,760 Speaker 1: did the work, then everything else would be okay. At 87 00:06:36,839 --> 00:06:41,560 Speaker 1: least that was the idea. But the work required a workhorse, 88 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:45,239 Speaker 1: not a clone of Keith Moon going buck while behind 89 00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:48,040 Speaker 1: the kit, a drummer who could keep a steady rhythm 90 00:06:48,040 --> 00:06:50,760 Speaker 1: and guide the rest of them forward. But what about 91 00:06:50,800 --> 00:06:55,000 Speaker 1: Phil Collins? Phil was keen Nah, But Phil had his 92 00:06:55,040 --> 00:06:57,760 Speaker 1: hands full keeping Genesis on the rails, what with Peter 93 00:06:57,839 --> 00:07:02,320 Speaker 1: Gabriel leaving and all that Pete wanted Kenny Jones formerly 94 00:07:02,360 --> 00:07:05,080 Speaker 1: of The Faces. Roger Daltrey thought it was a bad 95 00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:06,919 Speaker 1: idea for the same reason Pete thought it was a 96 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:10,720 Speaker 1: good idea. Kenny wasn't Keith. Keith used to play to 97 00:07:10,840 --> 00:07:14,600 Speaker 1: Roger's vocal and in turn, Roger danced to Keith's performance. 98 00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:18,440 Speaker 1: It was like the symbiotic musical relationship. It was in 99 00:07:18,480 --> 00:07:23,560 Speaker 1: the blood to Roger. Kenny Jones was bloodless, but Roger 100 00:07:23,640 --> 00:07:26,760 Speaker 1: Daltrey wasn't the arguing type. And when Pete Townsend wanted 101 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:29,440 Speaker 1: something done, just like Paul McCartney and the Beatles or 102 00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:33,360 Speaker 1: Rod Stewart and Kenny's old band, The Faces, Pete Townsend 103 00:07:33,360 --> 00:07:39,600 Speaker 1: got it done. So it was decided the very much 104 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:42,960 Speaker 1: alive Kenny Jones replaced the dead Keith Moon and the 105 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:46,760 Speaker 1: Who hit the Road. First The Rainbow in London, then 106 00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:50,600 Speaker 1: the Phrasers Samphi Theater in Ken, France, where their excellent 107 00:07:50,640 --> 00:07:53,360 Speaker 1: documentary The Kids Are All Right was having its debut, 108 00:07:53,880 --> 00:07:57,120 Speaker 1: as was the new movie version of their rock opera Quadraphenia, 109 00:07:58,200 --> 00:08:01,920 Speaker 1: and then on to America. We're on December third, nineteen 110 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:05,720 Speaker 1: seventy nine, in Cincinnati, a crowd of excited ticket holders 111 00:08:05,720 --> 00:08:10,600 Speaker 1: were already assembled outside in frigid temperatures hours before doors opened. 112 00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:15,000 Speaker 1: There was little assign seating at tonight's show, so these 113 00:08:15,040 --> 00:08:17,239 Speaker 1: fans were there early in order to claim a spot 114 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:20,480 Speaker 1: up front before others beat them to it. And the 115 00:08:20,520 --> 00:08:23,280 Speaker 1: high school kids that remained in the Who's target demographic 116 00:08:23,360 --> 00:08:25,600 Speaker 1: in particular, were ready to have the night of their 117 00:08:25,600 --> 00:08:28,560 Speaker 1: young lives, and it would be a night to remember, 118 00:08:29,200 --> 00:08:32,880 Speaker 1: a night of maximum rock and roll, a celebration of energy, 119 00:08:33,200 --> 00:08:37,120 Speaker 1: of losing yourself, and of getting high. But the underpinning 120 00:08:37,120 --> 00:08:41,920 Speaker 1: of violence that characterized any WHO show, which was typically 121 00:08:41,920 --> 00:08:46,319 Speaker 1: reserved for one of Pete Townsend's poor guitars. Tonight, that 122 00:08:46,360 --> 00:08:50,000 Speaker 1: trademark violence would instead strike into the heart of a 123 00:08:50,080 --> 00:09:18,000 Speaker 1: restless crowd. Jony put her parents Vovo sedan and park 124 00:09:18,040 --> 00:09:21,280 Speaker 1: and cut the engine. The car needed new brakes, and 125 00:09:21,360 --> 00:09:26,719 Speaker 1: the check engine kept flashing ominously from the dash. Nevertheless, 126 00:09:27,080 --> 00:09:30,079 Speaker 1: this bulletproof hunk of steel had somehow made it all 127 00:09:30,080 --> 00:09:32,960 Speaker 1: the way from her small town outside Cincinnati to hear 128 00:09:33,320 --> 00:09:37,040 Speaker 1: a garage adjacent to the Riverfront Coliseum, where in just 129 00:09:37,080 --> 00:09:39,720 Speaker 1: a few hours The Who would perform a sold out 130 00:09:39,760 --> 00:09:43,280 Speaker 1: show for an audience of eighteen thousand people. Her friend 131 00:09:43,400 --> 00:09:46,720 Speaker 1: Jean sitting shotguns, sparked her bicklighter and brought the flame 132 00:09:46,760 --> 00:09:49,200 Speaker 1: to the tip of a tightly rolled joint between her lips. 133 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:53,600 Speaker 1: She took a small hit, held it in, exhaled, and 134 00:09:53,679 --> 00:09:56,760 Speaker 1: then she passed it to Jony. The fuck, Joni said, 135 00:09:57,080 --> 00:09:59,240 Speaker 1: I told you to do that outside. My dad is 136 00:09:59,240 --> 00:10:00,960 Speaker 1: gonna kill me if he smells that shit in here. 137 00:10:02,360 --> 00:10:04,560 Speaker 1: Joni still couldn't believe that she'd managed to convince her 138 00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:06,000 Speaker 1: parents to let her go to the show in the 139 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:09,640 Speaker 1: first place, let alone take their car. Dad was a 140 00:10:09,640 --> 00:10:12,600 Speaker 1: hard ass, but Mom was a pushover, so that was 141 00:10:12,640 --> 00:10:15,760 Speaker 1: the ankle. Get mom alone, ask her, and then have 142 00:10:15,840 --> 00:10:20,880 Speaker 1: her deal with Dad. It worked. Jony was stoked. This 143 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:23,439 Speaker 1: is her first show ever, and it was about time. 144 00:10:23,760 --> 00:10:26,000 Speaker 1: She was seventeen. For Christ's sakes, going to see a 145 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:27,880 Speaker 1: show at the Coliseum was a rite, a passage for 146 00:10:27,920 --> 00:10:31,240 Speaker 1: any high school student in the greater Cincinnati area. Though 147 00:10:31,280 --> 00:10:33,840 Speaker 1: she was being honest, she didn't care that she didn't 148 00:10:33,840 --> 00:10:36,840 Speaker 1: see Kissed the year prior. All that makeup and tongue 149 00:10:36,840 --> 00:10:40,480 Speaker 1: wagging was fucking goofy. She was bombed though, that she 150 00:10:40,520 --> 00:10:43,319 Speaker 1: missed the Zeppelin show, even though something like a thousand 151 00:10:43,400 --> 00:10:45,720 Speaker 1: kids without tickets to crash the gates and nearly caused 152 00:10:45,720 --> 00:10:48,280 Speaker 1: a riot. And that was what her dad was really 153 00:10:48,280 --> 00:10:51,840 Speaker 1: worried about, all these kids hopped up on dope, libido's 154 00:10:51,920 --> 00:10:56,400 Speaker 1: raging adrenaline pumping jockeying for position, the who is not 155 00:10:56,520 --> 00:10:59,640 Speaker 1: her father's rock and roll or anyone's father's rock and roll? 156 00:10:59,679 --> 00:11:02,720 Speaker 1: For them? At her Joni's mom reminded her dad that 157 00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:06,160 Speaker 1: the Colisseum had learned from the Zeppelin incident and now 158 00:11:06,320 --> 00:11:09,320 Speaker 1: only allowed ticket holders onto the plaza outside the venue 159 00:11:09,520 --> 00:11:14,480 Speaker 1: to ensure something like that would never happen again. And 160 00:11:14,480 --> 00:11:17,360 Speaker 1: that's where Joni and Jean were headed. Now up the 161 00:11:17,400 --> 00:11:21,840 Speaker 1: walkway from the garage to the plaza, it was freezing 162 00:11:21,880 --> 00:11:26,800 Speaker 1: outside twenty degrees give her take. A cold wind blew 163 00:11:26,880 --> 00:11:29,400 Speaker 1: the red hot end of what was now Jean's roach 164 00:11:29,480 --> 00:11:32,680 Speaker 1: and tangled Joni's long brown hair in front of her face. 165 00:11:33,960 --> 00:11:37,040 Speaker 1: Doors weren't scheduled to open until six point thirty, but 166 00:11:37,120 --> 00:11:40,560 Speaker 1: they were here early, as were thousands of others. The 167 00:11:40,600 --> 00:11:44,160 Speaker 1: show was first come, first served, quote unquote festival seating 168 00:11:44,320 --> 00:11:47,640 Speaker 1: as it was called, which basically means general omission for 169 00:11:47,679 --> 00:11:50,400 Speaker 1: arenas and if you wanted to spot up front in 170 00:11:50,440 --> 00:11:52,880 Speaker 1: the pit, where the action was just feet away from 171 00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:56,439 Speaker 1: Roger Daltrey twirling the microphone cord and Pete towns In 172 00:11:56,600 --> 00:11:59,600 Speaker 1: erupting into a flurry of windmills on his guitar. Were 173 00:11:59,640 --> 00:12:02,520 Speaker 1: you not only heard, but felt the power of the 174 00:12:02,600 --> 00:12:05,600 Speaker 1: loudest rock band on the planet. You'd better show up 175 00:12:05,640 --> 00:12:10,840 Speaker 1: well in advance, shit, Johnny thought, she surveyed the crowd. 176 00:12:11,360 --> 00:12:16,600 Speaker 1: Not nearly early enough. The plaza was a zoo, thousands 177 00:12:16,679 --> 00:12:21,120 Speaker 1: upon thousands of people. All sixteen doors leading inside were 178 00:12:21,160 --> 00:12:24,720 Speaker 1: of course still closed and would be until the appointed time. 179 00:12:25,800 --> 00:12:29,040 Speaker 1: Jony looked at her watch, five point thirty one hour 180 00:12:29,080 --> 00:12:30,800 Speaker 1: ago before they could get out of the cold and 181 00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:34,480 Speaker 1: receive that dose of maximum rock and roll. With Jeane 182 00:12:34,520 --> 00:12:37,160 Speaker 1: by her side, she claimed a spot among the rest 183 00:12:37,200 --> 00:12:40,480 Speaker 1: of the fans, and they huddled their bodies together for warmth, 184 00:12:41,120 --> 00:12:47,840 Speaker 1: And then they waited inside the coliseum. Pete Townsend was 185 00:12:47,840 --> 00:12:51,360 Speaker 1: getting in tune. He had his trademark Marshall's Stack assembled, 186 00:12:51,679 --> 00:12:54,559 Speaker 1: one speaker cab on top of the other, a configuration 187 00:12:54,640 --> 00:12:57,880 Speaker 1: that Jim Marshall himself, the man the Marshall Stack is 188 00:12:57,960 --> 00:13:01,240 Speaker 1: named for, once told Pete not to do because one 189 00:13:01,280 --> 00:13:03,560 Speaker 1: of those giant ass speakers could topple over and kill 190 00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:09,319 Speaker 1: somebody good. That meant it was dangerous, not to mention necessary, 191 00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:12,400 Speaker 1: because every time Pete added some extra water to his rig, 192 00:13:12,840 --> 00:13:15,480 Speaker 1: John Entwhistle did one better on his side of the street, 193 00:13:16,160 --> 00:13:19,520 Speaker 1: Fucking ent Whistle, always trying to drown out Pete with 194 00:13:19,559 --> 00:13:22,640 Speaker 1: his base. This is the real reason why the Who 195 00:13:22,679 --> 00:13:25,920 Speaker 1: were so damn loud. Two sparring egos on either side 196 00:13:25,960 --> 00:13:28,440 Speaker 1: of the stage, each unwilling to let the other have 197 00:13:28,559 --> 00:13:33,719 Speaker 1: more juice. The Who's manager, Bill Kurvishly, meanwhile, tried to 198 00:13:33,760 --> 00:13:37,120 Speaker 1: remain egoless and matter of fact as he surveyed the scene. 199 00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:40,600 Speaker 1: His band was about to perform the most anticipated show 200 00:13:40,640 --> 00:13:43,840 Speaker 1: of the year in Cincinnati. It had sold out an 201 00:13:43,920 --> 00:13:47,560 Speaker 1: under an hour, close to fifteen thousand festival seating tickets 202 00:13:47,559 --> 00:13:49,960 Speaker 1: on the floor at ten bucks a pop, and another 203 00:13:50,000 --> 00:13:52,320 Speaker 1: thirty five hundred or so at eleven bucks each for 204 00:13:52,440 --> 00:13:57,400 Speaker 1: low seating up above. Bill Curvishly made the rounds. He 205 00:13:57,480 --> 00:14:00,439 Speaker 1: walked through the mostly empty coliseum and imagined it through 206 00:14:00,440 --> 00:14:05,280 Speaker 1: the rafters. He passed the vendors prepping Budweisers and orange Julius. 207 00:14:05,960 --> 00:14:09,520 Speaker 1: The guards stationed at ramp entrances leading into the venue 208 00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:12,280 Speaker 1: and the off duty cops collecting time and a half. 209 00:14:13,240 --> 00:14:15,319 Speaker 1: And one of those cops passed Bill on his way 210 00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:17,839 Speaker 1: from taking a piss in the men's bathroom, heading back 211 00:14:17,880 --> 00:14:20,720 Speaker 1: outside to worry. He was one of twenty five officers 212 00:14:20,760 --> 00:14:25,720 Speaker 1: overseeing what was now a crowd of approximately eight thousand. Again, 213 00:14:26,400 --> 00:14:32,480 Speaker 1: twenty five cops for eight thousand kids. It was now 214 00:14:32,920 --> 00:14:36,800 Speaker 1: long past six point thirty. All sixteen doors remained closed. 215 00:14:37,440 --> 00:14:40,360 Speaker 1: Joni and Jean were still huddled together, still trying to 216 00:14:40,400 --> 00:14:43,160 Speaker 1: stay warm. Now somewhere in the middle of the mob, 217 00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:47,200 Speaker 1: thousands of people in front and behind them, and people 218 00:14:47,200 --> 00:14:50,880 Speaker 1: were getting restless. They were cold, they were anxious, and 219 00:14:50,920 --> 00:14:52,960 Speaker 1: they were pissed off that the doors were supposed to 220 00:14:52,960 --> 00:14:55,640 Speaker 1: be opened by now. Some were screaming, let us in. 221 00:14:56,280 --> 00:14:59,320 Speaker 1: Others ran from outside the perimeter of bodies and catapulted 222 00:14:59,360 --> 00:15:02,840 Speaker 1: themselves into the middle. Amongst all this commotion and impatience, 223 00:15:03,240 --> 00:15:06,800 Speaker 1: the crowd began to shift on its own, not as 224 00:15:06,840 --> 00:15:11,600 Speaker 1: eight thousand separate individuals, but as one connected mass. Jony 225 00:15:11,640 --> 00:15:15,680 Speaker 1: felt herself getting pushed forward, and then suddenly, from inside 226 00:15:15,680 --> 00:15:20,680 Speaker 1: the coliseum, she hurting, They all hurting. The sound of 227 00:15:20,800 --> 00:15:25,040 Speaker 1: rock and roll. The sound of The Who. There was 228 00:15:25,080 --> 00:15:31,440 Speaker 1: no mistaking it. There are conflicting reports on what this 229 00:15:31,560 --> 00:15:35,000 Speaker 1: sound actually was, if it was The Who performing a 230 00:15:35,040 --> 00:15:37,680 Speaker 1: late sound check, or whether it was a test run 231 00:15:37,720 --> 00:15:40,320 Speaker 1: of footage from the new Quadraphenia movie, which was going 232 00:15:40,360 --> 00:15:42,720 Speaker 1: to be shown directly before The Who's performance in lieu 233 00:15:42,760 --> 00:15:47,000 Speaker 1: of an opening band. Whatever it was, it made the 234 00:15:47,080 --> 00:15:51,200 Speaker 1: eight thousand people in counting outside lose their minds because 235 00:15:51,440 --> 00:15:53,280 Speaker 1: they thought the show would be done and they were 236 00:15:53,280 --> 00:15:57,000 Speaker 1: missing out. They're starting, They're fucking starting, Let us in, 237 00:15:57,120 --> 00:16:02,480 Speaker 1: and what the fuck? The crowd surged forward. Jodi tried 238 00:16:02,520 --> 00:16:05,240 Speaker 1: to move, but there was no room nowhere to go. 239 00:16:05,840 --> 00:16:09,280 Speaker 1: She felt her feet lift off the ground, and up 240 00:16:09,280 --> 00:16:13,920 Speaker 1: ahead she could see two doors were open. Right? Was that? 241 00:16:13,960 --> 00:16:14,520 Speaker 1: What she saw? 242 00:16:15,280 --> 00:16:15,800 Speaker 2: Was that it? 243 00:16:16,480 --> 00:16:19,800 Speaker 1: The crowd surge brought her back down again, only this 244 00:16:19,920 --> 00:16:23,440 Speaker 1: time her feet weren't touching the plaza floor. Now her 245 00:16:23,440 --> 00:16:26,880 Speaker 1: feet were on someone's back and someone's chest, some poor 246 00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:29,800 Speaker 1: kid flat on the ground underneath her, wheezing for air. 247 00:16:30,360 --> 00:16:33,800 Speaker 1: The kids cries drowned out by thousands screaming and shouting, 248 00:16:33,800 --> 00:16:36,200 Speaker 1: and then, abruptly, like a bomb going off, the sound 249 00:16:36,200 --> 00:16:38,040 Speaker 1: of the plate glass windows of a dozen or so 250 00:16:38,200 --> 00:16:42,200 Speaker 1: locked doors up ahead, shattering Kids who just moments ago 251 00:16:42,320 --> 00:16:45,240 Speaker 1: were pressed up against those locked doors, their faces flattened 252 00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:49,040 Speaker 1: against the cold glass, were now being thrust inside through 253 00:16:49,080 --> 00:16:53,240 Speaker 1: the glass shards, their shoes, their coats, their shirts ripped 254 00:16:53,320 --> 00:16:55,520 Speaker 1: right off their bodies as they passed through the jagged, 255 00:16:55,600 --> 00:16:59,120 Speaker 1: narrow openings. For those lucky enough to be in front 256 00:16:59,120 --> 00:17:01,320 Speaker 1: of one of the only open there was a mad 257 00:17:01,440 --> 00:17:04,600 Speaker 1: dash to get through. You were only as fast as 258 00:17:04,600 --> 00:17:08,000 Speaker 1: the massive people that surrounded you, all shoving forward to 259 00:17:08,040 --> 00:17:12,399 Speaker 1: the same destination, the same doorway, the same turnstile, all 260 00:17:12,520 --> 00:17:17,199 Speaker 1: at once. Bodies squeezed tight against bodies, chest compress, and 261 00:17:17,240 --> 00:17:20,800 Speaker 1: that flow of oxygen was cut off, just like that. 262 00:17:22,640 --> 00:17:26,120 Speaker 1: Joni watched in horror as bodies began to be hoisted 263 00:17:26,119 --> 00:17:27,720 Speaker 1: into the air and passed to the back of the 264 00:17:27,720 --> 00:17:31,080 Speaker 1: crowd above her. Those bodies were limb passed out in 265 00:17:31,240 --> 00:17:35,520 Speaker 1: shock or worse. The mere sight sent Joni into shock. 266 00:17:35,720 --> 00:17:37,960 Speaker 1: She looked around for Gene and only now realized that 267 00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:41,800 Speaker 1: they've been separated. She screamed out Jean Jeane. She continued 268 00:17:41,840 --> 00:17:44,879 Speaker 1: to be pushed forward, unable to control her movement, getting 269 00:17:44,880 --> 00:17:47,440 Speaker 1: closer to one of the open doors. Nearly there, trying 270 00:17:47,440 --> 00:17:49,240 Speaker 1: to call out for her friend again, but finding she 271 00:17:49,280 --> 00:17:52,800 Speaker 1: could no longer breathe. The crush of bodies around her 272 00:17:52,840 --> 00:17:55,800 Speaker 1: pushed closer to the entrance. She struggled to break free 273 00:17:55,840 --> 00:17:59,600 Speaker 1: to get air into her lungs. No use she was 274 00:17:59,760 --> 00:18:03,000 Speaker 1: into from the door now, and then a massive wave 275 00:18:03,080 --> 00:18:06,880 Speaker 1: of momentum came from behind that Joni was helpless to resist. 276 00:18:07,280 --> 00:18:10,000 Speaker 1: Her body was thrown forward, wrestling her free from the 277 00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:15,640 Speaker 1: body surrounding her. Finally she could breathe again, and as 278 00:18:15,640 --> 00:18:18,600 Speaker 1: she catapulted toward the ground, she took a huge gulp 279 00:18:18,640 --> 00:18:22,639 Speaker 1: of air. Her body landed next to her, lying on 280 00:18:22,680 --> 00:18:26,960 Speaker 1: the plaza floor. A kid younger than her skin turned blue, 281 00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:32,160 Speaker 1: unconscious or dead, she couldn't tell which. She freaked. Feet 282 00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:35,200 Speaker 1: were raining down on top of her, now, a stampede 283 00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:39,080 Speaker 1: that kept coming and seemed to have no end. 284 00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:47,640 Speaker 3: We'll be right back after this. 285 00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:57,040 Speaker 1: We're we're, we're. Ken Blackwell, the newly elected mayor of Cincinnati, 286 00:18:57,400 --> 00:18:59,760 Speaker 1: just hours into his first day on the job, was 287 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:02,200 Speaker 1: only a telephone receiver up to his ear and looking 288 00:19:02,240 --> 00:19:05,120 Speaker 1: like he'd just been knocked into a stupor. He had 289 00:19:05,119 --> 00:19:08,040 Speaker 1: that look because just moments earlier, while in the middle 290 00:19:08,080 --> 00:19:09,920 Speaker 1: of dinner with the United States Speaker of the House 291 00:19:09,960 --> 00:19:13,879 Speaker 1: Tip O'Neil, Blackwell was being briefed on a tragedy unfolding 292 00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:18,359 Speaker 1: at the Riverfront Colisseum. And what the hell a tragedy? 293 00:19:18,760 --> 00:19:22,360 Speaker 1: What do you mean a tragedy fatalities? He was told. 294 00:19:23,119 --> 00:19:25,840 Speaker 1: The voices of Cincinnati police and fire on the other 295 00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:30,040 Speaker 1: end of the line were breathless. Mayor Blackwell was stunned. 296 00:19:30,640 --> 00:19:34,200 Speaker 1: How many fatalities are we talking about? The total number 297 00:19:34,520 --> 00:19:37,960 Speaker 1: was unknown, but they all seemed to be occurring outside 298 00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:41,639 Speaker 1: the Colisseum at the plaza level. The fire marshals suspected 299 00:19:41,920 --> 00:19:45,680 Speaker 1: mass overdosage. You know, kids today, mister Merriser, thinking they're 300 00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:47,920 Speaker 1: invincible and all that, thinking they can handle a puff 301 00:19:47,960 --> 00:19:50,000 Speaker 1: off this and a tab off that, and you also 302 00:19:50,040 --> 00:19:52,080 Speaker 1: can't roll out a batch of bad dope making its 303 00:19:52,080 --> 00:19:56,000 Speaker 1: way through the crowd like a silent killer. The fire marshal, 304 00:19:56,040 --> 00:19:59,119 Speaker 1: of course, was unaware, as everyone was at the moment, 305 00:19:59,160 --> 00:20:01,800 Speaker 1: that the real reason people were dying was not because 306 00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:05,320 Speaker 1: of a quote unquote mass overdosage, and also not because 307 00:20:05,320 --> 00:20:08,040 Speaker 1: they were being trampled, according to the long held theory, 308 00:20:08,280 --> 00:20:13,240 Speaker 1: but instead because they were squeezed together so tightly that 309 00:20:13,320 --> 00:20:18,880 Speaker 1: their lungs couldn't expand they were literally asphyxiated standing up 310 00:20:19,280 --> 00:20:25,760 Speaker 1: strangled by the people crushed alongside them. Still at the time, 311 00:20:26,240 --> 00:20:29,280 Speaker 1: at this moment, all that was known was that the 312 00:20:29,320 --> 00:20:32,399 Speaker 1: scene outside of the venue was chaotic and gruesome and 313 00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:36,240 Speaker 1: the show was about to start. So what do we do? 314 00:20:36,440 --> 00:20:39,480 Speaker 1: The mayor asked, and the fire marshal's opinion was to 315 00:20:39,520 --> 00:20:42,240 Speaker 1: shut the whole thing down before more kids died, and 316 00:20:42,280 --> 00:20:44,800 Speaker 1: the mayor scraunched up his face. He could feel the 317 00:20:44,880 --> 00:20:48,639 Speaker 1: tension headache coming on strong rip between his eyes. If 318 00:20:48,640 --> 00:20:51,000 Speaker 1: they shut it down now, now that the show had 319 00:20:51,080 --> 00:20:54,240 Speaker 1: started and all eighteen thousand people were on site, who's 320 00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:57,240 Speaker 1: to say that wouldn't create a more dangerous situation. What 321 00:20:57,359 --> 00:20:59,560 Speaker 1: if it turned out like the Zeppelin show from last year, 322 00:20:59,560 --> 00:21:02,320 Speaker 1: but even worse. And let's not forget the people were 323 00:21:02,400 --> 00:21:05,840 Speaker 1: dying not inside the venue of private space, but outside 324 00:21:05,920 --> 00:21:09,280 Speaker 1: on the plaza, which is public property. Did they even 325 00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:13,040 Speaker 1: have the legal authority to stop it? With that, Mayor 326 00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:16,320 Speaker 1: Blackwell made his first major decision as Cincinnati's new mayor 327 00:21:16,840 --> 00:21:20,520 Speaker 1: on day one. No less, the show would go on. 328 00:21:24,600 --> 00:21:28,480 Speaker 1: Joni was stumbling around in a daze, she took stock 329 00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:32,119 Speaker 1: of her surroundings. Somehow she made it inside the coliseum. 330 00:21:32,680 --> 00:21:35,560 Speaker 1: She had no idea how she'd done it, how she'd 331 00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:39,080 Speaker 1: managed to get off the ground, avoid being trampled to death, 332 00:21:39,400 --> 00:21:43,480 Speaker 1: avoid being asphyxiated to death. But however she managed it 333 00:21:43,600 --> 00:21:45,280 Speaker 1: felt like she had gone through a war zone to 334 00:21:45,280 --> 00:21:49,280 Speaker 1: get here. To her left, she saw piles of shoes 335 00:21:49,320 --> 00:21:53,560 Speaker 1: and clothes, sacrificial offerings stripped off the feet and backs, 336 00:21:53,920 --> 00:21:56,600 Speaker 1: with those who had only minutes earlier clawed their way in. 337 00:21:57,560 --> 00:22:01,320 Speaker 1: To her right, people scrambled past, no doubt, making a 338 00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:03,080 Speaker 1: mad dash to the pit down in front of the 339 00:22:03,119 --> 00:22:07,439 Speaker 1: stage and behind her. Outside in the plaza, red and 340 00:22:07,480 --> 00:22:13,600 Speaker 1: blue lights swirled hypnotically, police cars, ambulances, news crews. They 341 00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:16,720 Speaker 1: were all descending on the disaster unfolding in the freezing night. 342 00:22:17,480 --> 00:22:20,560 Speaker 1: There were bodies scattered across the cold ground. Some were 343 00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:23,640 Speaker 1: already dead and covered with blankets, while others were being 344 00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:28,040 Speaker 1: revived by overwhelmed EMTs, not sure where to direct their efforts, 345 00:22:29,359 --> 00:22:34,119 Speaker 1: and what about Gene, Where the hell was Jane? Joni 346 00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:37,240 Speaker 1: frantically looked for her friend as she made her way inside, 347 00:22:37,320 --> 00:22:40,080 Speaker 1: the calls see him into the main hall, where the 348 00:22:40,119 --> 00:22:44,280 Speaker 1: stage was set with the Who's Marshall stacks. At the moment, 349 00:22:44,600 --> 00:22:47,040 Speaker 1: a giant screen was hanging from the rafters, and on 350 00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:50,359 Speaker 1: that screen, scenes from the newly released Quadrophenia movie were 351 00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:56,120 Speaker 1: being played. Quadrophenia was the Who's second rock opera, following 352 00:22:56,119 --> 00:22:59,639 Speaker 1: the group's groundbreaking Tommy. Originally released as a double album 353 00:22:59,680 --> 00:23:02,959 Speaker 1: in nighteen seventy three, it told the story of the 354 00:23:02,960 --> 00:23:05,880 Speaker 1: Mods and the Rockers battling it out in London and Brighton. 355 00:23:06,720 --> 00:23:09,080 Speaker 1: It's a world from which the Who were born, one 356 00:23:09,119 --> 00:23:12,840 Speaker 1: which now represented their old legacy, their past life, one 357 00:23:12,840 --> 00:23:15,360 Speaker 1: in which Keith Moon sat on their drum riser and 358 00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:19,280 Speaker 1: not Kenny Jones. But the crowd of thousands looking up 359 00:23:19,320 --> 00:23:23,399 Speaker 1: at the screen weren't thinking about legacy right now. They 360 00:23:23,440 --> 00:23:26,520 Speaker 1: were watching a bloody scene unfold, a scene in which 361 00:23:26,560 --> 00:23:29,159 Speaker 1: the Mods and the Rockers brutally attack each other on 362 00:23:29,200 --> 00:23:33,920 Speaker 1: Brighton Beach. The violence, the blood, the chaos. It was 363 00:23:33,960 --> 00:23:36,320 Speaker 1: as if what had just transpired outside was now being 364 00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:40,240 Speaker 1: rerun on the screen, art imitating life, or the other 365 00:23:40,280 --> 00:23:42,600 Speaker 1: way around. For those who had just gone through a 366 00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:45,800 Speaker 1: harrowing near death experience simply to gain entrance now felt 367 00:23:45,840 --> 00:23:48,840 Speaker 1: like they were being shown that whole ordeal all over again. 368 00:23:51,080 --> 00:23:53,639 Speaker 1: Joni wasn't looking at the screen, she was looking for 369 00:23:53,680 --> 00:23:56,080 Speaker 1: her friend, and she was still looking when the house 370 00:23:56,160 --> 00:23:59,280 Speaker 1: lights went down and the Who had long last appeared, 371 00:24:00,200 --> 00:24:03,440 Speaker 1: Roger Daltrey with his blonde hair cut short, a bearded 372 00:24:03,440 --> 00:24:07,680 Speaker 1: Pete Townsend, John Entwhistle, the Ox locking into a groove 373 00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:10,480 Speaker 1: with Kenny Jones still trying to prove he was worthy 374 00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:14,480 Speaker 1: of Keith Moon's vacant scene, all four of them completely 375 00:24:14,560 --> 00:24:17,840 Speaker 1: unaware of what had just happened, as were many of 376 00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:21,320 Speaker 1: the thousands in the audience. Listening to the audio from 377 00:24:21,320 --> 00:24:23,960 Speaker 1: the show, it sounds like just another Who show, a 378 00:24:24,080 --> 00:24:27,520 Speaker 1: killer performance for a pumped up crowd. Of course, we 379 00:24:27,640 --> 00:24:29,879 Speaker 1: now know that there were some in the audience at 380 00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:32,880 Speaker 1: night who sat on the sidelines, traumatized by the stampede, 381 00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:36,040 Speaker 1: stunned and dazed, letting the music wash over them like 382 00:24:36,080 --> 00:24:39,800 Speaker 1: the cold waves crashing on Brighton Beach. They didn't even applaud. 383 00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:42,160 Speaker 1: All they could think about were the bodies they'd seen 384 00:24:42,200 --> 00:24:45,240 Speaker 1: on the ground on the plaza, faces gone blue, eyes 385 00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:48,119 Speaker 1: glazed over. All there was left to do now is 386 00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:51,200 Speaker 1: not to enjoy the show, but simply survive it count 387 00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:55,520 Speaker 1: down the minute, song after song, who are You? Pinball Wizard, 388 00:24:55,800 --> 00:24:58,720 Speaker 1: Aunt Whistle, taking the reins for my wife, until the 389 00:24:58,760 --> 00:25:03,240 Speaker 1: show Merciful we came to an end. And when it 390 00:25:03,280 --> 00:25:05,920 Speaker 1: did finally end, thank fucking god. It was time to 391 00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:09,280 Speaker 1: get the hell out. And Joni watched as thousands of 392 00:25:09,280 --> 00:25:12,000 Speaker 1: people began moving toward the exit, and she was back 393 00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:14,120 Speaker 1: to the beginning, back to a few hours ago, when 394 00:25:14,119 --> 00:25:17,560 Speaker 1: the masses had been streaming in the opposite direction. Freedom 395 00:25:17,640 --> 00:25:20,199 Speaker 1: was just a few footsteps away. She could see it 396 00:25:20,280 --> 00:25:23,640 Speaker 1: there through the shattered plate glass doors, past the piles 397 00:25:23,640 --> 00:25:26,920 Speaker 1: of clothes and shoes, the bodies covered in blankets, the 398 00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:31,080 Speaker 1: pulse of ambulance lights. Then she felt hands grabbed her shoulders. 399 00:25:31,359 --> 00:25:35,439 Speaker 1: She spun around and it was Gene. Holy shit, it 400 00:25:35,480 --> 00:25:39,200 Speaker 1: was Gene. It was all too much for both of them. 401 00:25:39,720 --> 00:25:43,720 Speaker 1: The tears came, tears of relief, of confusion, of fear, 402 00:25:44,359 --> 00:25:46,560 Speaker 1: tears that you shed when you realize that not everyone 403 00:25:46,600 --> 00:25:48,640 Speaker 1: in a crowd of eighteen thousand had lived to see 404 00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:57,359 Speaker 1: what you had just saw. Backstage, there were no tears, 405 00:25:57,440 --> 00:26:02,159 Speaker 1: just celebratory drinks. In that post show you Pete, Roger, 406 00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:06,520 Speaker 1: John and Kenny were high on rock and roll, still 407 00:26:06,680 --> 00:26:09,560 Speaker 1: blissfully unaware of the tragedy that had occurred just beyond 408 00:26:09,600 --> 00:26:11,600 Speaker 1: the doors of the venue they were currently sitting in. 409 00:26:12,560 --> 00:26:15,919 Speaker 1: And this is because their manager, Bill Kurbishly have purposefully 410 00:26:16,040 --> 00:26:17,879 Speaker 1: kept them in the dark so that they could finish 411 00:26:17,920 --> 00:26:20,760 Speaker 1: the show as if it were any other night. The 412 00:26:20,840 --> 00:26:24,560 Speaker 1: alternative wasn't pretty, stopping the show and risking a riot 413 00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:27,560 Speaker 1: and more deaths. But now it was time to bring 414 00:26:27,640 --> 00:26:29,959 Speaker 1: the boys back down to earth, and the high they 415 00:26:29,960 --> 00:26:31,919 Speaker 1: were riding on was about to come to a sudden, 416 00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:35,800 Speaker 1: sobering end. Bill Kervishly had that look on his face, 417 00:26:36,400 --> 00:26:39,600 Speaker 1: but look he only expressed when things were unspeakably grim. 418 00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:44,119 Speaker 1: Gather on voice, he said, something terrible happened out there tonight. 419 00:26:45,560 --> 00:26:48,560 Speaker 1: Pete Townsend's ears throbbed with the noise from that night's 420 00:26:48,560 --> 00:26:52,000 Speaker 1: show and every night show from the last fifteen odd years. 421 00:26:53,119 --> 00:26:55,040 Speaker 1: This is one of those moments when he wished, is 422 00:26:55,119 --> 00:26:57,960 Speaker 1: tonight this was so bad that he was actually deaf, 423 00:26:58,800 --> 00:27:00,800 Speaker 1: because then he wouldn't have to hear what Bill had 424 00:27:00,800 --> 00:27:30,400 Speaker 1: to say. Next. Eleven People were Dead Blow Slower December 425 00:27:30,680 --> 00:27:34,560 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty one, New York City. Pete Townsend was going 426 00:27:34,600 --> 00:27:38,080 Speaker 1: on our twelve half a day spent sitting on a 427 00:27:38,160 --> 00:27:41,680 Speaker 1: radio old couch and a drug den. Some Wall Street 428 00:27:41,720 --> 00:27:44,000 Speaker 1: traders sitting in his right sparked a lighter and held 429 00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:48,000 Speaker 1: into a slab of tinfoil. Pete moved in, piped between 430 00:27:48,040 --> 00:27:52,119 Speaker 1: his lips and took a hit. His lungs burned and 431 00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:54,760 Speaker 1: his eyes teared up, and then the space between his 432 00:27:54,840 --> 00:27:58,359 Speaker 1: ears went numb. The ringing, the ghost of Keith Moon, 433 00:27:58,440 --> 00:28:02,800 Speaker 1: It all just went away, and Pete Townsend was transported 434 00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:09,800 Speaker 1: Freebasing cocaine was Pete Townsend's ticket to a fantasy land. 435 00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:12,400 Speaker 1: And I don't mean a couch in a drug den 436 00:28:12,560 --> 00:28:15,000 Speaker 1: somewhere in New York City, which was, in its own 437 00:28:15,080 --> 00:28:18,400 Speaker 1: unique way, the very definition of a fantasy land. I'm 438 00:28:18,440 --> 00:28:20,960 Speaker 1: talking about the one inside of his head, the one 439 00:28:20,960 --> 00:28:23,800 Speaker 1: where he wasn't an alcoholic, or wasn't over a million 440 00:28:23,840 --> 00:28:27,080 Speaker 1: dollars in debt from mismanaged funds, or wasn't trying to 441 00:28:27,160 --> 00:28:30,240 Speaker 1: navigate a girlfriend on the side while his wife understandably 442 00:28:30,280 --> 00:28:32,600 Speaker 1: fumed at home, or that it didn't feel like his 443 00:28:32,720 --> 00:28:36,959 Speaker 1: band was about to implode at any moment. At this moment, however, 444 00:28:37,760 --> 00:28:40,960 Speaker 1: Pete was on a self imposed break from the Who Won, 445 00:28:41,080 --> 00:28:45,440 Speaker 1: during which the band's manager, Bill kurviishly strongly advised Pete 446 00:28:45,480 --> 00:28:49,560 Speaker 1: against drinking and drugging. But if the work was on hold, 447 00:28:50,080 --> 00:28:52,920 Speaker 1: the work being the thing that got Pete through the hardship, 448 00:28:53,120 --> 00:28:56,120 Speaker 1: the work being the thing that made everything okay, something 449 00:28:56,160 --> 00:28:58,480 Speaker 1: else had to fill the void, and Pete towns End, 450 00:28:58,480 --> 00:29:01,960 Speaker 1: sure shit wasn't going to take up golf, hitting a 451 00:29:01,960 --> 00:29:04,120 Speaker 1: ball into a hole, wasn't going to push something like 452 00:29:04,200 --> 00:29:08,320 Speaker 1: Cincinnati down deep into the recesses of his mind. You 453 00:29:08,440 --> 00:29:11,760 Speaker 1: needed the hard stuff for that. To not think about 454 00:29:11,760 --> 00:29:14,360 Speaker 1: the eleven kids who died that night just two years ago, 455 00:29:14,440 --> 00:29:17,160 Speaker 1: and they were just kids, really, with the exception of 456 00:29:17,200 --> 00:29:19,120 Speaker 1: one twenty seven year old, all of them between the 457 00:29:19,120 --> 00:29:22,440 Speaker 1: ages of fifteen and twenty one. To not think about 458 00:29:22,520 --> 00:29:25,360 Speaker 1: questions like why weren't more doors open for a crowd 459 00:29:25,400 --> 00:29:29,080 Speaker 1: of eighteen thousand people, Or did the anxiety over festival 460 00:29:29,160 --> 00:29:32,400 Speaker 1: seating or the potential it presented for overselling the show 461 00:29:32,560 --> 00:29:36,000 Speaker 1: contribute to the tragedy, or who exactly was to blame 462 00:29:36,440 --> 00:29:42,200 Speaker 1: the venue, the promoter, the city, the WHO. Relatives of 463 00:29:42,240 --> 00:29:45,400 Speaker 1: the dead sued all of the above, and just months 464 00:29:45,440 --> 00:29:49,040 Speaker 1: after the show, a settlement was nearly reached, but then 465 00:29:49,160 --> 00:29:51,360 Speaker 1: Pete shot his mouth off in an interview in Rolling 466 00:29:51,360 --> 00:29:54,920 Speaker 1: Stone magazine in which he said of the Cincinnati aftermath, quote, 467 00:29:55,280 --> 00:29:57,880 Speaker 1: our guard dropped just for a second, and then it 468 00:29:57,920 --> 00:29:59,760 Speaker 1: was back up again. It was We're not going to 469 00:29:59,800 --> 00:30:03,240 Speaker 1: live a little thing like this, stop us unquote, the 470 00:30:03,360 --> 00:30:07,600 Speaker 1: little thing being the deaths of eleven people. Again, it 471 00:30:07,640 --> 00:30:10,680 Speaker 1: was the same logic Pete used when Keith died, allowing 472 00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:14,160 Speaker 1: a tragic event to galvanize you, not hold you back. 473 00:30:14,680 --> 00:30:16,960 Speaker 1: And yeah, that's kind of fucked up, But that's how 474 00:30:17,040 --> 00:30:21,880 Speaker 1: Pete saw it, not that he was seen clearly at all. Cocaine, heroin, 475 00:30:22,160 --> 00:30:25,880 Speaker 1: prescription drugs and alcohol had him fully checked out from 476 00:30:25,920 --> 00:30:30,120 Speaker 1: dealing with anything real. He knew living like this was unsustainable. 477 00:30:30,640 --> 00:30:33,120 Speaker 1: Hope I die before I get old and all that 478 00:30:33,160 --> 00:30:35,880 Speaker 1: were the musings of a twenty year old. Pete was 479 00:30:35,880 --> 00:30:38,880 Speaker 1: in his mid thirties. Now, He'd seen death up close, 480 00:30:39,400 --> 00:30:41,000 Speaker 1: and he wanted to be on the other side of that. 481 00:30:44,040 --> 00:30:46,719 Speaker 1: In nineteen eighty two, Pete checked himself into an electro 482 00:30:46,800 --> 00:30:50,240 Speaker 1: acupuncture clinic in San Diego and got clean, at least 483 00:30:50,320 --> 00:30:53,880 Speaker 1: for the first time. Months later, Who released their tenth 484 00:30:53,920 --> 00:30:58,840 Speaker 1: studio album It's Hard, featuring the single Eminence Front, which 485 00:30:58,880 --> 00:31:01,320 Speaker 1: was all about the drug induced facade Pete had been 486 00:31:01,360 --> 00:31:05,160 Speaker 1: putting up for years, and then Pete put up the money. 487 00:31:05,720 --> 00:31:08,600 Speaker 1: In nineteen eighty three, the majority of the lawsuits stemming 488 00:31:08,600 --> 00:31:11,960 Speaker 1: from the Cincinnati concert tragedy were settled two point one 489 00:31:12,040 --> 00:31:15,440 Speaker 1: million dollars in total, that's about six point eight million today. 490 00:31:16,600 --> 00:31:18,880 Speaker 1: The families of the victims received about one hundred and 491 00:31:18,880 --> 00:31:21,720 Speaker 1: fifty thousand dollars each, which left seven hundred and fifty 492 00:31:21,720 --> 00:31:24,200 Speaker 1: thousand dollars to be split between twenty three others who 493 00:31:24,240 --> 00:31:27,840 Speaker 1: had been badly injured. Only nine of the eleven victims 494 00:31:27,880 --> 00:31:31,440 Speaker 1: were represented in the settlement. One family chose not to sue, 495 00:31:31,720 --> 00:31:34,840 Speaker 1: and another often not to settle, instead seeking a court 496 00:31:34,840 --> 00:31:37,920 Speaker 1: trial and over eight million dollars in damages, and they 497 00:31:37,960 --> 00:31:41,600 Speaker 1: later settled for an undisclosed amount. But when it came 498 00:31:41,640 --> 00:31:44,959 Speaker 1: to facing what happened in Cincinnati to really dealing with it, 499 00:31:45,560 --> 00:31:48,880 Speaker 1: that took much longer for Pete forty years to be exact. 500 00:31:50,680 --> 00:31:53,240 Speaker 1: It was twenty twenty two when Pete Townsend and Who 501 00:31:53,240 --> 00:31:55,520 Speaker 1: returned to the city for the first time since nineteen 502 00:31:55,600 --> 00:31:59,920 Speaker 1: seventy nine. Things were different by then Kenny Jones was out, 503 00:32:00,440 --> 00:32:03,720 Speaker 1: John Entwhistle was dead, Pete and Roger weren't as loud 504 00:32:03,800 --> 00:32:06,200 Speaker 1: or as dangerous as they once were, but they could 505 00:32:06,240 --> 00:32:09,920 Speaker 1: still use music to celebrate energy and losing yourself and 506 00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:13,360 Speaker 1: getting high, while at the same time rejecting once and 507 00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:16,560 Speaker 1: for all the notion of rock and roll as nothing 508 00:32:16,600 --> 00:32:24,800 Speaker 1: but a tragic disgrace. I'm Jake Brennan, and this his disgrace. 509 00:32:37,280 --> 00:32:40,040 Speaker 3: Alrighty, then, thanks for hanging with me and the Who 510 00:32:40,080 --> 00:32:42,800 Speaker 3: in this episode. Apple podcast listeners, make sure you have 511 00:32:42,840 --> 00:32:45,560 Speaker 3: auto downloads turned on so you never miss any downloads. Guys, 512 00:32:45,840 --> 00:32:49,120 Speaker 3: this week's question of the week is was the Riverfront 513 00:32:49,160 --> 00:32:53,000 Speaker 3: Coliseum of Tragedy the worst tragedy in rock and roll history? 514 00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:55,320 Speaker 3: There are plenty of others to choose from, and we've 515 00:32:55,360 --> 00:32:57,920 Speaker 3: covered a bunch on this podcast. Let me know six 516 00:32:57,960 --> 00:33:00,240 Speaker 3: one seven nine oh six six six three eight, Leave 517 00:33:00,240 --> 00:33:02,200 Speaker 3: me a voicemail semi a text with your answer, and 518 00:33:02,240 --> 00:33:04,960 Speaker 3: you might hear yourself on the Afterparty bonus episode coming 519 00:33:05,040 --> 00:33:07,360 Speaker 3: up right after this. Leave a review for Disgraceland on 520 00:33:07,400 --> 00:33:09,800 Speaker 3: Apple Podcasts or Spotify and win some free merch. 521 00:33:10,080 --> 00:33:13,040 Speaker 1: Alrighty, I got to return some videotapes. Here comes some credits. 522 00:33:13,880 --> 00:33:17,840 Speaker 4: Disgracelam was created by Yours Truly and is produced in partnership. 523 00:33:17,320 --> 00:33:18,400 Speaker 1: With Double Elvis. 524 00:33:18,600 --> 00:33:20,880 Speaker 4: Credits for this episode can be found on the show 525 00:33:20,920 --> 00:33:24,640 Speaker 4: notes page at disgracelampod dot com. If you're listening as 526 00:33:24,680 --> 00:33:27,160 Speaker 4: a disgracelan All Access member, thank. 527 00:33:26,960 --> 00:33:28,040 Speaker 1: You for supporting the show. 528 00:33:28,080 --> 00:33:30,800 Speaker 4: We really appreciate it, and if not, you can become 529 00:33:30,840 --> 00:33:34,200 Speaker 4: a member right now by going to disgracelampod dot com 530 00:33:34,240 --> 00:33:38,480 Speaker 4: slash Membership. Members can listen to every episode of disgracelan 531 00:33:38,720 --> 00:33:42,600 Speaker 4: ad free, Plus you'll get one brand new exclusive episode 532 00:33:42,680 --> 00:33:46,880 Speaker 4: every month, weekly unscripted bonus episodes, special audio collections, and 533 00:33:46,960 --> 00:33:51,800 Speaker 4: early access to merchandise and events. Visit disgracelampod dot com 534 00:33:51,800 --> 00:33:53,480 Speaker 4: slash Membership. 535 00:33:52,920 --> 00:33:54,760 Speaker 1: For details, Rate and review the. 536 00:33:54,680 --> 00:33:57,640 Speaker 4: Show, and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook 537 00:33:57,680 --> 00:34:01,600 Speaker 4: at disgracelampod and on YouTube at YouTube dot com slash 538 00:34:01,680 --> 00:34:06,320 Speaker 4: at disgraceland Pod rock a Rolla. 539 00:34:08,880 --> 00:34:10,479 Speaker 1: He's a bad, bad man.