In 2011, an expanded deluxe edition of '
Quadrophenia' was released. This version contained all the tracks from the original album, plus an additional 11 demo tracks that Pete had prepare for the recording. These songs, recorded at his home studio, featured Pete playing all the instruments. They would then be presented to the other members of the band, where John and Keith would take the basic outlines and add their touches to the bass and drums:
'
The Real Me'
'
Cut My Hair'
'
Punk'
'
Dirty Jobs'
'
Is It In My Head'
'
Anymore' - This was demoed for the album, but ultimately left off
'
I've Had Enough'
'
Drowned'
'
Is It Me?
'
Doctor Jimmy'
'
Love Reign O'er Me
As noted, the 'Quadrophenia' tour was a bit of a disaster. To achieve the rich overdubbed sound of the album on stage, Pete wanted Chris Stainton, who had played piano on some tracks on the record, to join as a touring member, but Roger objected to this and thought that the their performances should only feature the the four members of the band. As already mentioned, to obtain the required instrumentation without additional musicians, the group elected to use taped backing tracks for live performance, as they had already done without incident for 'Baba O'Riley' and 'Won't Get Fooled Again'. Initial performances were plagued by malfunctioning equipment, and once the tapes were started, the band had to play to them, which constrained their styles. Keith had to use a click track to play along, instead of watching the rest of the band as he usually did
In addition to that, the band were only given two days of rehearsals with the tapes before thew tour started, and one of those days was abandoned after Roger punched Pete following an argument!
The tour started at the Trentham Gardens in Stoke, England on October 28th, 1973 where the 17 songs featured on 'Quadrophenia' were played in their entirety. The full set list for the concert was:
I Can't Explain / Summertime Blues / My Generation / Quadrophenia [I Am the Sea / The Real Me / The Punk and the Godfather / I'm One / The Dirty Jobs / Helpless Dancer / Is It in My Head? / I've Had Enough / 5:15 / Sea and Sand / Drowned / Bell Boy / Doctor Jimmy / The Rock / Love, Reign O'er Me] / My Generation / Pinball Wizard / See Me, Feel Me / Won't Get Fooled Again / Naked Eye
After this first gig, the band immediately dropped 'The Dirty Jobs', 'Is It In My Head' and 'I've Had Enough' from the set. Both Roger and Pete felt they had to explain the plot in detail to the audience, which took up valuable time on stage and, more importantly, disrupted the flow of the concert. By the time the tour finished, four months later on February 24th, 1974 at the Palais des Sports in Lyon, France, the 'Quadrophenia' segment had been reduced to just nine tracks. The full setlist at the final concert was:
I Can't Explain / Summertime Blues / My Wife / My Generation / Quadrophenia [The Real Me / The Punk and the Godfather / I'm One / 5:15 / Sea and Sand / Bell Boy / Drowned / Doctor Jimmy / Love, Reign O'er Me] / Won't Get Fooled Again / Pinball Wizard / See Me, Feel Me
The band faced other problems as well. The opening night of the US leg of the tour was on November 20th, 1973 [
47 years ago today] at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. The group, especially Keith, were nervous about playing 'Quadrophenia' after the problems that had been faced on the British dates, and just before the show, the drummer was offered some tranquillisers from a fan
Just after the show started, the fan collapsed and was hospitalised!
Keith's playing, meanwhile, became incredibly erratic and sloppy, particularly during the 'Quadrophenia' material, where he did not seem to be able to keep time with the backing tapes. Towards the end of the main segment of the show, during 'Won't Get Fooled Again', he passed out over his drumkit. The comatose drummer was carried offstage by the band’s roadies, who gave him a cold shower and/or an injection of cortisone
After a 20-minute wait, Keith reappeared onstage, but after a few bars of the first encore, 'Magic Bus', he collapsed again, and was immediately taken to hospital. The band played 'See Me, Feel Me' without drums - with Roger providing a rhythm on a tambourine
That's when Pete walked up to his microphone and spoke to the crowd: '
Can anybody play the drums?' he asked. '
We mean somebody good.'
19 year old Scot Halpin was in the audience for the show. He had just moved to the area, and had brought a ticket from a scalper outside the venue. He was standing near the stage with his friend, Mike Danese, who began noisily telling the security staff, 'He can play!'
Next thing he knew, Halpin was given a shot of brandy for his nerves before being seated behind probably the biggest drum kit he had ever seen! He then completed the final encores of the set with John leading him in what to play
Keith had a day to recover, and by the next show at the Los Angeles Forum, was playing at his usual strength
For the record, the setlist for the Cow Palace show was:
I Can't Explain / Summertime Blues / My Generation / Quadrophenia [I Am the Sea / The Real Me / The Punk and the Godfather / I'm One / Helpless Dancer / 5:15 / Sea and Sand / Drowned / Bell Boy / Doctor Jimmy / Love, Reign O'er Me] / Won't Get Fooled Again (Moon passed out) / Magic Bus (Moon passed out again) / See Me, Feel Me (No drums) / Smokestack Lightning (Scot Halpin on drums) / Spoonful (Scot Halpin on drums) / Naked Eye (Scot Halpin on drums)