The Who – Warwick/Lanchester Polytechnic 1970

 

The Who – Warwick / Lanchester Polytechnic 1970

It was due to have been the biggest night in Warwick University arts history. It could have been the most notorious concert in Warwick's then short history.

On the 14th November 1970 The Who were due to play Rootes Hall on the campus. After some complex negotiations the venue has been agreed, subject to confirmation from the manager of The Who. Sadly, in the end it all fell through.

Originally, the concert had been planned for the workroom. The Who's management had agreed to the dimensions quoted. But days later a call was received to say that the group's stage act was impossible in a room less than 30 feet high - the workroom head height was just 13 feet.

A new venue was required. It was then planned for the glass doors of the Airport Lounge to have been removed to create one vast open space within Rootes Hall. A kind of theatre in the round if you like. In that way it should be possible to fit 1300 people in for the concert.

The Who's contract was described as a 'most unusual document' made provision for such extras as a security man for each musician, and drinks for the group - one of whom insisted on Napoleon Brandy.

In total the Warwick Union would have had to have to met the cost of 26 security staff plus the drink. Additionally they would have to foot the bill for any damage caused, as well as a fee of £1150 for the show, which included the supporting group.

All this would have made the concert the biggest, the best and the most expensive ever undertaken at Warwick. But it still hung in the balance.

The same tour saw The Who due to play the Lanch later the same month on 28 November. During the negotiations, and trying to protect their interest, the Lanch's social secretary wanted to get an exclusion clause written into their contract preventing The Who from appearing anywhere within a 40 mile radius around Coventry for a month before and a month after their appearance at the Lanchester. Basically they didn't want punters spending their cash at Warwick and not having enough left for their gig.

By then 960 tickets, out of the total of 1300, had already been sold for the Warwick gig. When the full number of tickets had been sold, there was also the possibility of another 100 being printed.

A week or so before the scheduled date it was announced that The Who would definitely not be playing at Rootes Hall. The deal was off, unless yet another new venue could be found. The tickets had already been printed and most of them sold at £1 a time. But it wasn't to be and attendees were offered a full refund.

The Who's concert at Lanchester on November 28 also hung in the balance. Similarly it was threatened by the stringency of the contract.

Although the Lanch had a suitable hall, with a suitable stage, facilities needed to be provided for the special lighting effects, safety fences and a reinforced stage which was necessary to support the antics of the group as well as the weight of equipment.

As the Who had appeared at the Lanchester previously the union was confident that all the problems should be ironed out and the concert should take place.

And so it did with a set almost identical to the classic Live at Leeds album released earlier in the year.

More on the Lanch Poly Gig 1970 with the Who here https://coventrygigs.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-lanch-lanchester-polytechnic-gigs.html