The Who, ‘Live At Shea Stadium 1982’ Blu-ray review

The Who have proven that they can perform with just two of their original members, but that was in question in the early 1980s after drummer Keith Moon died in 1979. Would The Who go the way of Led Zeppelin, who stopped recording after their drummer died? Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey and John Entwhistle decided to keep moving on, recording two albums in 1981 and 1982 with The Faces/Small Faces drummer Kenney Jones.

That second album was 1982’s It’s Hard, which the group toured in support of later that year. It was going to be their farewell tour, coming to a climax at Shea Stadium in October. They performed two shows at Shea and the second - on Oct. 13, 1982 - is the source for Eagle Rock’s Live At Shea Stadium 1982 Blu-ray. The disc was released on June 30.

Like The Rolling Stones’ The Marquee Club Live, this release is one of Eagle Rock’s SD Blu-Rays. That means that the video is in standard definition, but the audio is still up to the standards of the hi-def format. The video can be practically ignored, as it often looks like it was filmed on video (as it probably was). There’s some slow-motion and light tricks throughout, but mostly, the camera is just capturing the performance without getting too creative.

As for the performance itself, this isn’t exactly prime Who. The four songs from It’s Hard are performed with little excitement and even some of the classics seemed rushed (“Behind Blue Eyes” was particularly short). Townsend looks particularly bored and plays like it, but Daltrey helps get him excited as the show goes on. The guitarist seems to be having the most fun during the encore, when they rip through “Young Man Blues,” “I Saw Her Standing There,” “Summertime Blues,” and “Twist and Shout.”

Another highlight of the show is the Quadrophenia segment, when they run through “I’m One,” “The Punk and The Godfather” and an extended “Drowned.” “Love Reign O’er Me,” that album’s best remembered song, is performed later on.

Eagle Rock also includes five tracks from the previous show, including an exciting performance of Quadrophenia’s “5.15.” They also only performed “My Generation” on the first night, which seems a bit strange. How can The Who give a show without performing their most iconic song?

The audio on the disc, which is as clear and crisp as you could want, is presented in DTS HD Master Audio and LPCM Stereo. Aside from the extra tracks, there are no other bonus features. A slim booklet with an essay about the show is included.

Overall, this is a release that fans of The Who will certainly enjoy, but casual fans might be disappointed by not seeing the same energy the group had when Moon was still alive.