BROTHERS GRIMM

SHORTS
ENTERTAINMENT
INBRIEF
Travel to the Isle of Wight, circa 1970, for a momentous
Who concert. Plus, what’s so great about that rock?
THE
WHO’S
BEST CONCERT?
On February 18th you can
relive what some call the best
Who concert ever, as The Who:
Live at the Isle of Wight Festival
1970 screens at select
Cineplex theatres.
But what does “the best”
mean? Roger Daltrey,
Pete Townshend and the late
Keith Moon and John Entwistle
played thousands of gigs over the
years, and terms like “the best”
tend to get thrown around with
too much frequency.
“It was at the height of the
extraordinary powers The Who
10 FAMOUS FEBRUARY 2009
have to create an almost religious
experience,” says the film’s
producer and director
Murray Lerner over the phone
from his New York home. “They
build up the crowd’s feelings and
involvement to such an extent
that the crowd became the
concert really. It’s like a religious
experience or the height of
a political celebration, an
anthem really.”
And this was no regular
crowd. About 600,000 rock
fans (more than Woodstock)
came by boat to the island in the
English Channel.
Frustrated by the
event’s poor
organization,
concertgoers
became rowdy —
breaking down
fences, trying to
get in for free,
and talking so loudly during
many of the acts that no one
could hear the music.
As a result, The Who didn’t
take to the stage until 2 a.m.
But Lerner says the late hour
didn’t dull their performance.
“I think, actually, that the
disturbance caused by the
crowd, and the anxiety, that
by not giving into it, that gave
The Who a lot of energy, a
breakthrough,” he says. “I
think it made it more exciting
for these kids. You can see the
shots of the crowd, they were
very much alive.”
The set list starts with such
classics as “I Can’t Explain,”
“My Generation” and “Magic
Bus,” but the performance
moves to another level as the
band rolls into a series of
songs off their then just
released rock opera Tommy
(“It’s a Boy,” “The Acid
Queen,” “See Me Feel
Me / Listening to You”)
— a full five years
before they turned the
album into a feature film.
Go to Cineplex.com for a
list of participating theatres
and to buy tickets. —MW
Trim: 10.5"
Safety: .25"
Artifact
THIS MONTH’S OBJET DE
FILM STONE OF DESTINY
The British-Canadian
co-production Stone of Destiny
has Charlie Cox playing
real-life Scottish nationalist
Ian Hamilton, who put life
and limb at risk to steal a big,
heavy rock. What’s so special
about said rock that it could
inspire both grand larceny
and a feature film?
Aside from the fact some
believe it to be the pillow
stone on which Biblical Jacob
slept while he dreamed of the
ladder, the 336-pound piece of
sandstone was used during
the inaugurations of Scottish
monarchs dating back to the
Middle Ages. In 1057, it
served as the seat for Lulach,
Macbeth’s stepson, when he
became King of the Scots.
Then in 1296, Edward I of
England invaded Scotland,
stole the Stone and took it to
London where — for the next
seven centuries — it was
used to enthrone English
monarchs.
On Christmas Day 1950,
Hamilton stole the Stone from
London’s Westminster Abbey
and brought it back to
Scotland, but not before it
accidentally broke in two.
Without giving away the end
of the movie, we can tell you
that the Stone now resides at
Edinburgh Castle — but will
travel back to London to
support the new monarch’s
bottom during the next
coronation. —MW
Safety: .25"
©2008 P&G
LL COOL J, Before
“ with Old Spice Stride, I’m doin’ it and doin’
it and doin’ it well. Before Stride, I was
doin’ it and doin’ it and doin’ it just okay.
Thanks, Old Spice.” —ll cool j