The four members of the Who against a wooden fence, Moon in a target T-shirt and Townshend in a jacket covered in medals and badges — The Who in 1965: John Entwistle, Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend and Keith Moon. KRLA Beat / Beat Publications · Public domain

The four members of the Who standing in a field, Townshend at the front in a patterned jacket — The Who in 1967: Daltrey, Moon, Entwistle and Townshend. Unknown author · Public domain

A grainy colour photograph of Pete Townshend swinging a guitar down on stage, Daltrey behind him — Townshend smashing a guitar at the Monterey International Pop Festival, June 1967. Unknown author · Public domain

Shepherd’s Bush · Soho · Leeds · Brighton · Bethel

The WhoClubs, plaques, fields and a football ground, 1961–2009

A pub in Harrow where a guitar broke by accident, Tuesdays in Soho, a Leeds refectory with a plaque on the wall, a field in Bethel at dawn. Six photographs from 1965 to 1976, in pieces. Put them back, then go and stand where it happened.

Six pieces, eleven years.

Pete Townshend mid-swing with a guitar under a stage light, Daltrey at the left and Moon at the drums — Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend and Keith Moon in Hamburg, August 1972. Heinrich Klaffs · CC BY-SA 2.0

Roger Daltrey in a fringed suit waving, beside John Entwistle, Keith Moon in a white boiler suit and Pete Townshend in a striped top, arms round each other on stage — The Who on stage in Chicago, 1975: Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle, Keith Moon and Pete Townshend. Jim Summaria · CC BY-SA 3.0

Pete Townshend on stage with his right arm straight up above a black guitar, amplifiers behind him — Pete Townshend’s windmill at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, October 1976. Center of the Universe (retouched by -jha-) · CC BY-SA 2.0

1965: KRLA Beat / Beat Publications, Public domain · 1967: Unknown author, Public domain · 1967: Unknown author, Public domain · 1972: Heinrich Klaffs, CC BY-SA 2.0 · 1975: Jim Summaria, CC BY-SA 3.0 · 1976: Center of the Universe (retouched by -jha-), CC BY-SA 2.0

The Railway Hotel, Harrow & Wealdstone · September 1964

Smashed in Harrow. Put it back together.

In September 1964 Townshend smashed his first guitar here, by accident. A week later, at the same venue, Keith Moon smashed his drum kit. That accident started the band’s equipment-smashing act.

Set a shard back:

Thirteen shards on the stage floor. 0 of 13 back.

The brick station building at Harrow & Wealdstone under heavy cloud — Harrow & Wealdstone station, beside the old Railway Hotel site, in 2012. Mattbuck · CC BY-SA 3.0

After years empty, the hotel was badly damaged by fire and pulled down. Flats now stand on the site; two are called Moon House and Daltrey House.

The building was later pictured on the cover of Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy.

The hotel has gone. Flats called Moon House and Daltrey House stand by the station; see them from the street.

Sources

Ealing · Shepherd’s Bush · Brighton · September 1961 – 1964

Mirrors on the scooter.

A bare legshield. Five mirrors to bolt on.

The Detours began as a skiffle group at Acton County School, and brought in John Entwistle on bass.

Pete Townshend enrolled at Ealing School of Art in September 1961. That year Entwistle worked in the Acton tax office, and Roger Daltrey was a sheet metal worker who built his own guitars. Ealing Council lists Townshend among the school’s past students. It is now part of the University of West London.

In 1964 the band played the Goldhawk Social Club in Shepherd’s Bush eight times, from 7 February to 31 July. That year they changed names twice: the Detours became the Who in February, Peter Meaden renamed them the High Numbers in April, and in November they were the Who again.

Sources

A narrow alley wall covered in names and graffiti under a Quadrophenia Alley sign — Quadrophenia Alley off East Street, Brighton, in 2023. Andy Li · CC0

Off East Street, Brighton · March – December 1964 and 1979

Brighton, twice.

In 1964 the band played 15 nights at the Florida Rooms in Brighton, from March to December, and two at the Hippodrome.

Quadrophenia, the 1979 film of the Who’s album, was shot partly in Brighton: a riot on East Street, the mods’ café on Madeira Drive, police at the Old Steine.

Its alley scene was shot in a twitten off East Street, between numbers 10 and 11. The fans came, and it was renamed Quadrophenia Alley. The walls are covered in mod graffiti. Phil Daniels and Gary Shail unveiled a blue plaque here.

The album itself was recorded at The Kitchen, the band’s Ramport studio in Battersea, with Ron Nevison engineering. It came out in Britain in November 1973.

A narrow, busy alley off East Street. Free to walk through; be patient with the photographers. 77 km from Wardour Street as the crow flies.

Sources

The Grand Brighton

Brighton seafront

The big seafront hotel at 97–99 King’s Road. Walk along the front and up East Street to the alley.

Check rates

90 Wardour Street, Soho · 24 November 1964 – March 2009

Tuesdays on Wardour Street.

Arm up. Five full turns to the plaque.

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A blue City of Westminster plaque for Keith Moon on red brick — The Keith Moon plaque on Wardour Street, April 2009. Jeff Naoe · Public domain

Keith Moon behind a white drum kit, one stick raised high — Keith Moon at the kit in 1975. Jim Summaria · CC BY-SA 3.0

A plaque on the wall at 90 Wardour Street. Look up from the pavement.

Sources

Viator · Ad / affiliate

Rock music walks in London

London

Live marketplace results for London rock and music history walks. Check each itinerary for Wardour Street and Soho.

Live marketplace results · itineraries change

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Monterey · Bethel · Isle of Wight · 1967–1970

Three fields, three set times.

18 June

2004 Fairground Road, Monterey, California · 18 June 1967

Monterey County Fairgrounds

On 18 June 1967 the Who played the Monterey festival in California. The band’s own history calls the set definitive, and timely.

Three months earlier, on 25 March, they had made their American debut in Brooklyn, ten days in a row.

The fairground was built in 1936. The state-owned 22-acre site has held the county fair, the Monterey Jazz Festival and the 1967 Monterey International Pop Music Festival.

A working fair and event ground. Check what’s on to go in.

Sources

Dawn

A stone marker with bronze plaques on the edge of a grass field — The marker on the Woodstock festival site at Bethel, 2021. Plantsmushrooms · CC BY 4.0

200 Hurd Road, Bethel, New York · 17 August 1969

Bethel Woods

The Who played Woodstock on 17 August 1969, on Yasgur’s Farm at Bethel, in the early hours, more than eight hours after their scheduled start.

They played about 40 minutes of Tommy, out only three months. The sun rose during the climax of See Me Feel Me.

Abbie Hoffman interrupted Tommy to make a protest, and Townshend had him removed from the stage.

Townshend later said he had a miserable time: the mud, the long wait, worry about his wife and baby.

Guided golf-cart tours and a self-guided augmented-reality tour visit the festival field.

The museum opens daily 10am–5pm until 31 December; adults $19.69 in advance, $22.69 at the door.

Sources

2am

Green downland rising above white chalk cliffs and a winding coast road — Afton Down near Freshwater, Isle of Wight, in 2009. Editor5807 · Public domain

East Afton Farm, near Freshwater, Isle of Wight · 30 August 1970

Afton Down

The Who went on at 2am on 30 August 1970, at the third Isle of Wight Festival, on East Afton Farm near Freshwater.

Murray Lerner filmed a virtually complete record of the 21-song set. Entwistle wore a skeleton suit.

Afton Down is National Trust land, open dawn to dusk, with the Tennyson Trail and the coast path close by.

National Trust downland, open dawn to dusk. The paths are steep, with stiles and steps.

Sources

Bethel Woods Center for the Arts

The Museum at Bethel Woods

Bethel, New York · Daily 10am–5pm until 31 December · adults $19.69 in advance, $22.69 at the door

The museum on the 1969 festival site. Guided golf-cart tours and a self-guided augmented-reality tour visit the field where the Who played at dawn.

Plan a visit

Leeds and Hull · 14 February 1970 and 15 February 1970

One weekend. Two tapes.

Two boxes on the shelf, Saturday and Sunday.

A round blue Leeds Civic Trust plaque on red brick — The Live at Leeds plaque on the University Refectory, 2006. stevo3 · CC BY-SA 2.0

The Refectory, University of Leeds

The Leeds Civic Trust plaque says the Who’s show here on 14 February 1970 was recorded and released as Live at Leeds.

The band came back to unveil the plaque in June 2006, before a show at the university on 17 June. The plaque honours the other acts who played the room too. NME named the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Radiohead and the Arctic Monkeys.

A red-brick university building with a glass entrance on a paved square — The Refectory, University of Leeds, in 2014. Mtaylor848 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Inside Leeds University Union on University Square. The plaque is on the Refectory wall.

Sources

Hull City Hall

The next night, 15 February 1970, the Who played Hull City Hall, and that show was recorded too.

A working concert hall on Queen Victoria Square. Book a show to go in. 80 km east of the Refectory as the crow flies.

Sources

Waterloo and Barnes · 1971

A theatre, then a studio.

66 The Cut, Waterloo · 26 April 1971

The Young Vic

Between January and March 1971 the Who played the Young Vic now and then, while Townshend worked on Lifehouse. The project was later dropped.

The last Lifehouse concert, on 26 April 1971, was recorded on the Rolling Stones Mobile. Parts came out on the 2001 deluxe Who’s Next.

A working theatre on The Cut. Book a show to go in.

Sources

The brick front of the Olympic building on Church Road, Barnes, with its cinema sign — Olympic on Church Road, Barnes, in 2015: a cinema and café since 2013. Ewan Munro · CC BY-SA 2.0

117–123 Church Road, Barnes · May – June 1971

Olympic Studios

In May and June 1971 most of the Lifehouse songs were recorded again here, with Glyn Johns producing. They became Who’s Next.

Who’s Next came out that August and went to No. 1 in Britain, the only Who album to do so.

Olympic Sound Studios opened in Barnes in 1966. The Rolling Stones, the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Queen and the Who all recorded here. It reopened in 2013 as a three-screen cinema, with food, drinks and a members’ club.

A cinema with dining on Church Road, Barnes. Book a film to go in. 10 km west of the Young Vic.

Sources

The stands of the Valley football ground in Charlton — The Valley, Charlton, in 2019. Marathon · CC BY-SA 2.0

The Valley, Charlton · 31 May 1976

Loudest in the rain.

It went down as the loudest concert ever staged: 126 decibels, beating Deep Purple’s 117.

On Monday 31 May 1976, a rain-soaked bank holiday, the Who played the Valley on the Who Put the Boot In tour of football grounds.

Little Feat and the Sensational Alex Harvey Band were among the support. The East Bank alone held 46,000, and the promoters were fined for going over capacity. It was the band’s second show at the ground.

Charlton Athletic’s ground. Go to a match to get in.

Sources

From a pub stage in Harrow to a football ground in Charlton: 28 km across London, twelve years apart.

Visit

Where it is now

13 places you can visit, from Goldhawk Road to Bethel. The Railway Hotel has gone; its pin marks the flats on the site.

Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.

General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. 205 Goldhawk Road, now the Shepherds Bush Club, a members’ club. See it from the pavement.
General reference · Restricted access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working university campus on St Mary’s Road. See it from the street.
General reference · Restricted access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. The hotel has gone. Flats called Moon House and Daltrey House stand by the station; see them from the street.

Goldhawk Road, Shepherd’s Bush, in 2015. David Howard · CC BY-SA 2.0
205 Goldhawk Road, Shepherd’s Bush
Goldhawk Social Club
In 1964 the band played the Goldhawk Social Club in Shepherd’s Bush eight times, from 7 February to 31 July.
205 Goldhawk Road, now the Shepherds Bush Club, a members’ club. See it from the pavement.
Sources
The St Mary’s Road campus in Ealing, now the University of West London, in 2010. Sansmalrst · Public domain
St Mary’s Road, Ealing
Ealing School of Art
Pete Townshend enrolled at Ealing School of Art in September 1961.
A working university campus on St Mary’s Road. See it from the street.
Sources
Harrow & Wealdstone station, beside the old Railway Hotel site, in 2012. Mattbuck · CC BY-SA 3.0
Marlborough Hill, by Harrow & Wealdstone station
The Railway Hotel
As the High Numbers, the band played the Railway Hotel by Harrow & Wealdstone station 17 times between 30 June and 2 November 1964.
The hotel has gone. Flats called Moon House and Daltrey House stand by the station; see them from the street.
Sources

Stay

Sleep by the sea.

A seafront hotel in Brighton, a walk from the alley.

The Grand Brighton

Brighton seafront

The big seafront hotel at 97–99 King’s Road. Walk along the front and up East Street to the alley.

Check rates

Go there