I saw the Who at Southfield High School

I sure did. The day was Wednesday November 22, 1967. It was a spur of the moment thing. I saw an ad in the paper and decided to go. By myself. I was 17 and a big fan of the Who. I got to the Southfield High parking lot early I guess because there was hardly anybody there. Anyway I went into the gymnasium were the concert was to be held if you can believe that and sat down on the bleachers. By the way the tickets for general admission were $2.50. Boy times have changed haven't they? The gym slowly filled up I guess there were maybe a thousand people total. First time I ever saw real hippies. There were 2 acts before the Who. The first was the Unrelated Segments a local Detroit band. As I recall I used to see them a lot at the college I went to. The were pretty decent as I recall. The second act was a group that played the Detroit area also and had a hit played on the radio quite a bit. They were called Amboy Dukes. They had this crazy guitarist that played a huge hollow body Gibson Byrdland with a 100 ft. lead on it so he could go out into the audience and cause a ruckus. I remember thinking that this guy is quite the showman and might give Pete Townsend a run for his money. Oh his name-that would be Ted Nugent.
Well then it was time for the Who to come on. The curtain was closed and there were 2 microphone stands alone on stage. I thought there was going to be some kind of dramatic entrance. No they merely walked up the steps at the side of the stage just like you were going to get your diploma. Keith Moon was last and he was carrying a big bundle of drum sticks under his arm. Why was he carrying all those sticks I wondered. I didn't have to wonder too long because the curtain parted they strapped on their guitars and Keith sat down at the drums and started to play" Can't Explain". Well I think it was the first time Keith did a 16th drum fill on the opening bar that he splintered a stick way out into the audience. All he did was reach down to the bundle and pick another one and not even miss a beat. Amazing. I think he must have broke half a dozen sticks that first song. He was on fire that night. They played several more songs that show and ended with the perennial "My Generation". Here it comes I thought --will they or won't they trash their instruments here in the High School gym. I mean I was sitting next to an elderly lady looking as old as my Grandmother for crying out loud. Well they did. In grand fashion. Pete had been playing a Fender Stratocaster all evening and right at the crucial moment  a roadie behind his speaker cabinet switched guitars to a cheaper copy to smash. And smash he did. He flipped it up in the air and caught it- banged it against the speaker cabs flipped it again but missed and it landed on the stage. Then he proceeded to smash the guitar neck first into the stage floor repeatedly until there was just splinters. I remember looking around at all the parents in the audience to see their shocked expressions. But was it for the smashing of the guitar or the pounding of it into the gym's stage floor? I've been told the dents are still there. I looked at my watch-they played exactly 30 minutes.
Stay tuned.