by Maria Mirsky, Newtown, Pennsylvania

I had an Aunt who was devoted to the Philadelphia Orchestra, especially the children’s concerts which required her to bring me along. In 1966, when I was 12, I insisted I wasn’t going to her snooty concerts unless she also introduced me to live concerts by one of my favorite bands — Herman’s Hermits. She obliged and off we went to Philadelphia’s Convention Hall in seats at about 10th row center of a venue that was about 3/4s filled with young girls mostly and a guardian.

The opening act came on — a group very few of us had heard of before called The Who. After a few loud rock songs, maybe 4, with lots of jumping around and exaggerated key strokes, moves even die-hard Beatles fans weren’t used to, the group then smashed their instruments on to the floor with pieces flying here and there, but none into the audience — it was a pretty big stage so we were safe. Half the crowd was stunned into silence, the other half cheered them on.

I remember enjoying the experience, but was having a difficult time developing a crush on even one of them, the way you could with the Beatles, Herman’s Hermits, even the Stones. And we were close enough to see their faces. Anyway, I left with an appreciation for a different sound, a different performance and theatrics that would become a staple of rock performances to come.