“We’re four of the nastiest, vicious bastards you could ever hope to meet in your lifetime—the scum of the earth!”

So declared Keith Moon during The Who’s Dec. 8, 1971 concert at the San Diego Sports Arena. As if his grand eloquence was a harbinger of things to come, it was a rough night, with the rabid crowd crushing those in the first few rows. At one point, drummer Keith Moon lost his patience, hurling profanities to get the crowd to ease up the pressure at the front.

Anyone who knows much at all about Pete Townshend knows that he’s a great, if moody, guy. And never, ever interfere with Townshend’s stage show. But with pandemonium already setting in and the intensity growing, Moon’s girlfriend at the time—a hapless Sheila Arthur—was sent onstage.

“We were staying at the Playboy Hotel in San Diego and Keith had coerced one of the bunnies out of her tail and ears,” writes Arthur on her website. “He then gave these items to me to wear onstage to present Towser’s present. I was under the impression that it was his birthday. I was pushed out onto the stage with the crown and the rabbit accessories. Perhaps the joke was on me...?

“Pete was really pissed that they sent me onstage. I could see the rage in his eyes, and I was terrified of being struck dead by an electric guitar, but when he saw Keith and his assistant Dougal giggling after pushing me out on the stage, he suddenly understood the joke and decided not to kill me.”

Arthur notes that Townshend wore the crown at a show in Los Angeles the following night, eventually throwing it into the crowd. A tape of the Sports Arena gig was recently auctioned off, and clearly shows the insanity that was typical of Who shows during this time, especially in San Diego where the band had close ties.

The Who first crossed paths with San Diegans in 1968 when they did a bout of touring with local one-hit legends Iron Butterfly. But The Who didn’t actually visit the city itself until Aug. 27, 1968 when they performed at the Community Concourse. Between 1971 and 1980, they followed with three straight shows at the Sports Arena, followed by two stadium dates in 1982 and 1989. After that, they didn’t perform here again as a group until their return to the Sports Arena on Aug. 17, 2000.

Bassist John Entwhistle, however, appeared here on his own at the much-missed Bacchanal in 1989. He also twice came to San Diego as part of Ringo’s All Starrs. And in 1992, he made a short speaking cameo as a presenter at that year’s San Diego Music Awards.

Also noteworthy is the connection between Townshend and the La Jolla Playhouse. Tommy, the multiple Tony Award-winning play and iconic ’60s album by The Who—held its world premiere at the Playhouse in June of 1992. Townshend himself lived in San Diego throughout the period, and Who band members were quite visible at social functions.

The legendary frontman returned to San Diego in 2001 for two rare solo benefit concerts at the Playhouse. The shows netted well over a quarter of a million dollars. Shucking rock-star tradition, Townshend paid his own expenses and even donated a signed guitar for the Playhouse to be auctioned off. It went for $6,250.

Every time Townshend comes through San Diego, he makes a point of complimenting the people and our city. During the 2000 Who show at the Sports Arena, he discussed his love of sailing here, surmising, “San Diegans are very, very lucky people.”

Trivial Pursuits

I Although you might not think of The La Jolla Playhouse as a hot bed of rock ’n’ roll, a number of famous rockers have taken up residence in our burg in order to work at the celebrated theatrical venue. Besides Pete Townshend (as detailed above), Ray Davies of the Kinks and short-person-hater Randy Newman debuted Around The World In Eighty Days and Faust, respectively, on that famous local stage. The Playhouse was founded in 1947 by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire and Mel Ferrer.

I When legendary Jam frontman Paul Weller recently performed at Spreckels Theatre in downtown San Diego, he described the experience as “really beautiful.” We’re guessing the show will be burned deeper into the memory of guitarist Steve Craddock (also of Ocean Colour Scene), who was mildly electrocuted during the second song of the encore, preventing the band from playing any longer.