Behind the Poster: The Who, University of Leeds, February 14, 1970 (Print 1 of Set)

PURCHASE

When you think about the most important rock bands in history, The Who is undoubtedly in the conversation for many different reasons. One of those reasons is their incredible live performances - which they are still doing to this day. 

Take a trip in the Iconic by Collectionzz time machine all the way back to 1970. The Who were looking for a way to follow up their 1969 album Tommy. They had recorded several shows for a live album on tours supporting Tommy in the United States, but didn't like the sound on any of the recordings. The Who decided to book two shows in early 1970 (on Valentines Day weekend) to record the live album. The first show at University of Leeds on February 14, 1970 was planned to be the warm up show; and the second show at City Hall in Hull on February 15, 1970 was planned to be the record. The recording equipment was rolling for both shows though, just in case.

According to The Who's sound engineer, John Entwistle's bass was not recorded for the first few tracks at Hull, and Pete Townshend didn't even listen to the whole recording once he realized that. It didn't matter though, they had made history the night before at the University of Leeds in front of 2,000 ravenous fans. Pete Townshend called it “the greatest audience we’ve ever played to.” 

The Who released part of concert at University of Leeds on February 14, 1970 as their now legendary live album “Live at Leeds.” It was the only live album that was released while the group were still actively recording and performing with their best known line-up of Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, John Entwistle and Keith Moon.

Fifty years later to the day, we have the honor to release a concert poster for this historic show. To create the art work, we turned to two artists who have quite the history of their own, Ames Bros, who have been creating incredible concert posters out of Seattle for over 25 years. If you're from Leeds, you probably don't need an explanation about the design. But assuming you're not from Leeds, the owl is very significant to the region.

"Owls are found on Leeds' Coat of Arms, which dates all the way back to the 1700's, as well as many old buildings in the city. We thought the owl was very significant and interesting. The style is unique, geometrical and of the era... with our twist." - Coby Schultz, Ames Bros

There will only be 100 Main Edition and 30 Gold Owl Edition prints available. Plus, one random tube will also receive a 1/1 Swirl Foil with their order, and two random tubes will also receive a x/2 Vortex Foil. None of these foils will ever be for sale!