Quadrophenia and Super O

Oh man! You are soooo lucky to see that show.  Cool about the railroad and historical scenes, too.  My kids (grown) consider the Who history, as a matter of fact.  I just consider them great!  

they are playing at the verison center in manchester,n.h. in febuary might be fun to go after your review

Saw them in Boston last month, great show! A favorite album of mine and Lee, my teenage daughter likes them too.

I'd love to go......but long drive to anywhere it would show. 

I would like to hear what the Super O like track is!

Without seeing the film, it's difficult to be certain. But I would guess that this was filmed on the London Underground system. Quite a lot of this system is above ground. The Underground uses a 4th rail electrical system with the DC power split between a positive charge of 420V on the outer 3rd rail, and a negative charge of 210V on the centre 4th rail (Giving a potential of 630V for traction power.) Some of Underground system track is shared with the national railway network and used by outside rail 3rd rail EMU stock. In these areas the centre rail is electrically connected to the running rails, and a DC current of 660V is supplied through the outside 3rd rail. The fourth rail system is used on the Underground in order to prevent current leakage and electrolytic damage in the metal tunnels.

Nicole,  For someone 'not quite dead yet' you certainly know some stuff!

That's for sure, C.Sam, and she always comes across cheerfully when she contributes to a conversation. I don't think I have missed a posting she has made - they are consistently pertinent and a pleasant read.
Frank M.

The London Underground has the largest mileage of real-world track with a center rail.

My understanding of that system is that the center rail is "hot" and the outside [third] rail is the common. Looks like Atlas with another ail added.

Wow, Ace, very considerate of you to post that photo, which was of something totally news, to me at least.
I for one am grateful. Thanks! (I must admit, I had to look more than once to be sure if it were a photo of real-life or modeling! They sure keep their ballast neat and clean!)

Frank

Not quite. This was explained previously - the system is unique:

And the running rails are used for signalling.

IMHO, Quadrophenia is a great album. Some folks might like to know that the album was made into a movie in 1979. Sting plays the Ace Face.

It is available from Amazon.com, and probably other places.

Here is the Wikipedia page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadrophenia_(film)

Nice catch on the three rail track.I watched this video last week and completely missed the middle rail detail.The three rail track footage starts 3:33 into the video.

Dan 

The "center rail" in the video looks more like a wiring conduit, not a rail.

Some of the earlier video appears to be a split kaleidoscopic effect on other track and bridge structures, I think.

It appears that the Philadephia and Orlando performances used different background video? Or maybe we are seeing different times in the same concert.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=-cUqrq3OMhM

I've been a Who fan but somehow never heard of Quadrophenia before.

The Philly Video is not the same tune.  5:15 is the name of the tune of interest.  The prior video does have the correct footage that I was referring to.  In the video, you can see there is a thin center rail , somewhat thinner than in the photos above.  Also in the video, a 4th rail(?) on the right that is very squiggly, hence I was reluctant to call it a rail as it looks more like a conduit of some sort.    Could be the video is of much older rail than the photos.

Another interesting note about the projections screens...  The three circular screens above the main stage screen, are in fact an analog for the front headlight and turn signals of a Vespa Scooter, prominent in the culture of the "mods", a theme of Quadrophenia.  I'll bet 90% of the attendees missed this.. but some of you might catch it.  The center circular screen (headlight) features a stellar performance by John Entwistle, starting around 6:00, of a bass solo in the 515 video above.  Pino Palladino steps off stage out of respect for John during this segment.  A similar recorded piece features video of Keith Moon on "Bellboy".  Zack Starkey is featured leading up to Keith's vocals, but continues to play as Keith's vocals do not include much drumming... its pretty spastic.     

quote:

I've been a Who fan but somehow never heard of Quadrophenia before.

It's a top notch album. I suggest one of the studio albums. There is also a soundtrack album to match the movie I mentioned in my earlier post. The music, while OK, is not exactly the same as what is on the album.

I saw the Who's previous tour of Quadrophenia. Definitely an outstanding concert. Probably the best I've seen. They had a number of famous people playing different parts including Garry Glitter and Billy Idol.  I decided to pass on this tour.

The tour has gotten critical acclaim for its simplicity and trueness to the album.  With Pete and Roger doing all of the vocals except for the recorded pieces of Man in the Moon, and one selection sung by Pete's brother Simon, who also lays down some tasty licks on the lead guitar. Like the album,  It runs 1 hour 30 Minutes and is pure Who.  The only other special effects are the lead in ocean sounds, the "news report", and the Rain in "Reign o'er Me."  The boys thought the prior tour was overdone, and wanted to get back to basics.  I also saw the 96/97 Quad show and I would have to say I prefer the most recent.    In particular, the tributes to John and Keith were emotional highs in this concert.  I have seen the Who probably dozens of times, including the second show after John died with Pino filling in then, and this outfit they have on tour now with Simon, Pino, and Zak is second to none.  The second set is a collection of Anthems and a real crowd pleaser, but the real reason to go is Quad.

As long as we are discussing train videos in live rock concerts,Van Halen had a computer animated New York Central streamlined hudson steam engine running on the giant video screen behind the band on their most recent tour. 

Dan 

Simply put the the outside covered rail is what we call the 3rd rail that supplies the electric power to run the London Undergound  cars. The center rail is the return common ground rail and is not covered. The two running rails are for the cars to operate on. One can stand on any of the three uncovered rails safely just look out for the trains.

Ed G. (Along The New Haven Line of Metro-North and Amtrak. The busiest rail line

          in the USA.)