You Gotta Start Somewhere: The Who at Ann Arbor's 5th Dimension
Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2017 4:11 pm
An article in Ugly Things magazine details a fascinating chapter in Ann Arbor music history: the story of the Fifth Dimension, a downtown teen club that hosted an amazing roster of musical performances from 1966-1968.
They included local and national legends like Bob Seger, the Rationals, and the Scot Richard Case—but also outside acts on the cusp of superstardom, like Jimi Hendrix, the Who, Pink Floyd, and many more. http://www.annarbor.com/entertainment/m ... dimension/
My wife, a 13-year-old girl at the time, was at this June 14, 1967 performance.Day One of The Who's first ever US tour and we kick off in Ann Arbor, Michigan where the group play the Fifth Dimension Club. Commenting on the gig, one fan said, “The finale was 'My Generation' which devolved into that incredible climax of feedback and equipment destruction. This particular crowd had no way to know what was happening - this was The Who’s first tour in the US. I recall the owner of the club picking up this spewing smoke bomb - it was the size of a juice can - and running outside with it. Townshend’s guitar was smashed and rammed through an amplifier, Entwistle threw down his bass on the floor (that explains the chunk missing, I thought at the time) and the entire band disappeared from the back of the stage. https://localwiki.org/ann-arbor/Fifth_Dimension
She found the pictures on an Ann Arbor Facebook page from someone else that had been there. Until today she didn't know that this was the Who's first US performance outside of New York. Many of the performances were in the afternoon and with the 5th Dimension only a few blocks from her home she was able to walk there.
Later on in high school they were discussing hiring Bob Seger to play the prom but went with someone they thought was better.
The Concert Database for the 5th Dimension: http://theconcertdatabase.com/venues/fifth-dimension
Frank Zappa Performance at the 5th Dimension: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6v1oKRCnqA