The Oval is a cricket ground in the heart of London and at first glance, not the most obvious place to hold gigs. Cricket needs a smooth and even pitch and sticking 35,000 hairies on top of it is hardly ideal. However through the early 70s, it was host to many excellent one-day festival gigs which attracted many big international acts as well as British bands.
This show in mid-september, after the end of the cricket season, was a Bangladesh fundraiser and with The Faces and The Who at the top of the bill it was always going to pull a sell-out crowd.
The full bill was The Who, The Faces, Atomic Rooster, Eugene Wallace, America, Mott The Hoople Quintessence, Lindisfarne, Grease Band, Cochise.
It raised £15,000 for famine relief and the Who, back with a new lighting rig and even louder PA were absolutely magnificent, knocking out songs from Who's Next at high volume
