Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey grew tired of waiting for John Entwistle and Keith Moon to arrive for their gig at the Ricky Tick Club in Windsor
They they took to the stage with the bass player and drummer of the local band that opened the show. When Moon and Entwistle finally arrived in the middle of the set, a fight broke out, with Townshend hitting Moon on the head with his guitar. Moon and Entwistle quit the band, (and rejoined a week later).
That night, The Who were hosting Beach Boys member Bruce Johnston whilst in the middle of a lengthy UK tour. Keith Moon was a huge fan of Johnston’s and even took him on the TV show Ready Steady Go! to secure him an interview. Bassist John Entwistle joined them, and the trio ended up getting day drunk.
Drunk and angry, Entwistle and Moon took over halfway through the set. Moon, in a narcotic and alcohol-induced haze, shouted at Townshend for letting someone use his kit, and the guitarist responded sharply with a remark about Moon not caring enough to show up for the job.
Johnston, the mild-mannered Beach Boy, watched in amazement. "I don't know what sparked it off," he remarked in Dear Boy: The Life of Keith Moon. "I just remember watching from the side of the stage, and all of a sudden they got in the biggest fight I've ever seen. Guitars are swinging; everybody's just in a frenzy."
Regardless, the show carried on, but the tensions were rising. Whilst playing the finale ‘My Generation’, Moon’s cymbal crashed into Townshend’s leg, and the guitarist reacted angrily by trying to smash his guitar into a speaker, but he missed, hitting Moon on the head. (Faroutmagazine)
“I wasn't hurt, just annoyed and upset," Townshend said in Who Are You: The Life of Pete Townshend. "Keith and John had been over two hours late. Then I swung out with my guitar not really meaning to hit Keith. I lost my grip on the instrument and it just caught him on the head."
An all-out brawl broke out from there. As the curtain came down, a club announcer supposedly remarked, "Don't worry, it's all part of the show." (UCR)
