When it comes to ‘stage shows,’ the Who never held back or shied away from jumping seven feet in the air, throwing their drumsticks to the audience, and swinging the microphone hard while not caring where it would land. It was these tricks, after all, that fascinated the crowds, and showmanship seemed a natural trait for the rockers.
So, things were quite easy for Roger Daltrey when he was the one holding the mic stand, throwing it above his head carelessly, and putting on a hell of a show. The singer had all the control, all the lights were on him, and as Pete Townshend probably jumped in the air beside him, he probably couldn’t help but swing the mic stand in the air and let the atmosphere take it in.
However, on a rare occasion when Daltrey wasn’t holding the mic on the stage, the rocker would discover how painful it was to be standing on the receiving end of a mic swing. It was 1996 when the Who had reunited for a grand ‘Quadrophenia’ production, and as the band had decided to have guest performers, that decision would almost cost Roger an eye.
So, the act and the guest performers were rehearsing a day before the show when one particular glam rocker thought it would be a brilliant idea to swing his mic like the Who frontman often did, though what they missed out was that Daltrey was right behind them, standing and watching the rehearsals.
Things had gone smoothly with the shows until that point, as the performer in question shot Daltrey with his own gun (metaphorically), swinging their mic in the direction without not caring to check where the Who frontman was standing. And, well, what followed after wasn’t fun at all, as the mic’s impact fractured Roger’s eye socket.
So, while chatting with SFGATE in 2000, four years after the incident occurred and he took the stage the next day with an eye patch, the rocker discussed why he didn’t fight with his Who bandmates anymore. The reason for that was that Daltrey had started despising the entire concept of ‘fighting,’ especially after singer Gary Glitter had accidentally punched him with a mic stand, and that was quite the blow.
Daltrey on how he wouldn’t fight with anyone anymore and how Glitter fractured his eye:
“After getting my face smashed up by Gary Glitter while we were doing ‘Quadrophenia’ at Hyde Park, I won’t ever fight with anyone again in my whole life.
He completely fractured my eye socket, and one side of my face was completely stoved in with a microphone stand. I mean, I was standing behind him, and he swung it over his head.”
When Roger was on the other end of the mic stand, the rocker learned it wasn’t fun at all to swing the stand carelessly around his head to put on a good show. It seemed, however, he finally learned to be careful where to stand on stage, especially after he almost lost an eye.
