onemoreguitar

I saw them in '75 in Cincinnati as a kid. No telling how many Who-like bands that very night spawned. That was the first concert I ever saw. And I've never seen a better (or louder) one of any band ever. They had eliminated Quadrophenia songs from the playlist at that point, and I'd been looking forward to those, but that didn't register that night. I've also never seen a crowd so enthusiastic. And I've been (like many of us) to hundreds of concerts, though not nearly so much anymore.

I've read this novel twice now, here is the description on Amazon: Brutality meets rock-n-roll redemption when the lives of two buddies on the social fringes of a corrupt 1970s Cincinnati high school collide with violent teachers, predatorial jocks…and comically anxious encounters with the opposite sex.Obsessed with The Who, David Bachmann and Todd Brill form a band and deliver an incendiary guitar-windmilling performance at the Burr Oak High last-day-of-school talent show, vaulting their social status.But tragedy awaits as the best friends are destined to confront both the horrific Beverly Hills Supper Club fire, and two short years later the deadly Who concert stampede. All leading to a brush with madness, and a shocking but ultimately revivifying look beyond the veil.Their sanity is tested but never their loyalty in this harrowing twist on the love-lost/coming-of-age story, in a world of ghosts where music is their only salvation.An unflinching taboo-busting look into '70s midwest teen life, Cincinnati Supernova is at once gut-wrenching, hilarious, absurd, haunted, and ultimately poignant. This sprawling novel unfolds in the shadow of sobering historical events. https://www.amazon.com/Cincinnati-Su...s%2C103&sr=8-1

This one (Cincinnati Supernova) would be somewhat historical fiction; the action taking place in the shadow of actual historical events. Protagonist (David) and his buddy form a Who-like band to vault their social status in a '70s Midwest high school. Later David joins the show band playing at the Beverly Hills Supper Club (which burned to the ground in '77). Anything more would be a spoiler but this (self-published) novel is gaining traction. Highly recommended.https://www.amazon.com/Cincinnati-Su...1753705&sr=8-2