60 years ago today, The Who blew up The Smothers Brothers Show
?feature=sharedThe performance by the Who in 1967 was another defining moment in the series. As the group often did during that period, the Who destroyed their instruments at the conclusion of their performance of "My Generation", with the usual addition of mild explosives for light pyrotechnic effect. The piece ended with guitarist Pete Townshend grabbing Tommy's guitar and smashing it. On the Smothers Brothers show that night a small amount of explosive was put into the small cannon that Keith Moon kept in his bass drum. But it did not go off during the rehearsal. Unbeknownst to Moon, a stage hand had added another explosive before the taping, and later Moon added another charge so that now there were three explosive charges in the cannon instead of one. When Moon detonated it, the explosion was so intense that a piece of cymbal shrapnel cut into Moon's arm; Moon is heard moaning in pain toward the end of the piece. Townshend, who had been in front of Moon's drums at the time, had his hair singed by the blast; he is seen putting out sparks in his hair before finishing the sketch with a visibly shocked Tommy Smothers. The blast contributed heavily to Townshend's long-term hearing loss.
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I think the Marshall stacks might have had something to do with Pete's hearing loss too.
= new reply since forum marked as read
Response to maxrandb (Original post)
Southfield High School, Detroit, Michigan, 22 Nov. 1967, with two Sunn 100S amplifiers and 2×15 cabinets, playing a Gibson ES-335. (Photo: Bob Elliott)
(Photo: Bob Elliott)
Beginning in August 1967 and for the early- to mid-1968 North American tours, Pete (and John) used Sunn amplifiers and cabinets, succeeding the use of U.S. Thomas Organ (Vox) Super Beatles, with Sunn 100S amplifiers and cabinets. The first known use of Sunn amps is 23 Aug. 1967 in Flint, Michigan. It’s possible these Sunn 100S amps were purchased on 15 or 16 Aug. 1967, during a two-day break in Nashville.
The Who were first exposed to Sunn amps through the Blues Magoos’ roadie on the July-September 1967 Herman’s Hermits tour, their first of North America.
The Who purchased additional Sunn gear, along with Sunn PA gear, from Manny’s in New York, likely on or around the 25 Nov., 1967, Village Theatre dates in New York. Bobby Pridden had indicated that it was bought a couple days prior to the 29 Nov., 1967, date in Scotch Plains, New Jersey, though footage from the 25 Nov., 1967, Village Theatre gig shows Sunn PA in use. (Pete also purchased Coral Hornet guitars at this time.)
As a part of their use, the Who also provided endorsement for the Sunn gear.
From 8 to 14 July 1968, Pete tried Sunn’s new Orion solid state offering.
The Sunn gear was abandoned at Canadian customs in Toronto on 15 July 1968, at which point Pete began using the Sound City gear previously used only in the UK/Europe.
https://thewho.net/whotabs/gear/pa/pa6768.html
...the amps shown in the pics you provided are not the same as those on the Smothers' show.
The heads in that video are trapezoidal. Sunn made rectangular amps.
Also, the grill cloth on the cabinets from the TV show are almost certainly Vox.
Back in the 70s, I played keys in a band with a guy who had a Vox. Looked like those Pete is using.
BTW: that guitar player I knew became a dentist!
Here's a pic with the name plates attached.
I've got a pretty good idea. 
at California Jam. The great thing was, their triple shot went off just to the right of drummer Iain Paice, maybe 10 feet away. Blew off his glasses, but he didn't miss a beat. 
(Paice was known for stripping to the waist at some point in the set because he was sweating so much, so I imagine his left side got burned a bit. It was their last song, though, so...)
