Shepperton Studios — The Who (The Kids Are Alright)

Shepperton Studios in Surrey was used by The Who to film the concert sequences for 'The Kids Are Alright' (1979) — the documentary film directed by Jeff Stein that assembled performance footage from across the band's career alongside a specially filmed concert at Shepperton that became one of the last documents of Keith Moon performing with the band before his death in September 1978. The Shepperton concert was filmed in May 1978 with a live audience and captured the Who at full power — including a ferocious version of 'Won't Get Fooled Again' that is among the most extraordinary performance recordings in rock history.

The decision to film at Shepperton gave the Stein documentary something it needed: a contemporary performance that could anchor the archival footage from the band's Mod years, Woodstock, Tommy, and the stadium tours of the 1970s. The result is a film that functions simultaneously as a historical document and a celebration of a band still at the height of its powers. Moon's drumming in the Shepperton sequences — knowing what is to come just a few months later — takes on an added weight: he plays with the full Dionysian energy that defined his performing life, apparently healthy enough to drum but already showing the physical effects of decades of excess.

Shepperton Studios is one of Britain's oldest and most significant film production facilities, having hosted productions from 'The African Queen' to 'Aliens' to 'Mamma Mia.' It continues to operate as an active studio complex and is not open to the public. The 'Kids Are Alright' film was released in June 1979, nine months after Moon's death, making the Shepperton footage simultaneously a testament to his genius and an elegy for what the band had lost.