Leave it to a group of Who fans to stir up some trouble. That’s what authorities suggest might have occurred in the spring of 1976 when they discovered marijuana plants growing in the outfield at Anaheim Stadium.

The British legends had come to Anaheim on Mar. 21, 1976, during their ongoing Who by Numbers tour. 55,000 people attended the concert, setting a record at the time for the baseball venue. Home to the California Angels, the stadium had been around for almost 10 years.

‘Anaheim Stadium Has Gone to Pot’

According to subsequent news reports, Who fans had quite a bit of fun, and it wasn’t limited to the musical sounds coming from Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, Keith Moon, and John Entwistle. As the Los Angeles Times revealed in an article published April 14, 1976, at least 100 marijuana plants had sprouted up in the weeks after the group left town.

The stadium’s maintenance foreman, Joe Morris, stated it was a situation they had encountered in the past, though not to this extent. “It has happened before, but probably to a lesser degree,” he explained to the newspaper’s staff writer, Jack Boettner. “The mowers cut the plants off and they die. If a groundsman finds a plant, he pulls it and throws it away.”

“Fertilizer helps the plants grow,” he added. “But we also kill them with weed killers.”

Anaheim mayor William J. Thom had a humorous take on the whole situation. “The economic situation has not reached such a perilous point that we have to resort to growing marijuana,” he assured local citizens. “One thing is for sure, they’ll never be able to play ‘Tea for Two’ at Anaheim Stadium again.”

Separately, a billboard along the Santa Ana Freeway proclaimed, “Anaheim Stadium Has Gone to Pot.”

The Who Had Caused Problems in Anaheim Before

They were actually the first rock group allowed to perform at Anaheim Stadium, which opened its gates in April of 1966. The promoter Concert Associates had put on a successful engagement at the Los Angeles Forum with Cream in 1968, followed by the Rolling Stones at the same venue in 1969.

They finally got their wish to follow those bookings with their first concert at Anaheim Stadium featuring The Who on June 14, 1970. The L.A. Times billed the gig as a “refreshing attempt by Concert Associates to get rock music away from the often unsatisfactory confines of an indoor arena.”

Initially, it seemed like the reception to the 1970 Anaheim gig was all positive. The Times noted, “Nothing like it had ever happened in Anaheim Stadium before – but from how it turned out it may well happen again.” They wrote about the area concert with the headline, “Rock Concert Draws 30,000 Peaceful Fans.”

Security reported that it was a well-behaved crowd in attendance, with only six arrests recorded that day. While there was marijuana present at the 1970 concert, Anaheim Stadium’s general manager, Tom Liegler, told reporter Virgil Kret, that he felt like wine consumption was a larger issue during the show, which also featured Leon Russell and John Sebastian.

However, those peaceful feelings wouldn’t last. Later that same month, the paper revealed that officials had been fielding numerous unhappy phone calls from area residents. City manager Keith Murdoch shared with the Times that “We simply tried an experiment that turned out to be a disappointment.”

Councilman Cal Pebley added that the 1970 concert had made $20,000 dollars. “I’m against any more of these concerts,” he said. “The city doesn’t need the money that badly.”

An additional councilman, Ralph Clark, pointed out that Anaheim Stadium was a taxpayer’s facility; thus they had a civic responsibility as well. “We can’t let the nudes and pot in there.”

The discord effectively paused future rock concerts at the venue for several years; however, the ban would eventually be lifted as they began booking shows there again, including several performances in 1975 with The Beach Boys, Chicago, Faces, and Fleetwood Mac, along with a festival gig featuring Eagles.

READ MORE: All 245 Who Songs Ranked

Things Went More Smoothly in 1976

If we look at The Who concert by the numbers, things wrapped up on a more positive note when they returned to Anaheim Stadium in March of 1976. The gig grossed more than half a million dollars according to Billboard, and city officials projected beforehand that they’d clear about $80 thousand in profit. They hoped to keep things under control by banning people from bringing liquor inside and not selling it within.

The police chief, Harold Bastrup , had been on site at the 1970 Who gig as a lieutenant; thus he was personally aware of what was at stake. He promised appropriate security would be provided but mentioned they would take a reasonable approach: “If a kid deserves a break, he’ll get it.”

A little different would be two years later when the stadium hosted a massive concert featuringBoston &Black Sabbath . The day’s events were plagued by counterfeit tickets, nearly 200 arrests, and temperatures soaring close to 104 degrees.