News of the World Tour The Houston concert is considered one of their best bootlegs. In the book "The Show I'll Never Forget: 50 Writers Relive Their Most Memorable Concertgoing Experience", novelist Tracy Chevalier recalls attending one of this tour's concerts at the age of 15: Robert Hilburn of the "Los Angeles Times" called this concert tour the band's "most spectacularly staged and finely honed show yet". "We arrived in Las Vegas on Monday," recalled "Old Grey Whistle Test" presenter Bob Harris, who was travelling with the band for a filmed piece, "and the band weren't playing until Thursday, so we had three days to
The Old Grey Whistle Test of the show as part of "Rutland Weekend Television" in 1975, featuring Eric Idle as Harris, is the first known mention of the fictional band, "Toad The Wet Sprocket" – a later reference on a Monty Python album gave rise to the real-life band of the same name. The parody also featured "all-dead" musician Stan Fitch, whose silent, motionless performance was treated with quick zooms, close-ups, and other visual effects typical of shows like "Whistle Test". The show was parodied on an episode of "The Benny Hill Show", originally aired on 24 September 1975, being called "Old Grey Whistle Tester".