" I'm catching wednesdays show at MSG!! Psyched to see the Starkey Show! Dude puts on a clinic. "
< ---------- I would like to nuzzle you ---- Best " WHO " YET ...... !!!!!!!!!
" I hope I die before I get old."
" So Pete Townshend wrote and Roger Daltrey sang back in 1965 when the Who debuted. Neither got his wish, and that proved the good fortune of 7,000 nostalgic fans at Minneapolis' Target Center on Tuesday night, Nov. 27. For Townshend and Daltrey joined with eight other musicians and an elaborate multi-screen video presentation to give a grand distillation of the group's thunderous spirit.
Bands of the Who's vintage sometimes build tours around performing classic albums front-to-back, and the recording of choice for this sojourn is 1973's "Quadrophenia," a double-disc delivery of youthful angst and alienation. What could have seemed an incongruous evening of two men in their late 60s singing of the emotional terrain they traversed in the early '60s instead was a triumphant performance, one that felt like an affectionate farewell to one of rock's most distinctive bands.
Yes, Townshend may be 67 and Daltrey 68, but they were ful of energy on Tuesday, particularly still-windmilling-after-all-these-years guitarist Townshend. While both had a fair amount of strain and croak to their vocals, they made up for it by packing their performance with more conviction than anyone had a right to expect. The sorrowful power ballads of "Quadrophenia" surged and raged like the sea so often mentioned in them, while the rockers exploded with urgency.
taking us up to the era that Townshend was looking back upon when he composed "Quadrophenia": The teenage years that he spent among the mods, the fashion-following youth who made up the Who's first fan base and did battle with leather-clad rockers at seaside resorts.
Townshend's Brighton Beach memoir was delivered with impressive energy by the entire ensemble, really hitting its stride on the torrid tandem of "I've Had Enough" and "5:15." The former was haunting, as old footage of the band's
deceased rhythm section -- bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon -- shone behind Daltrey and Townshend as they harmonized with sad resignation on the words, "I've had enough of living." But the performance kicked into another gear on a furious, ferocious version of "5:15" that spawned the evening's first extended jam session, going well past the 10-minute mark thanks to lengthy solos from both Townshend and the fleet-fingered Entwistle, visiting from beyond via videotape.
With footage and faithful audio of Moon singing the title role in "Bell Boy," the show began to feel like an overdue memorial for the departed Who-mates, one that had the raucous spirit of an Irish wake. That's when the sense sunk in that Townshend and Daltrey were putting a cap on the band's career with this tour, that 47 years after their first album, they decided to give the Who a spirited send-off.
While composer Townshend's epic inclinations were indulged, this inventor of rock opera seemed intent upon reminding all in attendance that the Who was always, at heart, a high-energy rock band, built around anger, adrenaline and explosiveness. When the song called for big blasts of electricity -- as on "The Punk and the Godfather" and "Doctor Jimmy" -- it poured forth from the stage and filled the arena. And any remaining reserve was cast aside on a breathtakingly climactic "Love, Reign O'er Me," Daltrey's rough-edged vocals unleashing howls of catharsis.
The excitement didn't abate after the completion of "Quadrophenia," as the band offered a well-executed six-song encore that featured three from "Who's Next," including a thrilling "Won't Get Fooled Again" that was the last of several stellar examples of drummer Zak Starkey (yes, Ringo Starr's son) channeling Moon's exhilaratingly reckless style.
The night ended quietly, with just Daltrey and Townshend onstage for "Tea & Theatre," the acoustic ballad that closed their last studio album, 2006's "Endless Wire." It had a valedictory tone, the lyrics speaking of an enduring friendship and a last wistful look back. If this is indeed the Who's last visit to the Twin Cities, they went out with admirable abandon. "
http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/music/181111851.html
Pages: 
Townshend/Who News (nsc) (Read 314,466 times)
