Aging Rockers #2: THE WHO!

     My life is now better than it has ever been before because I have seen The Who live in concert.


The motherf-king WHO!!!

The Who has got to be the most rock and roll bunch of mods to have ever graced the planet. They embody everything that rock and roll has come to be. Smashing instruments, riding motorbikes through fancy clubs, buying and ruining fancy cars, The Who has done it all. And they deserve it, if only true rock gods can pull off stunts like this, these four boys are beyond worthy. Moon, Entwhistle, Townsend, and Daltrey; these are the (very British) names of rock and roll.

Keith Moon was a revolutionary drummer whose drum kit never stopped expanding over the years... except for the times when he blew it up. He was not content to just be the rhythm section, he played with an energy that many say has never been paralleled. His distinctive style shines through every classic Who track and already the bar is set up a notch.

John Entwhistle, The Ox, is quite possibly the coolest bass player to ever exist. With bass being another one of those instruments that the average listener could take or leave, Entwhistle sure as hell took it to a place it has never been since. Go look at a bass guitar, those four strings are thick and stubborn. Where many bassists are content to roll out bar after bar of tonics and dominants in a nice steady rhythm, Entwhistle was creative and  really thrashed. If the words "bass solo" mean anything to you it's probably because of him.

Pete Townsend is right near the top of every "greatest guitar players of all time" list ever made. This is no mistake. His playing is powerful yet meaningful at the same time. This is also the man who brought us the windmill which has become synonymous with face melting. Beyond his guitar genius are layers of creative genius, composing genius, and lyrical genius. As the main song writer for The Who, Townsend has gifted us with such works as the rock operas Quadrophenia and Tommy, as well as dozens of amazing songs, Baba O'Riley springs to mind.

And, of course, where would any band be without lead vocals? Jesus, what is there to say about Roger Daltrey that one note from his rock God pipes couldn't broadcast to the universe? He is quite possibly the most vocally expressive rock singer out there. He will sing himself ragged to do Pete's songs justice. He commits to every single note he produces and backs up all of that raw emotion with sheer talent.

Behold

 

When I heard that The Who were touring Quadrophenia and were stopping in Denver I knew deep in my classic rock loving heart that I would be at that show. I got my tickets the day before they went on sale... It was an accident, I got over excited and maybe, sort of got them through a third party source, a little bit. Whatever, I don't even regret it! After the initial excitement of obtaining the tickets came many months of waiting. There were times when it seemed like the concert would never actually come and the tickets were just a figment of my imagination that were really persistently hanging around my the top drawer of my desk. My delusional excitement was kept alive though by an outpouring of rave reviews for the show as it played in other cities.



Finally, the day of the concert had arrived. I woke up with The Real Me running through my head. I worked out a the perfect blend of rocker and mod fashions and rocked the look through a full day of classes and meetings. I literally felt too cool for school. I met my dad at school and we went straight to the Pepsi Center. Pro tip: when going to old guy concerts, always take an old guy, you would never guess it but they know how to rock!







I insisted on getting there really early,
every seat was filled for the concert.

First, shirts. Of course I had to get my concert swag to mark this auspicious occasion. Yes, the price was unholy but I don't think I've taken it off since. Then, drinks. What did the mods drink? I don't know, I had a whiskey Dad had a Pepsi. Another perk of taking old guys to concerts, you can attempt to peer pressure them and it's hilarious. Next, seats. Nosebleeds, about a thousand miles from the stage but they were dead center meaning the sound would be excellent so I was happy. Opening act, Vintage Trouble. They were good, very bluesy rock. Then it was just waiting for the big moment.

 

 

 

 

Finally, the big moment, and damn it was a big moment. The house lights drop, the screens come alive with waves, the opening sounds of I Am the Sea are heard and two tiny figures enter from stage right. I could have died. Straight away the music took off and the boys were powering ahead into Quadrophenia. About halfway into the second song (The Real Me) Pete hit his first windmill, the crowd exploded and there was no going back, we were rocking.

 

Quadrophenia is a rock opera about, a boy named Jimmy, an English teenager living life among the mods and the rockers in 1965. Jimmy also happens to have four different personalities. The story is deep and the whole piece is seriously excellent music, truly an outstanding example of its genre.

 

*warning: music nerd rant follows...

 

Qudrophenia's composition is surprisingly sophisticated; technical in nature, but powerful and beautiful in sound. Pete modeled each of Jimmy's four personalities after one of the four band members and each personality is tied to a distinct bit of music within the piece as a whole. In music jargon these are called leitmotifs and you know who else used them? Just some little composers like Richard Wagner, Claude Debussey, and John Williams. Pete deftly weaves these bits together throughout the piece and the result is emotional, poignant, and musically compelling. In the penultimate song, The Rock, all four of these themes come together for a few glorious moments with one acting as the chord progression, one as the melody, one as a counter melody, and the last as the lead guitar part. I suspect that part of what makes this music so enthralling to see live is how engaging it is. It’s not the kind of thing that you could play on autopilot like My Generation. The band was clearly completely committed to and focused on the music and that translated to one hell of a live performance.

 

... end nerd rant*

 

Quadrophenia closes with the rafter-shaking, heart-stopping Love Reign O'er Me. Roger nailed it. Bolstered by the rock solid, face melting yet somehow sensitive chords blasting from Pete's guitar, Roger sang this one like it was the last time anyone would ever hear it. I was absolutely entranced by how passionate he was and couldn't take my eyes of off the tiny speck of his body until he let that last note soar. The whole album builds to that point and Roger did not let anyone down. Both he and Pete performed to what seemed like their absolute fullest potential. Completely in sync on this last piece, the culmination of 50 years of music making filled every inch of the arena. It was genuinely one of those amazing moments that affects you so deeply and can only come from the organic making of music. It is a moment which I expect will stay with me for a long, long time and I am more than happy to have it.



twirling

Other high lights of Quadrophenia include: Roger committing to one of his crazy acrobatic microphone twirling sessions and nailing it like a Russian gymnast. Also, every single time Pete hit a windmill. Then, on 5:15, rather than reworking the music or letting someone else play it, the screens were filled with John Entwhistle’s legendary bass solo from Royal Albert Hall in 2000. The crowd loved it and even Roger and Pete turned to watch. It was so expertly blended, it honestly felt like he was there and that really lent something to the wholeness of Quadrophenia. As similar thing happened on Bell Boy when Keith Moon appeared and took over the vocals. It was old footage and his young face looked right at home there with Roger and Pete who are still so young at heart. In both cases I think it was the perfect way to handle the absence of these integral band members. It kept the album feeling complete and was a great homage to two excellent musicians who were loved by everyone in the place.

Windmilling

After Quadrophenia, the boys took in the thunderous applause for a few minutes and then introduced the band. Of course we all knew Roger and Pete. Simon Townsend, yes, Pete’s brother, was also there shredding on rhythm guitar. Some families have all the talent. Zak Starkey, son of Richard Starkey, you know, Ringo Starr, has been playing drums for the first part of the tour but unfortunately he’s had a bit of tendon trouble. Luckily a guy called Scott Devours stepped in and as Pete told us, “came in and played it perfectly the first time. He’s been fucking it up ever since.” If that’s true I didn’t notice, it sounded great to me. Some guy called Pino Pallidino was on bass and though he was no Entwhistle he certainly didn’t detract anything. Then there were 3 guys on keyboards to achieve all of the complicated layered stuff on the studio album and two guys on horns, whose names I didn’t catch. They were all good to be sure but I’ll be honest when I say they were far from my main focus.

Townsend the younger and various other band members

From there, it was straight back to rocking with a short greatest hits set. The screens went from the serious and evocative array of photos and clips that Roger had compiled to accompany Quadrophenia to mod graphics and the party was on. They kicked off this set with Who Are You and kept everyone rocking and singing along to Behind Blue Eyes, Baba O’Riley, and Pinball Wizard (which they absolutely flew through, perhaps because Pete apparently kind of hates it). At the end of Baba O’Riley, Roger replaced the world’s most gut busting violin solo with the world’s most rockin harmonica solo. The old adage held true, everything is better on harmonica! They closed the show with Won’t Get Fooled Again. It was energetic, a little mean, super loud, and featured a top notch Daltrey rock scream. It really was the perfect song to end on. As excellent as Quadrophenia was, I’m so glad we got these hits as well because, hell, these are what made The Who The Who.

 

After the crazed applause and chanting died down, Roger and Pete went acoustic and brought it on down with a lovely rendition of Tea and Theatre. Roger, being ever so British,  even had his Union Jack mug on hand. It was fitting to end the Who-centric, retrospective extravaganza with a piece that was just Roger’s and Pete’s; it really brought us all back into the here and now. After more thunderous applause Pete thanked us for welcoming them to Denver and mentioned how much they loved it here though they wouldn’t have time to go driving around seeing things or make it up to the mountains to smoke dope like they used to. I couldn’t quite tell if that was a joke or if they were actually a little bummed. Roger gave a nice little wave and a word of thanks and off they went; on to the next for them while the biggest night of my year (life?) came to a close. It. Was. AWESOME.

  

Sadly (?) no instruments were harmed in the February 12th show



The thing about seeing The Who live in 2013 is that they are rock icons and have been so for many years at this point. You know all of their songs and you’re more than familiar with their sound. It’s hard not to go into it without holding some expectations but you know that you shouldn’t because this isn’t their 1970’s heyday any more. It is honestly a tiny bit nerve wracking waiting for the show to start. You just wasn’t a slice of that talent and soul and rock but you know that the fact of the matter is that the just aren’t what they used to be. Roger and Pete are both 69 now and they have certainly earned the right to go a little flat or tone down their energy levels. But they haven’t! Sure, there were a few times when Roger didn’t go for the high notes from the album. But when he didn’t it felt like the organic improvisation that is characteristic of any great performance; he didn’t go there because he didn’t want to, not because he couldn’t. In those moments where the high notes really matter Roger gave them to us. And Pete’s voice isn’t that distinctive tenor timbre that it used to be. It’s a bit gravely and bluesy now and I loved how it fit into Quadrophenia and even those old hits with just a bit of wizened edge. If anything was lost to the effects of age it was more than made up for with the effect of experience and the musical expertise that comes with it. I could not have expected anything more or been any happier with this show… that is, unless by pure happenstance, I ended up back stage with Roger and Pete and we all became best friends.