Re[2]: What Was The Encore Saturday Night?

> From: DWilson@tribune.com
> Date: Thu, 25 Jul 1996 12:16:33 -0500
> Subject: Re[2]: What Was The Encore Saturday Night?
> 
> All: 
> Just ran across this glowing celebration of Quadrophenia from the St. Paul
> Pioneer Press. 

Thanks for posting this, D.

>  The Who's Quadrophenia, re-released this month, remains timeless
>   
>    By Jim Walsh
>    Knight-Ridder Newspapers
>    (KRT)
>    At the St. Paul Civic Center on a Saturday night, 17,000 rock fans were
> gathered in the name of Kiss. [snip]
>
>    Heads bobbed, people checked out their watches and each other and quaffed
> beer. It was a typical arena rock ritual, until the strains of The Who's ``Baba
> O'Reilly'' filled the cavern. A cheer rose up, thousands turned toward the
> stage, as if The Who themselves had just entered the building. They sang along
> to the chorus of ``We don't get fooled again,'' and when Keith Moon's crazed
> drum solo gave way to Roger Daltrey's cathartic ``Yeaaaaaaaarrrrrrrr,''the
> entire crowd came to its feet on cue, as if responding to a pastor's ``Please
> rise.''

<SIGH> Not satisfied with misidentifying the song, Mr. Walsh (and/or
his editors) manage to misspell the misidentification.  :-P

However, inferring that it was indeed WGFA that was played, allow me
to wax nostalgic for the yesteryear of 1987, when I was working at the
move-out of a KISS show here in Austin.  The farewell tour was five
years gone by.  I entered the arena about 10:45 -- and what did I hear
but them start into WGFA!  It was the first time in five years I'd
heard that song at concert volume, and, although there were things I
would have improved in the presentation, it was great to hear it in a
full-tilt setting, also considering that for all I knew I'd never hear
Pete play it again.  KISS went up a notch in my estimation.

Later I noticed a setlist taped up in the dressing room which had at
the bottom under all the other songs: "WHO TUNE".  KISS returned to
their former place in my estimation.

Also, the reference to the pastor and "Please rise" echoed a sentiment
I felt and had expressed to me over the past week; the MSG shows were
spiritually inspiring, like a church.  The flip side of this,
especially given the set nature of the program, was that it was not
exactly what I would call fun.  Extremely enjoyable, but not fun.
OTOH, the Bar Bat show with John et al was fun in a way that Quad
wasn't, although not inspirational in the same way.


> and ``Drowned'' do best is to chronicle the uncertainty of youth. ``I feel I'm
> being followed/My head is empty, and every word I say turns out a sentence,''
                                   ^^^  yet, isn't it?  Makes more sense.

> Townshend wails, eerily, Cobainlike, on ``Is It in My Head?''


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Alan McKendree        amck@eden.com        512-478-9900 x206
Adhesive Media, 101 W. 6th St., Ste. 210, Austin, TX   78701