Pete in Boston

[therealme@earthlink.net]

     I went to see Pete in Boston last night, I am still
smiling. I love Pete's solo shows, they are always
different. Pete was in good voice, as anyone who saw him on
Lertteman Thursday night can attest to. He played a lot of
electric guitar, that is where he still shines. Man was that
good to see him having fun on stage. Guess what is Pete's
favorite Who song, the answer may surprise you. Read the
following  review from the Boston Globe to find the answer,
enjoy.

                  MUSIC REVIEW
                  Townshend reinvents rather than retreading

                  By Jim Sullivan, Globe Staff, 08/15/98

                      eet the new Pete, not quite the same
as the old Pete.

                  Then again, he never is, is he? The
reinvention of Pete Townshend -
                  confessional, self-critical, 53-year-old
guiding light-guitarist-singer of the band
                  that was the Who - continues, and the
reconfiguration of his songs (both solo
                  and Who) progresses in concert. And this
is good. I almost hate to write this,
                  but after absorbing Townshend's 2 1/2-hour
set at Harborlights along with a full
                  house of 4,500, I've got to say: I
understand why he does what he does and why
                  he's not eager to put the old warhorse
called the Who back together again. This
                  rock 'n' roll - hard-edged but warm, loose
but coiled - is the kind of adult rock
                  no one could have conceived of back in
1965, when the Who took on the elders
                  with ``My Generation.''

                  The key point last night: Townshend is
making the old new again. He gave a lot
                  of bang for the big ($45) buck. ``Anyway,
Anyhow, Anywhere,'' the old aggro
                  youth anthem, started in a contemplative
jam-band-mode and then mutated into a
                  power-chord bliss fest. Same with
Townshend's favorite cover song, the English
                  Beat's ``Save It for Later'' - a snooze
when he's done it solo acoustic, but a
                  heated, dynamic rocker here. The piece de
resistance was ``The Kids Are
                  Alright,'' where Townshend (the ex-punk)
shifted the context of ``the kids.'' It
                  used to be him and his gang, cocky, proud.
Now, it's his and his peers' kids -
                  ``nothing wrong with my kids, nothing
wrong with your kids,'' he said, while the
                  band vamped. It wasn't hokey.

                  The implication of the Who has always been
that the glory of rock 'n' roll can
                  shine through - for a moment, at least -
and transcendence might happen. It
                  happened last night with this band - not
the old boys' club of the Who, but very
                  much featuring females, guitarist-singer
Tracy Langran (who helped
                  choreograph ``Tommy'' on Broadway) and
percussionist Jody Linscott, a Boston
                  area native. From the stage, Townshend
said, ``You can see how I feel about
                  drummers, I won't have anything to do with
them anymore'' - he employed a
                  drum machine and a live bassist. This show
had a backbeat and a backbone. It
                  also, intermittently, gave us a glimpse of
Back Porch Pete, just a few geezers and
                  gals up there a-pickin' and a-grinnin',
folks who'd be sucking on straw if they
                  could.

                  Keyboardist-singer John Carin was the
band's anchor. Harmonica
                  player/jew's-harpist Peter Hope-Evans was
its spice. (He handled the quivering
                  synth part on ``Won't Get Fooled Again.'')
Townshend clearly enjoyed playing
                  off Langran. They dueted on ``The Acid
Queen,'' prior to which Townshend
                  announced he and she were ``both queens!''
(Townshend is out about his
                  bisexuality, among many other things.)

                  The show included old faves (``You Better,
You Bet,'' ``Drowned''), rarities (``A
                  Little Is Enough,'' ``North Country
Girl''), and oddball choices. Townshend
                  opened with Canned Heat's ``On the Road
Again'' and later played ``Going Up the
                  Country.'' These were meant, one assumes,
to conjure up the Woodstock
                  Festival of 1969. Townshend is playing
Woodstock again today and hopes, in
                  part, to atone for his misbehavior a long
time ago, when he figuratively peed on
                  the peace-and-love parade and literally
whacked activist Abbie Hoffman off the
                  stage.

                  Last night, Townshend had fun with his
sonic reinventions, jesting, to the
                  crowd, ``You go, `Oh, what's he done to
this song, ma?' I go, `They're paying
                  me loads of money to annoy them.' ... If
you think I'm annoying now, think
                  what I could do?'' This was just after a
lounge-y reprise of ``The Real Me,'' just
                  prior to a mock-operatic
Wagnerian/Zarathustra bit. We left to meet deadline as
                  ``Won't Get Fooled Again'' began to take
shape, but were told by knowledgeable
                  sources that guitar strings were broken,
Townshend left the stage, came back,
                  had more technical trouble during an
instrumental, played ``Magic Bus'' and then
                  was joined by a 22-member black choir for
the ``See Me, Feel Me'' finale, which
                  Townshed called ``a prayer.''

                  This story ran on page C01 of the Boston
Globe on 08/15/98.
                  © Copyright 1998 Globe Newspaper Company.