Dallas Article

[Dan Smedstad <wwmarketers@mindspring.com>]

Here is an article about the upcoming Who show in Dallas on the 27th:

http://www.justgo.com/dfw/
(this isn't a direct link, you'll need to click on "Nightlife and Music",
then scroll down:

Who cares? Fans, that's who, should catch this show -- The Who at Reunion
Arena 

By Dave Ferman
Star-Telegram Pop Music Critic 

How to approach the Who's current tour? 

The cynic has to look at Pete Townshend, 55, Roger Daltrey, 56, and John
Entwistle, 54, touring America yet again and scoff. They're calling this
their "greatest hits tour"? What else have these guys been doing for the
past, oh, 30 years besides offering up `Behind Blue Eyes, Baba O'Riley,
Substitute, Won't Get Fooled Again' and a hearty handful more?

Precisely nothing.

And haven't they already asked us, the faithful, to shell out money to see
them `just one more time' at least `twice' already? In big, impersonal
stadiums, where the sound was loud mud? And aren't they charging up to $150
per seat in some markets (although not Dallas' Reunion Arena, where they
play Sunday)?

So how many times, the cynic says, are they going to flog their legacy into
the ground before ever-shrinking audiences? Isn't there a time when it's
best to just stop, count your money, and go live in that country mansion?

All of the above is true. No question about it. But it's also true that:

a) This is the Who, and their back catalog is one of the best of any rock
band, ever.

b) At least this time out they're not telling us it's
`thefinaltourandwereallymeanitthistime,maaan.' And they're playing indoors,
which should result in at least slightly better sound than when they were
at the Cotton Bowl all those years ago.

c) The evidence -- from both reviews on the Web and their recent
Internet-only two-CD live set `The Blues to the Bush/1999' -- is that they
can still burn onstage. Really. Put on `Bush' -- and if you're a fan, you
should have it by now -- and listen to darned-near definitive versions of
all of the above and several more.

The band has dropped the big-band approach of the past: This time it's just
Townshend, Entwistle, Daltrey, Ringo Starr's son Zak Starkey on drums and
old hand (and native Texan) John "Rabbit" Bundrick on keyboards.

And if it's the hits you want, it's the hits you'll get: Recent shows have
featured around 20 songs, including all of the above, plus `The Real Me,'
`My Wife,' `Magic Bus,' and the like, in addition to `Let's See Action,' a
highlight from Townshend's first solo record, 1972's `Who Came First.' 

Only two songs released in the past 22 years -- `Who Are You' and `You
Better You Bet' -- have made the cut.

And this is probably `not' the last time: The band is working on new
material; a CD will probably see the light of day next year.

"We're not quite retired yet," Townshend told `Newsday,' "and I know
Roger's got a lot of passion about this stuff. But for me, one of the
things that's nice is that I can do it without getting heated about it,
without panicking about whether or not I'm going to find it inspiring."

UnAmerican, a young British band, opens the show.


"The Holocaust was an obscene period in our nation's history. I mean in
this century's history. But we all lived in this century. I didn't live in
this century." --Vice President and Presidential candiadte Al Gore, 9/15/95 

Cheers!
Dan