Re: The Streets of Philadelphia

[Ty Conner <wthyo@twcny.rr.com>]

Here's the set list from last night as posted on alt.music.who:

I Can't Explain, Substitute, Anyway Anyhow Anywhere, Relay, My Wife,
Baba O'Riley, The Seeker, Don't Even Know Myself, Getting In Tune, You
Better You Bet, Pinball Wizard, The Real Me, Magic Bus, Behind Blue
Eyes, Who Are You, 5:15, Won't Get Fooled Again

Encore: The Kids Are Alright, Let's See Action, My Generation

Here's a link to a Chicago Suntimes review:
http://www.suntimes.com/output/rock/who26.html

And finally here's a review from someone on alt.music.who:

Hi all -
I haven't been on this newsgroup in years (completely my own fault!) and
really wanted to write up some disjointed notes on the gig tonight.  If
nothing else, I could have these notes for myself, while the memories are
still fresh.
Hopefully these notes will juice up some of you out there who will be
attending the upcoming shows, and perhaps that's why I figured it was worth
sharing my babbling:

*****

I've always hated the World Music Theatre; it's a sterile joint, often
notorious for bad sound, a "police state" feel, and a general sense that the
stage is part of a giant space ship.  Nonetheless I had a hunch the boys in
the band would do their best to heat things up.

That said, it felt like they'd put up a "standard set" with the Can't
Explain-Substitute-AAA opener.  But out came some great quasi-obscurities
(at least relative to the standard audience): "The Relay", "The Seeker", "I
Don't Know Myself".   Some confusion occurred in "The Relay", as Pete,
extremely energetic, jammed and riffed a bit during the middle, and left
Roger singing one part, while Pete another.  Later Pete would joke about
their total pre-tour rehearsal time of 15.5 minutes.  This "jab" introduced
"I Don't Know Myself", a song which always was part of my "wish list" that I
long assumed they'd never do again.   The rendition of "5:15" was excellent,
a nice long version with all sorts of interplay between all four members,
including a brief bass solo interlude during which John *scorched*.  "Magic
Bus" ran forever, almost with a Live At Leeds feel to it, though it turned a
bit plodding at points, as if they were looking for ideas.  Still finished
big (as always) and turned out great.  Roger blew some great harp.  "Won't
Get Fooled..." was, as always, the powerful 'formal' end of the show, though
Pete was occasionally plagued by some equipment problems - understandable
for a first night.
Pete fans (like me) had all kinds of fun during the encore, when "Let's See
Action" hit the crowd.  One memory that will always stick with me was
standing in the bathroom after the show, doing my business, while half the
guys in the room sang their drunken choruses of "Let's See Action".  A great
idea for an encore, in context of the Lifehouse celebrations recently past.

In general, Pete still glowed with youth, in stark contrast to his aging
appearance.  The big 6-0 isn't far away, but he jumped around like he was 30
again.  Turning up his amps by hand (he played electric ONLY), playing solos
from his knees, inducing feedback from the amps, Pete was a living
self-museum of all his styles and sounds through the group's existence.  And
the guitar sounds were great; generally they were reminiscent of the '79/'82
sound (Strats into Fender amps), though he had the effects pedals for
dialing up some other sounds, such as the "twang" of "Anyway, Anyhow,
Anywhere", or a quieter, acousticish tone for the opening of "Behind Blue
Eyes".
The drumming was fantastic.  I'd been out of the loop with their personnel
in the last couple years, but this guy (Ringo's son?) was, to me, the best
post-Moon replacement ever.  Nobody can come close to Keith, but Keith was
probably looking down/up with pride.  John, as always, was rock-steady, and
Roger seemed to be pushing himself to the limit, drawing energy from Pete
all the while.
This is the third time around for me (82, 89 too) and I always wished I
could have been in attendance at one of those wild concerts from the early
70s.  But honestly, I don't wish that anymore - it was an exciting, powerful
show with very much a rogue feel to it, almost as if guys were deciding the
setlist on the fly, rather than a prefab, radio-friendly setlist that many
classic rock groups stick with.  It felt like the Who picked their song list
for ME, the fan of their more obscure back-catalog, songs we rarely even
hear on the radio, but love all the more.  I walked away feeling like they
played a very daring list of songs, trying to produce a special show on a
special night.  Never had I left a venue with such a sense of completeness -
and went home knowing I'd seen the best show in my 20 years of
concert-going.