Dotmusic review of London Arena

["Brian Cady" <cadyb@home.com>]

Again thanks to Matt Kent for pointing this out (he also has it posted at Pete's
site).  The original is on line at:
http://www.dotmusic.com/reviews/Live/November2000/reviews16429.asp

THE WHO - DOCKLANDS ARENA, LONDON
Gig Played: Mon 13 Nov 2000

Maybe we should begin at the end. A 15-minute-plus 'My Generation' sets out with
a spine shuddering re-reading of the song in all its familiar 1965 glory, Roger
Daltrey's stuttering "F- F- F- Fade away" egging 10,000 people into shouting
"F**k off!" with child-like glee, before giving way to an elongated funky blues
jam. Convoluted, multi-layered, self-aware and
generally very, very special, it's an excellent place to start.

Or maybe we should just begin as The Who do, five shadowy figures ambling onto
the stage and, casual as you like, diving abruptly into three of the finest
minutes of thrills rock music has yet delivered. 'I Can't Explain' is
magnificent: spiky, visceral, vital, energised and energising, the best band in
the world on a good night, times ten.

And yet, despite the sure-footed musicality, the confidence and supreme
capabilities on display, this is a show almost obsessed with exploring
conflicting notions of identity. There are numerous lyrical references to water,
sea and shores, images of journeys undertaken, points of division and decision
reached.

'Won't Get Fooled Again', delivered pretty straight, takes on new dimensions,
played by and for people who know that we all will, no matter how sussed and
aware we think we are. 'The Kids Are Alright', meanwhile, now sports extra
lines, Pete Townshend's awareness of the ironies in his original lyric and its
current setting adding fire and potency. Musing that "My kids are alright" or
opening the song with an affectionate nod to Robbie Williams might not be poetry
exactly, but it's from the heart, impassioned and forcefully meant, and is
therefore rock and
roll of the highest order.

There isn't anyone around at the moment - not anyone, regardless of Townshend's
impassioned between-song assertion that there's "still great music being made" -
who you can imagine, in 20 or 30 years' time, caring this much about playing
music and being understood. Townshend is still a believer, still a fanatic,
still a bloke you'd trust to tend the flames and keep them burning.

And while we all know "I hope I die before I get old" was always supposed to be
read with a wry smile, the final, marvellously symmetrical irony is that the
line rings ever more true at face value. The Who are older, and thus both wiser
and, it has to be said, better than they've probably ever been at playing live.
But as long as they love music as much as tonight shows they do, they're never
going to get old. More power to them.
Angus Batey
© dotmusic Ltd.

        -Brian in Atlanta
         The Who This Month!
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