Cleveland review from Cleveland Plain-Dealer

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

Available on line at:
http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/index.ssf?/entertainment/pd/ee01who.h
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Rockers show Gund Arena they aren't ready to retire
Sunday, October 01, 2000

By JOHN SOEDER
PLAIN DEALER POP MUSIC CRITIC

People will try to put them down just because they hung around.

The surviving members of the Who seem fated to spend the rest of their lives
living down the rallying cry of their youth: "Hope I die before I get old!"

Nonetheless, singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend and bass player
John Entwistle - all in their mid-50s now - performed last night at Gund
Arena with an intensity that most rock 'n' rollers half their age would be
hard-pressed to match.

This was the next-to-last stop on the Who's third post-farewell tour.
Previous reunion outings have found the British band re-creating its
rock-opera albums "Tommy" and "Quadrophenia."

The show roared to life with a rough-and-ready version of "I Can't Explain."
Townshend did his trademark windmill move and slashed at his guitar like
Norman Bates in the "Psycho" shower scene. It was just like old times -
maybe even better.

Energetic renditions of "Substitute" and "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere"
maintained the momentum.

"It's good to be back here. We have a lot of friends, a lot of real friends
in Cleveland," Townshend said. He wore a black suit and a gray shirt that
matched what little hair he has left.

There was no shortage of impressive guitar pyrotechnics on Townshend's part.
His inspired outbursts weren't solos - they were musical exorcisms that
begged the question, "Who are you calling grandpa, punk?"

Daltrey was the best-preserved of the bunch. Blond and tan, he cut a lean,
mean figure in a gray shirt and black jeans as he belted out the likes of
"Pinball Wizard" and "Who Are You" with passionate vigor. He also swung his
microphone like a lariat.

Entwistle was typically low-key in a black leather jacket and black jeans as
he speed-dialed his bass, laying down a series of especially stunning riffs
for "The Real Me." He also handled lead vocals on "My Wife."

Backing the band's founding members were longtime touring keyboardist John
"Rabbit" Bundrick and drummer Zak Starkey, Ringo Starr's son.

Bundrick had a chance to shine at the end of "The Relay," vamping on an
organ over a futuristic funk groove. Starkey was spectacular from start to
finish, keeping time with a sense of reckless abandon that recalled the
style of original Who drummer Keith Moon, who died in 1978.

The middle of the set was stacked with selections from the Who's milestone
1971 album, "Who's Next." Green spotlights flashed during "Baba O'Riley" and
the crowd sang along when Townshend delivered the immortal line: "It's only
a teenage wasteland!" Truth be told, it looked more like a baby boomer
paradise in the venue.

People took their seats to the music of UnAmerican, a quartet from London.
The group's arena rock was competent yet not particularly catchy, with "She'
s a Bomb" and other tunes all stuck in the same mid-tempo rut.
By JOHN SOEDER
©2000 THE PLAIN DEALER.

        -Brian in Atlanta
         The Who This Month!
        http://members.home.net/cadyb/who.htm