MSG review from Billboard

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

Available on line at:
http://www.billboard.com/livereviews/archive/1004thewho.asp

The Who
With The Wallflowers and Unamerican
Oct. 3 2000
New York (Madison Square Garden)

Back on the Who's initial "reunion" tour in 1988, which was sponsored by
Budweiser and possessed little of the rock power that made the U.K. group
legends in the first place, guitarist Pete Townshend played hidden behind a
plexiglass shield to protect his ravaged eardrums.

The whole scene provided a disheartening rejoinder to his famous quip, "hope
I die before I get old," and seemed to foreshadow continuing money-grubbing
tours even at the expense of the band members' very existences.

But more than a decade later, the Who's surviving triumvirate (Townshend,
vocalist Roger Daltrey, and bassist John Entwistle) are remarkably
energized, belying their 50-something years with good, old-fashioned
rock'n'roll shows in the same arenas they used to vanquish back in the day.

On this night (Oct. 3), the site was New York's famed Madison Square Garden,
for what was to have been a classic rock titans double bill with Led
Zeppelin's Jimmy Page with the Black Crowes.

And even though Page's recent back injury squashed the pairing, the Who
lived up to their end of the bargain. Still, with most tickets carrying a
face value of $250 -- and hundreds of empty seats littering the arena thanks
to a high volume of returns following the pullout of Page and the Crowes --
the first of a four-night stand fell just short of the drool-inducing
extravaganza that it might have been.

Not that the Who didn't give it their all. The trio -- rounded out by
longtime keyboardist John "Rabbit" Bundrick on keyboards and Zak Starkey on
drums -- did everything but approach their first night at MSG as if it were
a typical concert. Townshend attacked much of the material, including
non-album track "Relay" and "Who's Next"'s "Getting In Tune," as if it was
the first time he'd taken it out for a spin in years.

A buff and tan Daltrey, although unable to hit some of the high notes,
seemed both at ease with the material and genuinely inspired by most of it,
particularly Entwistle's astounding solo on "5:15."

But as much as one would like them to be, the Who of 2000 are not the edgy,
unpredictable Who of lore. Once a band whose concerts could be approached
with anticipation and even fear is now, sadly, somewhat of a nostalgia act,
although one that can still delight audiences on the basis of talent and
execution alone.

Their penchant for jamming was a pleasant surprise, especially on what are,
on record, concise pop ditties: "Anyhow, Anyway, Anywhere" and the seminal
anthem "My Generation," an extended, revamped version of which closed the
19-song performance.

Although he sang all but one song (Townshend tackled "Drowned" solo with an
acoustic guitar), Daltrey was quiet for most of the night. Townshend, on the
other hand, relished in a storyteller role, offering tidbits about various
songs, poking fun at himself and the band's cannon of classic rock radio
favorites, and occasionally attempting to profoundly explain the lyrical
sentiments of his youth.

Soaking it all in from stage right was four-fifths of Pearl Jam, including
frontman Eddie Vedder, to whom Daltrey dedicated the rollicking "Who's Next"
outtake "Let's See Action." Last November, Vedder performed the song with
the Who at two Chicago charity concerts, and has looked to Townshend as a
confidant in recent years.

Sure, many in the crowd would have loved to see Pearl Jam onstage in place
of Page and the Crowes, but the Wallflowers provided an adequate, if largely
uninspiring, substitute. The Jakob Dylan-lead six-piece ran through
spontaneity-free versions of their modern rock hits ("One Headlight," "6th
Avenue Heartache"), some new songs from the upcoming "Breach" album, and its
facsimile of David Bowie's "Heroes" in an eight-song, 40-minute set.

Earlier, as it has done for most of the tour so far, U.K. rockers Unamerican
got the show started with a 30-minute performance in a nearly empty arena.

So, it wasn't a rock event for the ages. Maybe the Who should have bagged
the whole run following Page's injury, or rescheduled more reasonably priced
arena shows. But of all groups, the Who know that the show must go on. On
this night, they came through as best as they could. And that's still better
than most any band still rocking out at this late date.

-- Jonathan Cohen and Barry A. Jeckell, N.Y.

Here is the Who's setlist:
"I Can't Explain"
"Substitute"
"Anyhow, Anyway, Anywhere"
"Relay"
"My Wife"
"Baba O'Riley"
"Bargain"
"Getting In Tune"
"Drowned"
"Behind Blue Eyes"
"Pinball Wizard"
"The Real Me"
"You Better You Bet"
"Who Are You"
"5:15"
"Won't Get Fooled Again"
encores:
"The Kids Are Alright"
"Let's See Action"
"My Generation"

Here is the Wallflowers' setlist:
"Sleepwalker"
"Some Flowers Bloom Dead"
"Letters From The Wasteland"
"6th Ave. Heartache"
"3 Marlenas"
"One Headlight"
"Heroes"
"The Difference"
© 2000 Billboard and BPI Communications Inc.

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