Grand Rapids Press on Grand Rapids

[Brian Cady <brianinatlanta2001@xxxxxxxxx>]

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This is...What The Who Do 


Wednesday, August 28, 2002

By John Sinkevics
The Grand Rapids Press

As painfully candid and ornery as Pete Townshend can
be at times, the Who's guitarist also oozes sincerity
with his relentless intensity on stage, forever
enshrining him as one of rock 'n' roll's most
endearing performers. 

On Tuesday night at Van Andel Arena, Townshend -- amid
a stunning 21/4-hour display of machine-gun-like
guitar riffs and his trademark, arm-swooping windmills
-- was shrewd enough to recognize that special bond,
especially considering fans paid as much as $225 a
ticket to see guys whose last bona fide hit single
rode the airwaves two decades ago. 

"Thank you for dragging your hard-working bodies here
to see us play. Thank you for paying your hard-earned
cash to see us play," he told an exuberant,
very-near-sellout crowd of more than 10,000. "We
really appreciate it." 

There's a school of thought that would paint the Who
as an oldies act capitalizing on its colorful legacy
to cash in on a high-priced reunion tour (even if
there are only two original Whos left in Whoville to
reunite). 

Then there's the academy of raving rock fandom: "Holy
Toledo, the Who is playing Grand Rapids, fer cryin'
out loud!" 

Both camps are right, of course. 

But the legendary British group's first-ever Grand
Rapids concert left few caring about the band's
motives for touring so soon after the death of one of
its own, bassist John Entwistle, or worrying about the
size of Daltrey 'n' Townshend's checkbooks. That's
because at their best -- and they were Tuesday -- they
still capture the youthful rebelliousness of rock,
even if Daltrey-Townshend are "kids" who've slipped
into the darker, or grayer, half of their 50s. 

Their songs -- "My Generation," "Anyway, Anyhow,
Anywhere," "The Kids Are Alright" -- still resonate
with an anti-establishment cockiness that works as an
anthem for four decades of rock, so much so that when
Daltrey and Townshend changed the lyrics to "our kids
are all right" it sounded, well, all right and drew
mammoth cheers from the mostly 40-and-over audience
(though it should be noted that teens and
20-somethings were a visible presence in the arena). 

That same audience, though overwhelmingly drawn to the
Who, gave former Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant
and his new band Strange Sensation a raucous standing
ovation at the end of Plant's one-hour-plus opening
set -- a set that called upon his dark and dreamy new
solo album, "Dreamland," as well as heavy standards
from the Zeppelin era, including a blistering encore
version of "Whole Lotta Love." 

Nobody "ooohs" and "baby, baby, baby's" quite like
Plant, whose voice actually sounds stronger and more
versatile than it did several years ago when he toured
with guitarist and ex-bandmate Jimmy Page. 

Nobody plays rock guitar quite like Townshend, either.


The godfather of punk himself is still a monster on
the instrument, even if he looks like a crazed
chemistry instructor on a weekend fling, playing with
more energy and sheer rhythmic power than rock
musicians (and high school teachers) one-third his
age. 

He's literally impossible not to watch, whether
seesawing back and forth with his guitar pointed like
a bayonet at the crowd during "Bargain," leaping into
the air at the end of "Baba O'Riley," furiously
pounding the strings on "The Relay" and "Sea and Sand"
or deftly tweaking his guitar's whammy bar and
twisting the volume knob in one fluid motion to get
the perfect unbridled tone on "5:15." Yes, the kid can
still play. 

Daltrey, though clearly straining to hit some high
notes, remains as fit as a kid, making up for any
vocal shortcomings with an ebullient delivery, those
signature microphone cord swings and such emphatic
tambourine pounding that one of the percussion
instruments literally disintegrated in a shower of
jangles and straps on "See Me Feel Me," which closed
the encore. 

Townshend addressed some of the gruff vocals after
Daltrey chose to forgo a line at the end of "Love
Reign O'er Me," explaining the group had three
back-to-back shows last weekend and there's "not much
you can do about it except croak." 

The Who did much more than just croak. 

Much better rehearsed and clearly more potent than
they were on their 2000 tour, which made a stop at the
Palace of Auburn Hills, the band benefited from Zak
Starkey's ever more blistering drum work (which fans
now seem to appreciate almost as much as that of
original drummer Keith Moon), John "Rabbit" Bundrick's
solid keyboard playing and the additions of
Townshend's brother, Simon, on rhythm guitar and
studio bassist Pino Palladino, who filled in admirably
with an Entwistle-like reservedness. Entwistle died in
late June of a heart attack caused by cocaine use just
as the Who was set to begin its U.S. tour. Townshend
briefly acknowledged his fallen comrade, saying other
band members "made the whole thing easier to bear." 

On Tuesday, half of that whole Who thing -- namely,
Townshend and Daltrey -- turned out to be more than
enough for most die-hard disciples. 

These kids really are all right.


=====
-Brian in Atlanta
The Who This Month!
http://www.thewhothismonth.com
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