Hollywood Bowl Concert Report

[Carl Kishel <carlkishel@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hello, just got back from the concert. Some of you
have requested a full report. Here is my take on the
kickoff show. Please forgive the sloppiness as it is
late. We got to the bowl to pick up our tickets at
will-call about three hours before the concert. There
werent too many fans hanging out, probably about 100
or so with about 30 people ahead of us in line. Of
course there were only three ticket windows open so it
took us over a half hour to pick up the tickets. As we
walked through the scattered crowd to the ticket line
passing the JBL sponsored concert truck blasting Who
music and a few vendors selling beers and $4 genuine
Hollywood hotdogs, there was something definitely in
the air. It didnt take long to realize that this
something was nothing. Ever walk through the crowd
before a concert or ballgame? You know there is a
certain buzz happening. I did not experience this
feeling today. Perhaps it was just me. Itll be
interesting to see what others write about this.
Talking to a few people in line about John and the
tour was actually pretty easy. As a matter of fact,
everyone I talked to agreed that it was good that the
tour continue in memoriam of John and a great way to
pay a tribute though most were shocked about the
decision. Looking back I think the shock comes from
how quick the decision came as opposed to what the
decision was but thats another topic. After we got
our tickets we left the bowl to walk around NOHO. In
our 5 years of living in SoCal, we really never
checked out the Hollywood and Highland area. Of course
the area  is pretty much the big tourist trap that one
may think of. The cool thing is that Guitar Center and
Sam Ash is only a 45 minute walk from the bowl but we
didnt want to travel too far so we just ended up
grabbing a bite to eat at a food court near by.

Arriving back at 7:45pm we heard the Counting Crows
playing already. I know that the concert was to start
at 7:30pm but since when did these things ever start
on time? I was thinking no biggie as Im not a huge
fan but they were very good. As we passed security and
the ticket collector to make our way to our seats we
passed by the official Who souvenir stand. It was easy
to spot as there was a heard of people 20 lines long
by at least 20 people deep with only three people
working the stand. To make matters worse this was the
only stand at the bowl! For 20,000 people! Very dumb
and tempers were a bit short at times. They had the
typical t-shirts, etc. starting at $33. The program is
$20. It has some decent pics and about 20 pages with
only the first two with commentary. The buz in the
crowd was still not there as far as I could tell.

We found our seats about 20 minutes later. Section Q1,
Row 15. About > away from the stage. It was OK. The
bowl isnt that big so most seats are acceptable. The
Crow were still playing by this time. As I mentioned
before, they did sound good. At one point the lead
singer began to talk about some of the songs they were
going to do next but stopped himself and said that
they were going to go through their set quickly for
obvious reasons. He also mentioned that he was
metaphorically shitting his pants because they were
the Whos opening act but looked forward to hanging
out with them for the next few weeks and also said
that hes already been to the best concert which was
the Whos sound check earlier that day. The Crows
finished playing at 8:15pm.

Between that time and the time the boys hit the stage,
my wife and I had some cool conversations with the
other people sitting around us. I was only 12 years
old when Moon died and saw the Who first at JFK in 82.
It was great to hear some of the veteran fans talk
about their concert experiences. Most notably was a
concert this dude was at back in I think 75. He said
Moons drumkit was filled with water and had goldfish
in it. What a loon. He also mentioned that there was a
guy behind Moon for the entire concert whose sole
purpose was to feed sticks to Keith as they were
constantly flying everywhere. The good old days Im
sure.

As the time grew closer and the stage set for the main
attraction, I did start to feel that buzz come around
(no this was not artificially induced, all we had was
our traditional coffee beforehand. I dont how some
people could drink and remember a concert experience.
I could never do that as I would be sleeping, sick, or
both). The anticipations grew as a video began to roll
across the large project screens. 

The video was a short clip featuring Pete, Roger, and
John about why they  were touring again and some of
the rehersal expereicences they had a few weeks ago.
There was also a cameo by their sound guy (Priden?)
and Rabbit. It was well done and obviously put
together as an idea before Johns passing. Shortly
after the short, the lights faded. 

The Who took the stage at 8:46pm. Everyone took their
positions in the dark and launched into I Cant
Explain as the opening number. Pete and Roger were
wearing black as was Pino. Pete had shades on for the
first number. Everyone tore into this number but I
have to admit, there was something missing both with
eyes open and shut. The bass was mixed low. Everyone
else was up in the mix. You could just make out the
bass lines. It was obvious that a BIG part of the
Whos sound was gone forever. Dont get e wrong, Pino
played well and I wasnt expecting him to replace
Johns trademark sound or playing. For better or for
worse (you decide) the bass was mixed low. Pete and
Zak however were awesome, at least for the first tune.


The next tunes were Substitute and Anyway, Anyhow,
Anywhere. In my opinion, the energy started to drift
as the concert progressed. After AAA, Roger mentioned
that this concert is in tribute to John.

Who are You was next. Again, everyone was playing
their hearts out but with each measure, the level was
slightly lower that the previous. Also, I began to
notice just how loud everyone was NOT. This was
probably the quietest Ive ever heard The Who. Perhaps
it was the venue? The bass was stille mixed way down
and was so for the duration. After WAY, Pete mentioned
that they were not goining to pretend that nothing
happened and thanked God for Pino filling in.

Another Tricky Day was next. This is one of my
favorites and Roger really stepped up with this one.
The look on his face when he sand what the papers say
seem to bring down heavier rain was so telling about
the present. BTW, Rogers voice was in excellent form
and right on for every note. After ATD, Pete began to
joke about the bowl enclosed stage and said he felt
like he was in a huge white vagina, then pointing at
the large white balls hanging from the ceiling he
joked about being in a testicle factory.

The next couple of numbers were Bargain, Baba,
Eminence Front, Sean and Sand, and 5:15. I know what
youre thinking about that last one but right after
Baba Pete acknowledged that this was very hard on
everyone and that someone he knew who was in the front
row had to leaveI was wondering what was going to
happen during 5:15. There was no bass solo which was
the right thing to do IMHO. 

Love Reign Over Me was next which was an awesome
version and things began to pick up here. Everyone
tore into this and executed flawlessly. After which
pete replied that they elt comfortable about starting
the show here as most of knew about the business even
though we were shallow and empty.

The remaining songs included Behind Blue Eyes, You
Better You Bet, The Kids Are Alright, My Generation,
and Wont Get Fooled Again. I know, I was gritting my
teeth during MG. It was here that I realized that Pino
probably had the toughest job in LA today. A session
bassist playing live with one of the worlds greatest
bands on opening night four days after the person your
are filling for passed away. Wow. Well he did well.
Pino did not hit every single note recorded by JAE but
what he did do fit, sort of. Im still mixed about
this. Im happy that the cameras focused on Roger and
Pete 90% of the time. I think Pino was only shown 4 or
5 times. But you keep expecting John to be there but
you know he is not. The sound just isnt there. The
Who werent really there. This thought eventually
helped me later on the path to closure. WGFA ended at
10:25pm.

So the concert was over until the inevitable encore.
Thinking back at the moment I thought, was this really
the healing moment I expected, am I glad I came to
this concert, is this the right thing to do so soon? I
dont know. Then they came back on.

Pinball Wizard was next. OK I thought. This isnt a
bad rendering. Whats next? The final two songs are
what did for me, Amazing Journey and See Me, Feel Me,
two numbers I havent heard live in a long, long, long
time and boy did they kick ass with these tunes. Wow!
Yes the bass was effectively missing but that gap I
believe is what brought out the better guitar player
in Pete. I think he realized that both he and Zak had
a much larger responsibility and they rose to it.

BTE, for those concerned with Simons exposure/role in
this tour, he is virtually unnoticeable except for the
fact of Pete introducing him.

While Pete and Roger waved to everyone one last time,
a few pictures of John and The Who were flashed on the
screens with a final pic of John. A somewhat cool way
of sharing the tribute with the fans.

In the end the path of healing began when we got back
to the car and I threw in a live CD, advanced to 5:15,
and heard the thunder. It was at this point I really
realized what an impact the Ox had on the Whos live
sound. He may have been one of four but his talent was
more than half. My suggestion would be to go into this
concert knowing that it WILL sound VERY different but
realize that the sound missing from the stage will be
forever in your heart. Thats the biggest tribute
anyone can give to another and it took this concert to
fully realize this. 

Carl
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