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1989 tour and so on
I thought I'd throw in my 2cents on this topic. I was 12 when The Who came
to Sullivan Stadium in the summer of 89. At the time my interest in the Who
was limited to the Whos Better Whos Best CD. I was still preoccupied with
little league and Van Halen solos...however I do have the double CD Join
Together, the Tommy concert video and a few bootlegs of that tour.
Personally it's not my favorite period but like every Who tour it had it's
good points. The setlists of course being a major turn on. From what I've
seen and heard about that tour it was fantastic. The reviews were mostly
favorable, the performances consistent and large sums of money went to good
causes. As Pete was quoted as saying at the time,
"Form follows function...the function of the Who in 1989 is different than
it was in the 1970s..."
In 1996 when they reformed to play Quadrophenia I was euphoric. I watched
and documented the HBO broadcast and I knew that no matter what was said,
they would be coming to the US for a tour. Call it intuition, I'm sure most
of you knew it too;) I remember manning my tape deck the night of the MSG
broadcast and being near orgasm for 2 1/2 hours. When they finnaly did come
to the Centrum in Worcester I thought the show was fantastic and IMO the
backing band was far better (more suited I should say) than the 1989 band.
However I remember seeing reviews with headers like: "Talking About My
Re-Generation" and "We Won't Go Broke Again". While there were plenty of
good reviews it seemed that their crediblity had suffered. Back around in
1997 to cash in on the summer sheds and the reviews were much the same,
although not as plentiful.
Then we have what I think is the best Who tour of my lifetime, the 2000
tour. Here we have many great reviews marveling at the energy and sound they
were able to create at their age. The return to a five-piece unit no doubt
restored much of the crediblilty they had lost and proved that they didn't
*need* extra musicians if they didn't want them. Personally I only want to
hear Pete on lead with the Who although Simon was a welcome subsitute in 96
(lets face it, I didnt' think PT would ever play electric with the Who ever
again so...) but I can do without Steve Boton, Phil Palmer, Geoff Whitehorn
or whoever else. All great players in thier own right but stylisticly wrong
for the music IMO.
The 2002 tour was great of course. I can only imagine what it would have
been like had we not lost the OX. That being said I think that the first
reunion shows in 1999 through the early shows of 2002 were the best we
could've hoped for...especially for those of us who were too young to have
seen the original band. Not sure that I have actually said anything of
substance here but...whatever...rock and rolls all that counts.
peace
Andy
"I don't talk to musicians...
they might influence me."
- Pete Townshend
Mansfield, Mass 7/26/2002
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