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VH-1 and stuff




Can't resist throwing in my own 2 cents worth...

My general feeling: it was real cool to have the Who recognized enough by VH-1
that they would put this much on over a whole weekend.  Thanks to VH-1 for even
doing it.

Not a whole lot of new stuff (Rarities), some stuff that wasn't as good as I'd
hoped (Giant's Stadium), some stuff that I have a new appreciation for
(Toronto), and some stuff I feel bittersweet about (Tommy -- LA).

RARITIES:
I really liked the new interviews with Roger and Pete, especially the comments
by Rog about the magic that happened when the four of them got together, and by
Pete about how he feels about Roger & John when he thinks of the history they
have together.  I wish there had been more with John, but he's admittedly not
as good of an interview as any of the others (Keith included).  The heavy
editing really bugged me.  I'm glad that most of the footage is available
elsewhere (despite the title), because I hated seeing another attempt to stuff
the high points of the Who's career into a half hour show.

TOMMY -- LA
Entwistle's bass solo at the end of Amazing Journey just knocks me out each
time I hear it.  It's a great moment from a guy who has remained the most
enduring musician in the Who.  Rog's voice get's rougher and less melodic each
year, Pete's angry guitar playing disappeared several years ago, but JE
continues to play with the same virtuosity as ever.


GIANT'S STADIUM
Roger's harp work was great!  The high point, IMHO, of an otherwise so-so show.


TORONTO '82
When this tape came out, I thought it was fairly lame.  Now I see it and it
looks much better.  Except for the additional keyboard guy, it was just the
four of them.  That's SO MUCH BETTER...  You could hear the guitar, it still
had that sustain and that edge to it, which is what the other two shows were
missing.  You cannot take the sound of PT's guitar out of WGFA, replace it with
horns, and expect it to come across as anything but "the Who on Ice."


My feelings about the '89 tour are so confilcting... I saw the show in Tacoma
where Pete skewered his hand on the whammy bar of his guitar, and I remember
walking out with my best friend and I said to him, through a couple of tears,
that I deeply loved those guys and their music and their intensity and their
integrity, but I wished that they would decide to call it quits after the tour.
The energy and the power just wasn't there anymore, even though the INTENT was
there.  PT said in Rarities that he enjoyed the '89 tour because he had so
much less to do; that he didn't have to be "on" every night, that he could
relax a little.  That might be great for Pete, and I'm glad he can do that now,
but the Who's music can't work that way: NOBODY was laid back at a Who show.
Most importantly, you cannot replace Pete Townshend, a Les Paul and a stack of
HiWatts with a few horns, an acoustic guitar, three backup singers, and an army
of keyboards.  That's what made me appreciate the Toronto show in a new light.



Seeing these shows back to back makes me happy for Pete that he's come to terms
with what the Who WAS and is getting more and more comfortable leaving it at
that.  I am looking forward to seeing Roger and John later this month, but I am
going to try and not expect more than they are capable of giving.  I will not
expect a Who concert.  As it should be...


And I think the Glints girl should have a guitar broken across her teeth.

Finally, to whoever it was, knock it off about Clapton...





OK,
KLW