Pete's Set at the Paul Simon Benefit/DAT Trades

["David C. Olstein" <born2run@pipeline.com>]

Here it is from memory.  I think I've got all the songs, but the order may
not be quite right. 
 
The Kids are Alright (w/Paul Simon, full band) 
Save it For Later (solo acoustic guitar) 
Slit Skirts (solo piano) 
Zoot Suit (solo piano) 
Love Rain O'er Me (solo piano) 
I Put a Spell on You (solo piano) 
I Am an Animal (solo acoustic guitar) 
Drowned (solo acoustic guitar) 
 
Well, it was the same old story for benefit concerts.   Not enough of your
favorite artist and FAR too much of everyone else.  And everything's geared
toward the artistic sensibilities of the corporate CEO mega donor, rather
than the true fan.  Hence, you get a dreadful ensemble encore of You Can
Call Me All rather than something worthwhile, such as The Sea Refuses No
River, Pure n Easy, and literally dozens of other PT faves.  When are they
gonna have a benefit featuring PT, Richard Thompson, and Bob Mould?  Now
THAT's a show I'd gladly empty my bank acount for. 
 
The big news, if it wasn't clear already from the set list, was Pete
playing the piano, which as far as I know he's never done before in a
concert setting.  Not that his guitar playing appears to have suffered to
much -- judging from Drowned it hasn't.   
 
As for the crowd, well let's just say that ever since I started taping
shows I've come to realize just how many morons turn out for these things. 
Aside from the usual riff raff (the couple to your left who carries on a
conversation throughout the entire concert, the person behind you who knows
all the lyrics and makes everyone is aware of this by singing them
off-key), you've got the two most heinous of concert denizens -- Frat Boy
and The Clapper.  I've never actually seen Frat Boy -- I've only heard him,
but I suspect he looks a lot like Chris Farley (one of the SNL no-talents).
 This is the guy who shows up thoroughly sloshed and keeps whooping,
hollering, whistling that eardrum piercing fingers-in-the-mouth whistle --
and yelling out "Magic Bus" when Pete's in the middle of another song. 
Look fella -- isn't it bad enough that your friends and family know what an
idiot you are?  Now everybody in greater Manhattan knows as well.   And
then there's The Clapper.  Applauding at the end of a song is fine.  I can
even take clapping along to the beat (although surprisingly few people are
actually capable of finding the beat, let along keeping it).  But what's
with the random bursts of applause in the middle of songs?  Do you wait
until nobody else is clapping just to hear what your clapping sounds like? 
 
 
Well, my ranting and raving is over.  And yes, I did tape the show, on a
Sony D7 with Sonic Solutions microphones.  Sporadic clapping and yelling
notwithstanding, the recording came out very well.  If anybody has some
Pete Townsend or Who live recordings on DAT and wants to trade, just e-mail
me.