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Another review



Thought you all might enjoy this review from today's issue of e-pulse, the
weekly on-line version of Tower Records' Pulse magazine.

  - Andy




- ---  WHO'S HERE?
>>>  Pete Townshend and friends bring 'Quadrophenia' to the New York stage

Only slightly younger than two of the Three Tenors and all older than the
third, Rock's Ultimate Band, the Who, began playing 'Quadrophenia' (and
more) at New York's Madison Square Garden on July 16 and will do shows
until the 22nd. (I saw it on the second night.) The show, convolutedly,
is formatted on and uses some footage from the 1979 movie which used the
1973 album as its soundtrack.
	One looks for signs of the slowing down which is inevitable but
there's little evidence. Yes, Roger Daltrey's very top notes are not
there -- he rewrites the music to avoid them -- but the potency still is,
the commitment, the sheer energy, the great musicality, the complete
rocker's attitude but without the self-congratulatory smugness of the
nouveau famous. He wails, he implores, he reaches further and further. He
swings the mic, he falls to his knees, he never looks wrong, out of place
or out of time; you never wish he'd change out of the jeans and string
shirt -- he's buff. The Angry Young Man's idol turns out to be a Bellboy
and the horror and frustration and disillusionment and loss of being
young and nowhere, only having been momentarily relieved, sets back in.
In the current show this fallen idol is performed by Billy Idol, never
sounding better, looking a bit like Sting (who played the role in the
movie version -- did you see it?) and all the better for it; he turns out
to be the perfect supporting player.
	Townshend, too, remains unique; if the voice is even more
shattered than earlier, the guitar playing is possibly better -- in an
encore we even get a bit of windmilling, though it's followed by a
"Sorry, blokes, that's all I can do" look on his face. His solo on
"Drowned" is staggering -- new riffs added onto old. Silent Entwhistle
remains the finest bass player in rockdom -- only argue if you hear his
solo in "Inside, Outside," and realize that in many ways, it's he who
keeps the huge songs -- the hugest in the business -- together. Ringo's
boy Zak Starkey on drums is a spectacular surprise -- just wild enough, a
teammate, a soloist, a heartbeat. Pete's younger brother, Simon, is on
rhythm guitar and Geoff Whitehorn plays lead. Gary Glitter is a guest
artist, yelling wildly, swinging the floor mic, making the crowd wonder
who needs him. A narrator in mod clothes and close-ups holds the
storyline together -- he looks scarily like a cross between Keith Moon
and a young Pete Townshend. In fact the narrator is Phil Daniels, brought
back from the movie. (And the dead; true to the album, he doesn't die at
the end of this 'Quadrophenia.')
	But the best is saved for last. Like a dream, three minutes after
Daltrey's falsetto high D which ends "Quadrophenia," they're back:
"Behind Blue Eyes" is first -- maniacal and dangerous and tragic as ever;
then follows "Won't Get Fooled Again," only for Pete and Roger, with Pete
on acoustic guitar, sounding like a whole band, even more incarnation.
And there are a couple more, too. This is vintage rock; sadly, these
songs will stop when the Who stops -- they're uncoverable.
	This is probably their last tour, in their 30th year in the
business, and the 75 percent male, all over 25, most over
35-and-loving-it audience can't believe their luck at being there.
- --Robert Levine [!]
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