VARIETY REVIEW OF PETE

[Brian.Cady@turner.com]

        Courtesy of Reuters, here's the Variety review of Pete at The House 
     Of Blues:
     
      REVIEW/PERFORMANCE: Pete Townshend, Well Executed Nostalgia
         Pete Townshend (House of Blues, West Hollywood; 1,000
     capacity; $27.50)
         Reviewed April 29, 1996.
         By Phil Gallo
         HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Nostalgia's grip on even the most jaded
     scene-mongers proves Hollywood can still get excited when it
     comes to celebrating our collective "wonder years."
         Sunday, VH1 Honors rolled out '70s and '80s hits and its
     hitmakers; Viacom launched its TV Land with a party at which the
     likes of Gary Coleman, Rose Marie, Dick Van Patten and other
     small-screen stalwarts were treated as royal family; and Pete
     Townshend filled two shows at the House of Blues with a
     three-decade long soundtrack to the teenage wasteland.
         While TV Land relies on nostalgia junkies and
     devotees-in-waiting, VH1 uses hits as a divining rod to social
     activism. Townshend, facing as worshipful an audience as any star
     is likely to find, turns his own nostalgic appeal into a very
     specific portrait rather than a random grab bag of songs.
         With a three-ring binder of song sheets instead of a set list
     to guide his show, he told the audience at the second show
     Monday, "I don't take suggestions. If it's not in the book, I
     don't play it."
         In celebrating his past as well as his early influences,
     Townshend provides a glimpse of himself today as a casual rocker
     -- substantiated by his black suit and sandals ensemble --
     willing only to work within his limits yet able to still paint an
     engrossing mural.
         This night, Townshend showed his affinity for songs of love
     and friendship and a particular fondness for the music of
     "Quadrophenia."
         Rather than just stand up and play the tunes the way he
     remembers them, Townshend has adapted his attack on the guitar
     and piano to flesh out the sound in most cases and rough it up on
     others.
         What Townshend's show Monday lost in time (about 80 minutes
     compared to the nearly two-hour round one), he more than made up
     for by making song selections quickly from the binder.
         While he promised to deliver the same show, including "the
     same Rod Stewart joke," he gave it a bluesier shade, dropping
     the Gershwins' "Embraceable You" for Sonny Boy Williamson's
     "Eyesight to the Blind," Charles Brown's "Drifting Blues,"
     Screaming Jay Hawkins' "I Put a Spell on You," with a wacky
     little Chopin interlude, and, most expertly executed, Mose
     Allison's "If You Live."
         The rest of the romp was a straightforward support of the
     concept -- if not the actual songs -- of Atlantic's just-released
     "best of" compilation.
         He started with a breezy "Let My Love Open the Door" and,
     except for a song from the overlooked classic "Rough Mix,"
     stuck with the familiar and avoided the overplayed (i.e. anything
     from "Tommy" and "Who's Next").
         No one among the packed faithful showed any concern for the
     absence of any of Townshend's characters -- think about it: does
     anyone really need to hear "Pinball Wizard"?
         Well-executed nostalgia it is -- and it's a long way from TV
     Land.
         Band: Townshend, Jon Carin.
         Presented inhouse.
         Reuters/Variety
     
                                        -  from Brian Cady