Townshend/Mould in NYC 5/3/96 (LONG)

[Brendon Macaraeg <bqm1808@is.nyu.edu>]

Well folks, I got back a bit ago from Pete Townshend's show at
the Supper Club with Bob Mould opening  and wanted to post a few thoughts about
the show. The set lists aren't necessarily in order.
I just realized while writing this up that my Sugar and Husker Du CDs
are next to my Who and Pete Townshend CDs...coincidence or what?

Bob Mould:
Wishing Well
Hoover Dam
Your Favorite Thing
Can't Help You  Anymore
Poison Years
Brasilia Crossed with Trenton
Hardly Getting Over It
and from the new solo LP:
Eg0verride
Roll Over and Die

I may have left one out, but it was a short set. I
got the feeling Mould cut it short after hearing someone
in front remark about paying $50 for his
ticket (hey, that dude should
feel lucky he was able to pay face value as I'm sure a lot of people dealt with
brokers and scalpers to get their tickets, myself included!).
Mould was obviously pissed, and I can't blame him.
There's not much he can do about the market value
of the tickets.

High point was a blood letting  "Poison Years"
and the ending of "Hardly Getting Over It".
I get the feeling that the people there to see Towshend
just didn't get Bob's cathartic delivery (he was really 
shout-singing at points during "Poison Years" and at
the end of "Hardly Getting Over It"). I've heard the critcism
before of Bob Mould that his songs "all sound the same"
and that I suppose is a valid criticism about his
delivery; I heard it from the two guys tonight standing behind me.
 You either like Mould's style or you don't. I'm one
of the earlier. This is a guy whos songs have affected
me like few songwriters of the 80s and 90s have. Husker Du's "Zen Arcade,"
(along with The Who's "Quadrophenia" I should add) was an aural Bible 
that got me through many rough days in high school. 
But circa 1984, Husker Du, along with the Replacements,
early R.E.M., Sonic Youth, Black Flag, the Minutemen, and later fIREHOSE
were of MY time and the music of MY generation
as far as I am concerned.

I think overall, Mould got a good response from the audience
and there was a large percentage of it that was
there to hear him or who widened their musical
palette for the evening and got into Mould's
performance. Sorry to sound elitist, but the hell with the rest of the crowd
who didn't get it.  And NYC crowds are
merciless when an opening  performer announces "this is my last
song" which is then followed by hoots and applause. 


Pete Townshend. Well not totally solo as he had an accompanying
keyboardist/vocalist who's name I didn't catch. But Townshend said
he met him while doing the "Daltrey Sings Townshend" show at
Carnegie Hall in 1994.

Townshend is a class act performer and consumate
guitar player, that is for certain. 51 years of age has not
lessened his edge or stage presence. 
And he knows how to work a crowd.

I kinda just stood there in awe during the opening
"Let My Love Open the Door"; it's really not my favorite song
on "Empty Glass," but live Townshend just let it rip.
I really couldn't belive I was only about 15 feet away from Townshend,
somone who's music I've really enjoyed over the years and
continue to enjoy (I discovered the Who  thanks 
to my brother Robert who listened to
them a lot in high school....the first rock LP I ever really listened to 
seriously was in 5th grade when "Who Are You" came out;
I discovered the rest of the Who catalog
from there).

He played a lot of tunes. They were all great. Overall, Pete's
performance was energetic as hell, and I thoroughly enjoyed
it. Here's what I remember, and not in order:
Let My Love Open the Door
English Boy
Rough Boys
A Friend is a Friend
The Shout
I am an Animal
Eyesight to the Blind
I'm One
Drowned (incredible! and yes, Townshend confirmed the rumor
that he's "practicing tonight some songs I'm going
to play this summer"..."Quadrophenia" on tour?!
He also talked at one point  about Warner Bros. buying the rights
to "Iron Man"; it's apparently set to be produced
as a animated film.)

Before the next tune, he went into this bit about
Garth Brooks outselling Michael Jackson
because he's wears a cowboy hat, "so we all
know he's a real cowboy!" After which he
"I wrote a country song when I was 17 or so,
and said I'd play this song for anyone who asked me to marry them,"
and that song is...
A Legal Matter
Sheraton Gibson
Heart to Hang On To (also really incredible and full of emotion)

On the piano for:
A medley of "Young Man Blues" combined with another song
I didn't recognize on piano.
I Put A Spell On You
Slit Skirts

Back to guitar for...
I'm a Boy ("I have a lot of songs with the word 'boy' in the title...")
"Baby Don't You Do It" medley with "Magic Bus"

and an encore on piano of....
Love Reign O'er Me

I'm sure I've left something out, but someone else who
was there can make corrections and fill in the gaps.

My parting thought:
The spiritual aspect of Townshend's music has
always interested me and tonight his bit 
right before "The Shout" where he related
that the song was written during a period that
he was separated from his wife for several years and
 was "in this strange place where I realized I couldn't
live with or without her" really got to me. I guess that's
why I enjoy BOTH Townshend's and Mould's music so much:
 their songs often make me reflect on my own life, 
a rare skill these days in the music biz.

A great show. 

Later,
-B
=====================================================
                                    Brendon Macaraeg
               http://www.itp.tsoa.nyu.edu/~brendonm 
    Finger macaragb@acf2.nyu.edu for my PGP Public Key