Yellow on the Milwaukee Show

[THRH79B@prodigy.com (MS KELLY D GILES I)]

Here it is, my long awaited (yeah, right!) review of the July 23
Milwaukee show and entire concert experience.  I'll divide it up
into sections and cleverly head each section with a line from
"Quadrophenia" so you'll know what's what. :)

"So how come the other tickets look so much better?"

As Amira was unable to attend this show with me, Miss Pamela, 
and Rich B., and our back-up buyer fell through, we had an extra
ticket left to get rid of.  I certainly tried my best to sell it. 
I sang, I danced, I smiled beatifically, and essentially pulled
every trick in the book but to no avail.  People kept offering me
$5.  FIVE DOLLARS!  For a $48 ticket!  My two best offers were
"$5 and I'll buy you a beer" (nice try buddy, I'm a minor) and
$20 from a guy who was very obviously a professional scalper. 
I'd have accepted $20 from a fan, but not a scalper.  It just
seems wrong.  So I ended up keeping the ticket.  I ran into
another woman I'd seen trying to get rid of some extra tickets at
the souvenir stand, and she had ended up doing the same thing. 
Said it would make a nice additional souvenir, and I'm inclined
to agree.  It's not the financial aspect that really bothers me
anyway, but the fact that apparently so few people wanted to see
the Who!  The greatest rock and roll band on earth!  What IS this
world coming to?  But take this as fair warning, all ye who plan
to sell YOUR extras.  Find someone before the show or I really
doubt you'll find anyone at all!

"The numbered seats in empty rows..."

or

"He only comes out when I drink my gin."

This show was overall much, much better than the ones last year,
so none of you should skip catching one of the summer shows
because you think you've seen it all!  The sound was improved
(louder and a better mix), the "guest stars" were improved (they
were both fairly unobtrusive, remembered their lines, and sang on
key), there was a longer encore ("Won't Get Fooled Again",
"Behind Blue Eyes", "Substitute", "I Can't Explain" and "Who Are
You", which I think is standard for this tour), and our own dear
lads were just much peppier this time around.  Even the audience
was more energetic!  Lots of singing, and everyone in our section
stood the whole show.  (It looked to be the same in the other
sections as well.)  This unfortunately led me to remember the
real reason why I don't like standing at concerts...I have bad
knees.  I could see everything fine though, and the same seemed
true for both my dear Whoru and the people behind us, so that was
good.  My only real complaint about the audience was the endless
procession of people leaving to get beer.  There was plenty of
beer available BEFORE the show started, you'd have thought that
people could have had their fill of drinks THEN, but apparently
not.

"Dressed right, for a beach fight..."

The obligatory fashion report: John had on black trousers, a
black shirt, his silver jacket on over that, and a Boris the
Spider necklace.  Roger was, as always, wearing blue jeans with
denim shirt and white tank top on under that, and what appeared
to be a metal washer or a very small, dark doughnut hanging
around his neck.  Simon had on a white shirt with dark pants and
braces on during the "Quadrophenia" section, but changed into an
orange Nautica tee-shirt for the encore.  Pete was in his usual
suit which he wore with a blue and white checked gingham shirt
(which I thought was denim at first but I was wrong) that kept
coming unbuttoned.  Eventually he was down to having only the
button in the very middle still done up.  This was terribly
exciting as it meant that I got to see Pete's navel several
times.  Woo hoo!  Oh, yes, he was also wearing a Baba medallion
and his "pretzel necklace" (the silver pendant that looks sort of
like a heart with legs).
A question: has Pete been wearing the same suit for the past four
or five years, or does he own several that look the same?  And
just how many white tank tops does Roger have?
An observation: Roger looks much better in his white tank tops
than a 53 year old man has any right doing, but IMHO Pete is
still the single most desirable human being ever to live.

"I've squandered, and I've saved..."

I spent two weeks' pay buying Who Stuff, but this is okay since
the real reason I got a job was so I could afford more Who Stuff! 
I got two shirts, a mug, and one of the autographed John artwork
posters.  I advise anyone who wants a mug, hat, or pin to buy one
before the show because they go fast, but you can wait until
afterwards to buy shirts or programs.  I couldn't help but notice
that not only one of the tee-shirts but also the back of the
program featured a reproduction of the "A Quick One" album cover. 
Is this foreshadowing of things to come?  Can we expect a revival
of the Who's first (mini) opera in 1998?

"My my my my my g-g-g-generation..."

As I already mentioned, the band's performance was more spirited
than at last year's shows.  Pete especially was hopping and
skipping all over the place, doing arm swings and even a few
proper windmills.  Oh yes, he also bonked himself on the head
with his guitar, and how long has it been since we've seen him do
THAT?  He and Roger seemed to be having some sort of private joke
right before "Behind Blue Eyes".  I could see them talking,
laughing, and striking a couple of silly poses.  Not sure what it
was all about, but at least they were having fun. :)
Speaking of Roger, I think he was being unnecessarily lascivious
with those splits and hip gyrations!  They should only show him
from the waist up from now on, in order to protect the decency
and morality of our young people.  I'll be sure to write to my
congressperson and complain.
Right before they started the encore, Pete said that they had all
been talking backstage about their various pains, and that Roger
had pains in his back, knees, etc., but that his only pain was in
his finger (he held up his right index finger at this point) and
that he was about to make it worse by playing some more.  I
thought that was rather amusing. :)  I do feel sorry for his poor
finger of course, but I am glad that he played the encore anyway
because it was fabulous. :)  The whole show was fabulous
actually!

And that's all I have to say about that.

- -Yellow "Prison Tattoo" Ledbetter