Tours; Concerts; He did it his way; Whofest update

["Mark R. Leaman" <mleaman@sccoast.net>]

> have energy but pete was not into it and he wanted to quit.

Scott:

I think the Toronto show illustates clearly how Pete was feeling in regard
to the audience...that is to say: out of touch. Remember, between It's Hard
and Eminence Front he says: "Actually, it's not very hard at all. What's
hard is making it feel hard." A pause as realization hits. "You don't
understand what I'm saying..." And the song begins over this, proving that
even the band wasn't paying attention to him.
Sometime around 1985 Townshend said in regard to Springsteen's (at the
time) huge stature that he had warned him about losing touch with the
audience.
On the other hand, every time *I* have seen the band it appeared that PT
was having a great time (and that couldn't be easy when you're playing the
same thing night after night, year after year). In Raleigh 1989, for
instance, he smiled a LOT and joked, and when he came out for the encore he
walked out pushing an imaginary broom, as if he was sweeping up, only to be
"surprised" by the audience cheering. These are not the actions of a man
who hates doing what he's doing.
It's my opinion that for Pete the idea of a tour, or the thought of all the
hassles involved, is worse than the actual tour once it's started. Think
about it: at his current age and hardly needing to tour financially, he
went out on what was essentially a year-long world tour of QUAD in 1996-97.
At first, it was only to be Hyde Park and 6 nights at MSG...and given that
he is the one who had to decide, since we know how Daltrey and Entwistle
feel about touring, then we must assume he enjoyed it a LOT, right? Once he
got going.

> turned his back on the band.  i am a die hard who fan and i believe the
who 
> should keep going and release any albums.

I would disagree with you there. I'd rather they do nothing rather than put
out increasingly inferior material (no names need to be mentioned as an
example), endlessly repeating their old material in a less interesting
manner. As for touring, I wouldn't have minded that ending if they had done
as they announced they would: keep making studio albums. And then only if
we had gotten great stuff like Siege (or so I imagine), WHITE CITY, and
PSYCHODERELICT...not a version of IRON MAN by The Who, thanks very much.

> And a cigar for you, too!  Actually John put together a three-record set
of the
> best of The Who live from 1971-1982 but MCA rejected it because they
wanted a
> set that would be a souvenir of the final tour.

Brian:

I know you've posted this in the past, and I should have remembered, but in
any case thanks for reminding me/us!
Speaking of unreleased live material, I wonder why with almost everything
that's crept out of the studios so far none of the live material recorded
for the aborted 1972/3 live album (where Bargain, BDYDI, My Wife, and Going
Down came from) has emerged. I know a poor-sounding copy of the San
Francisco show is out, but surely they recorded the entire tour (like they
did the TOMMY tour) and this material is around somewhere!

Derick:

Yeah, but considering Pete's way has resulted in things like QUAD and Rog's
(we can judge from his solo efforts) has been less than spectacular, I for
one don't mind Pete having his way.

Oh, and a slight Whofest update...Derick had a great suggestion, that we
cookout on the beach. Unfortunately that is rather less-than-legal
hereabouts, but I do know of an excellent venue for such an event, which is
more scenic than an ordinary beach would be. So that's on the agenda. I
also plan to contact the Baba Center and make some arrangements...if I ever
get a moment, that is...and I'll post that info as soon as I do.