This Last Weekend

["B.W. Radley" <bwradley@earthlink.net>]

In response/adding to:

Date: Sun, 31 Oct 1999 11:26:54 EST
From: KGT2594@aol.com
Subject: Bridge last night

Actually, this morning.

The Who hit the stage just after midnight.  It was a VERY long day.  After
sitting through Tom Waits, Neil Young and Sheryl Crow (who was quite good),
The crowd stood throughout The Who's set (at least in section 201).

Setlist:

Substitute
I Can't Explain
Pinball Wizard
Behind Blue Eyes
Tattoo !!!!!
Mary Ann  with the Shaky Hands !!!!!
Boris the Spider
Who Are You
I Walk the Line (About half, I think)
WGFA
TKAA

I'm much too tired to go into detail (got home at 5am), but the show was
marvelous.  The boys were tight, looked like they were having a great time,
Roger was in excellent voice, Pete was masterful, same for John, Zack played
very little drums, mostly just a tambourine, Rabbit was mellow on a grand
piano, all acoustic, the band was very warmly received, Roger looked trim as
always, Pete was in a positive inspiring mood.

ChicoTodd
------------------------------
1.	Todd:  They have these places called Hotels and Motels, where you pay
some money and in return you get a bed and a place to take a bath, instead
of driving 4 1/2 hours to Chico in the middle of the night, and risk killing
yourself, not to mention other people, by falling asleep at the wheel.  Or
were you banned from every Holiday Inn in the world for some unspeakable
act??

2.	On minor correction on the setlist.  Todd, you were correct about the "I
Walk the Line (About half, I think)."  You forgot to mention it was a medley
of I Walk The Line and another Johnny Cash classic, Ring of Fire.
Personally, I would have preferred more of the Social Distortion take on
that song than the straight on cover The Who performed on Saturday/VERRRY
EARLY Sunday.  That leads me into my next comment.

3.	Was it me, or was that performance about as restrained as everyone else
has ever seen The Who?  Even Pete was joking about it after Boris, when he
leaped (the only time he actually acted like the Pete we all know and love
when performing) and pretended to crush Boris into bits.  He said something
to the effect that they were all much too old and mature to be doing that
sort of thing, to which Roger responded by asking if Pete needed mouth to
mouth.

You had spots where Pete was actually sitting on a chair when he was playing
the guitar, like Segovia.

Perhaps it was the very late hour.  Pete had commented that they had gone on
well past our (and not to mention their) bedtimes.  That I can personally
attest to, as I was having trouble keeping awake by the time The Who came
on.  (I think I had actually nodded off during some points of Ms. Crow's
set, but then again, she has never done anything for me.  My 7 year old son
crashed during Tom Waits, which given his Swamp Satan Meets Howlin' Wolf
performance might have been best for him.  Give him a few more years . . . )

Another thing that surprised me about the performance, was it's relatively
PG-13 nature.  I mean no "who the f**k are you" during WRU (or as my son
said, the song from that computer commercial!).  Of course, Pete did have
say, when giving a dedication to TKAA to the aforementioned Mr. Waits
children (questioning whether or not a hunchback could father children in
the first place), that the Waits family had left for the evening and went
into a bit about people say things about celebrities, in particular dead
ones, and then made the comment that it was like saying that "I f**ked John
Lennon."  I think once he realized that (a) there was a bunch of children
right behind him and (b) some people would not have realized that he was
making a smart ass remark, he tried to back off and apologize.

4.	I know that this is probably a rather unkind statement but . . . what is
up with Roger's hair?  I seem to recall that the last time I saw him, which
was a year ago at the BRS concert up in Lake County, CA, I saw a very
noticeable bald spot at the back of his head (the old monk's look).  Not
only was his hair a different color, but no bald spot.

Am I imagining things?  Is the next Who song to be sold for a commercial
"Bald Headed Woman"?

Also, while I am on the subject, but I know that the camera, it is said,
adds 15 pounds to a person, but the webcast from Vegas made Roger look more
like William Shatner.  Actually, I was pleasantly surprised that the Pixelon
webcast worked out, for me at least, pretty much without any problems.  I
did try to freeze frame once, to copy a picture, and when I tried to hit the
play button again, the sound started to sound like "The Chipmunks Sing The
Who," but besides that, I thought it went pretty well.  Although I did not
like the setlist for that show much, but I am sure they were being paid to
play their hits.

5.	A 7 YEAR OLD'S REVIEW:	I know that many of us who were at the concerts
this weekend will weigh in with their review.  But, here is a review from my
7 year old son, Stephen.

"I liked The Who.  They were OK.  I liked the song about tattoos and that
Mary Ann song.  I remember hearing those songs on the CD.  I wanted them to
play that song with the guy with the funny voice saying "What's for tea,
daughter?"  (Note:  Heinz Baked Beans)  I think that is my favorite song on
that CD.  But that song about the spider was pretty funny too.  It was funny
when the guy with the guitar (he sure talks alot) tried to jump on the
spider.  I liked some of the other songs too.  The ones they play at the
Mighty Ducks stadium.

I liked The Who OK.  But I think I liked Green Bay (sic.) better!"

6.	A Few Other Random Comments About Saturday's Show:  I was not all that
familiar with Lucinda Williams before Saturday.  I knew that her last album
received a great deal of favorable notices, but I was absolutely bored to
tears by her.  Sheryl Crow was not only boring, but she came across to me as
being so calculating.

Pete had said that Brian Wilson's performance had moved him to tears.  I
could not agree with him more.  We sometimes forget the courage a performer
must have to on stage.  For Brian Wilson to go on that stage, or any stage
and try to perform is an act of supreme courage.  I had heard some comments
that he looked like a robot on the stage, and he was not smiling, just
standing there like a frightened schoolboy.  Of course he was.  And for him
to even attempt to do that with all of his well documented history is all
the more wonderful.

The one thing I was thinking about during Brian's performance was how Keith
Moon would have reacted at the thought of Brian Wilson opening for The Who.
But then, I guess one could ask Eddie Vedder, the star of Saturday's show
what his feelings were when he sang lead vocals on I Shall Be Released,
being backed up, by among others, The Who.  Personally, I thought that Pearl
Jam was the best performance of the evening.

7.	 LIFEHOUSE:	Yesterday's (10-31) LA TIMES had a story regarding the
Lifehouse project.  The big news is that when the anticipated 6 CD set is
released, it will not be issued through a record company.  The matter,
according to the TIMES, is in "final negotiations" to have it released
through Best Buy stores ONLY!!!  Apparently the deal is an offshoot of the
Best Buy sponsorship of the Page/Plant tour of last year (same artist
management). The Best Buy spokesman interviewed for this story states that
the parties are hopeful that it will be released by 12-31-99, which is when
the Lifehouse story is set.

The story also has a release date for the Who BBC CD for Valentine's Day
2000.  As most of you probably already know, there will be a limited edition
of the BBC CD, with a bonus disc, set for release through Best Buy stores
only.

BW Radley
bwradley@earthlink.net