LA Weekly on the upcoming Who

["Brian Cady" <cadyb@home.com>]

Available on line at:
http://www.laweekly.com/music/concertpick.php3

The Who

Of all the '60s Brit rockers battling nostalgia to play music that means
something, The Who have the best shot at satisfaction. The Stones, the very
magma of their heyday, have been demoted to a pretty decent R&B band (what
they were in the first place). The Kinks are just too quaint. But some of
Pete Townshend's songs have the kind of personal depth you can grow into.
The current The Who Live: The Blues to the Bush (Musicmaker.com), recorded
late last year, is a fair rundown of the minuses and pluses. Okay, The Who
should never be allowed to drag "I Can't Explain," "I'm a Boy" or "My
Generation" out of the attic again, and the exhausted "Won't Get Fooled
Again" is just too painful a reminder that we did, repeatedly. But aging
("Who Are You"), stubborn passion ("After the Fire," a welcome Townshend
relic from a 1985 Daltrey solo album), spiritual/musical quest ("Pure and
Easy"), prole idealism ("Baba O'Riley," now a car commercial) and the Hitler
in us all ("Behind Blue Eyes") are themes that Pete, Roger and John
understand better today. They still rock, and if we miss the no-tomorrow
explosiveness of a certain drummer, we certainly forgive the restraint,
since the alternative is the one chosen by Mr. Moon. At the Hollywood Bowl;
Mon., Aug. 14, 7:30 p.m. Also at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater (formerly
Irvine Meadows); Wed., Aug. 16, 8 p.m. (213) 480-3232.

-Greg Burk

        -Brian in Atlanta
         The Who This Month!
        http://members.home.net/cadyb/who.htm