LA Times review of Hollywood Bowl

[Brian Cady <cadyb@home.com>]

Available on line at:
http://www.calendarlive.com/music/20000816/t000076687.html
Many thanks to Chuck for pointing this out.

Electric Again, Pete Townshend Leads Who Down Memory Lane 
By MARC WEINGARTEN, Special to The Times
     At one point during the Who's sold-out appearance at the Hollywood
Bowl on Monday, guitarist Pete Townshend launched a preemptive strike
against anyone who might have regarded the band's current reunion tour
as something other than classic-rock redux. Referring to the
"inestimable wealth" garnered by "selling my music to Japanese car
companies," Townshend seemed to be reassuring the crowd that it was OK
to still revel in music that's been devalued by commercials and the
passage of time. 
     Boomer nostalgia may be a cheap money grab (Townshend himself
thanked the crowd for paying stratospheric ticket prices), but its power
is drawn from something enduring. In the Who's case, it's Townshend's
song catalog, which sketched the perilous passage toward teenage
self-identity in songs of epic, ear-rattling sweep. Performing their
most beloved material with the brash brio of their own youth, Townshend,
singer Roger Daltrey and bassist John Entwistle (joined by Ringo Starr's
son Zak Starkey on drums and John Bundrick on keyboards) proved that
veteran artists can rock with dignity if the spirit is willing. 
     The Who tore into a trio of '60s-era songs to open its set. "I
Can't Explain," "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere" and "Substitute" wobbled on
slightly shaky legs, with a couple of missed cues and mismanaged
harmonies. 
     But the band gathered strength as it settled into material
("Drowned," "The Real Me," "Behind Blue Eyes") from its early-'70s
masterworks "Who's Next" and "Quadrophenia." The insurrectionary thrust
behind such songs as "Won't Get Fooled Again" and "Baba O'Riley"
dissipated long ago, but for sheer drama they remain two of rock's most
affecting anthems. 
     Townshend, who has recently switched back to electric from acoustic
guitar, was a force of middle-aged nature, slashing through power chords
with his trademark windmill arm maneuver, plucking out staccato leads,
bounding impishly as in the days of yore. 
     Daltrey, who proudly displayed his well-sculpted torso, worked
gamely to hit his old upper register, and succeeded remarkably well most
of the time. 
     * The Who, with Unamerican, plays tonight at Verizon Wireless
Amphitheater, 8808 Irvine Center Drive, Irvine, 8 p.m. $31.50-$146.50.
(949) 855-2863.

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