Irvine review in Orange County Register

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

Available on line at:
http://www.ocregister.com/entertainment/weekend/who00818cci2.shtml
There are also two pictures from Irvine at the site.

Just Who are these guys?
REVIEW: The Who is a pale imitation of itself in Irvine show - but moments
could still give you chills.
August 18, 2000
By BEN WENER
The Orange County Register

There are times when it's simply no fun being a rock critic.
Like when you know you should slam your heroes for not acting their age.
Like when you know the wildly enthusiastic crowd that joined together at the
Big Dinosaur-Rock Concert had a far better time than you did - and are bound
to unleash their hatred the moment you suggest this expensive reunion was
anything less than spectacular.
Like when you know a very secluded piece of you was utterly thrilled by the
sight of three "lads" old enough to be grandfathers. (One or two are,
right?). Men who once changed the face of rock by smashing its precepts to
bits - literally. Who collectively voiced the joys and concerns of not one
but many generations. Whose music still resonates as loudly today as it did
30 years ago.
Yet it's not the same. It'll never be the same.
This is one of those times.
The Who, that most explosive and unpredictable beast, is back together
again. And Wednesday night at Irvine's Verizon Wireless Amphitheathre Pete,
Roger and John (along with Ringo's kid on drums, doing his damnedest to fill
Keith Moon's clown shoes) delivered what every fan wants from a classic act:
Hits, a few more hits, some of those hits you forgot and, oh, yeah, those
other hits.
No room for odds 'n' sods here. An acoustic "Drowned" is about as obscure as
it got. The rest? Hey, you ever buy one of those many greatest-hits
compilations? Then you know what they played.
And what they jammed on. And on and on and on and ... hey, when did the Who
decide to be the Allman Brothers?
Assuming reunions happen for a reason - and "fun" and "nostalgia" are
invalid - the only explanation for this happy trek must be to prove the Who
can still rock your rear off. Never has this bunch been so ragged and
improvisational, almost to the point of sounding like garage rock. There was
such a sense of anything-goes it was as if the band was still in rehearsal.
They know it, too. Sneered Pete after only three songs: "We can do what ...
we like and get away with it. But that's only because you enable us to."
Even he thinks we're fools for shelling out $100-plus to see this.
Which leads to the other possible reason for this retread: Make mega-bucks
so that Townshend can bring "Quadrophenia" to Broadway at last. At least,
it's hard to deny that's where his head might be at.
After all, the bulk of this two-hour-plus show came from that album and
"Who's Next." (Maybe "Lifehouse" is the next project he wants to come full
circle on.) Certainly it's the band's most fruitful period, and those tunes
easily came across best.
"Bargain" proved bronzed idol Daltrey can still wail like he's 25 with his
shirt undone and chest flexing - and yeah, he nailed that spine-tingling
scream on "Won't Get Fooled Again," though the crowd's cheers quickly
drowned him out.
"Behind Blue Eyes" ripped from tender to thunder - as it should. "The Real
Me" has rarely sounded more ferocious, and "5:15," though way overlong,
punched through a lack of horns and an overbearing Entwistle solo to become
intense.
Things didn't go perfectly, though. Zak Starkey plays karaoke Moon drums,
largely because he lacks instinct. Granted, no one has ever had instincts
like Moon, and that remains the Who's albatross: how to carry on without
him. Kenny Jones was too metronomic, Zak is too sloppy - and Pete and John
still aren't sure how to mesh with anyone but their original anchor.
Likewise, though it's great to see Pete back on his Fender Stratocaster, his
chops are, to be polite, erratic. Sometimes he was soaring, feeling it,
astounding us. Other times anyone in the first 20 rows could have done as
good a job.
The bottom line, though, is that these guys have talent left to burn - so
why waste energy on a revue? Why not join those rarified ranks of classic
rockers who have made the transition to elder statesmen. Beat the Stones at
it, why don't you? Write some new material that speaks to who you are now,
not who we'd like you to be.
But the fanboy in me doesn't like saying that. He's the slip kid who, for a
few fleeting moments, felt like a vengeful Mod speeding away from trouble on
his GS scooter, chanting "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere" to no in particular. Or
that hard-rock lunatic so many of us could never be, as doped-up and
disillusioned as the anti-hero fighting for his meals amid Teenage
Wasteland.
And, yeah, one windmill riff from Townshend can give a guy the chills.
Just wish the music did, too.

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