SFX San Fran tour diary

[Jeff House <jjthandmeh@juno.com>]

Some new promotional fluff on the SFX site.  I like the encore song titles:

THE WHO TOUR DIARY SAN FRANCISCO, 8/21/00

“The Who descended upon the Bay area with style and gusto, energetically
busting out the harder rocking style that defined their beginnings.
Long-standing role models for teen angst and rebellion, these
fifty-something musical icons wail through their anthems like they still
lead the revolution!

Jumping into ‘I Can't Explain,’ ‘Substitute’ and ’Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere,’
the boys began with their roots, going back 35 years and more. A
three-dimensional, geodesic curtain lit up and came to life as a modern
backdrop to this classic band as an enormous UFO light structure projected
beams on the band and into the audience.”

”Gracing the stage with his trademark wit, Townshend, clad in ‘at the
office’ suit attire, quickly dusted off his signature ‘windmill’ guitar arm
to spin it wildly around his red and white Fender Stratocaster while Daltry
lassoed the audience with microphone spins and Entwhistle played it cool and
subtle from the corner. This is a group of rock and roll relics that make
aging seem irrelevant, as their three hour performance rocked out with more
substance and synchronicity than most younger bands can muster. Nearly every
person in the amphitheater was on their feet dancing from the first note to
the last...possibly to avoid the wrath of Pete as he scoffed into the
microphone ‘Why buy a seat in the front row if you are just going to SIT in
it!!?’"

”The Who dug into the treasure chest to play most everything from their
signature album, Who's Next, including Entwhistle's classic ‘My Wife,’ the
sarcastic ‘Bargain,’ the rebellious ‘Baba O'Reilly,’ and the alienated
‘Behind Blue Eyes.’ Pete spoke in great detail between songs, cracking jokes
and recounting anecdotes. He referred to the early days of rock and roll
becoming a church where community could congregate, and added ‘that is what
we do! Sometimes we get high without smoking any drugs...’"

”Ripping on classics like Tommy's ‘Pinball Wizard,’ 'Quadrophenia's ‘The
Real Me’ and ‘5:15,’ the congregation sang along with greater participation
than a gospel choir. They rode ‘The Magic Bus’ with a more subdued pace, and
raged on ‘Won't Get Fooled Again’ as if it was just yesterday! The encores
‘It Don't Happen That Way At All,’ ‘It's The Action’ and finally ‘My
Generation’ wound up the marathon in a grand cathartic explosion.”

"’Hope I die before I get old' sure makes you wonder what OLD is, when you
see these guys play today as they brilliantly continue to exemplify the very
heart and soul of rock and roll.”

--Judy Heyman and Katherine York, SFX/San Francisco