British tour info and Roger interview

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

Available online at:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/shtml/FEATURES/P12S1.shtml

WHO SAYS WE'RE PAST IT?
LIVE: THE ROCK GIANTS WHO DIDN'T DIE BEFORE THEY GOT OLD

HE SMASHED the guitar four times against the front of the stage like a
crazed axe murderer who has just found his wife in bed with the milkman.

As it ripped apart and the screams of approval from 14,000 Americans reached
an orgasmic pitch, he spat on it, strolled to the back of the stage
triumphantly, and did what all headbangers his age do to keep the high
going.

Had a big sip on a nice cup of tea.

The pills, the booze and the Rolls-Royces parked in the hotel swimming pools
may be distant memories, but at 55, Pete Townshend is still rock 'n' roll
made flesh.

Still doing windmills, leaps and awesome guitar solos, and along with his
mates Roger Daltrey and John Entwistle storming America in a way no other
young British band could get close to today.

Thirty six years after they formed, The Who are back at the top of their
game.

They have just finished the first leg of a 27-city, three-month, sell-out
tour of America's biggest stadiums, which will gross pounds 20 million.
Their marathon 2 hour 40 minute sets are attracting glowing reviews from a
press which was waiting to devour the latest dinosaur rock revival. They are
writing material for their first new album for 18 years, planning new tours
and contemplating cracking new countries.

And to seal the comeback, in Jones Beach, New York on Sunday night Townshend
smashed his first guitar in public since 1989.

So as I said to Roger Daltrey: "It looks like you didn't die before you got
old, then."

"No, we didn't. But then again we're all getting older," he says
defensively. "I celebrate life. We are far too concerned in present day
society in measuring life in years. It's got b****** all to do with years,
it's what you do in them.

"Anyway, if you can find me someone who IS getting younger I'll give you
everything I own."`

Sadly, Daltrey does look like he's getting younger. He's 56 but could easily
pass for 40. He's still got all his hair plus the toned, flab-free frame of
a teenage, flyweight boxer. It's sickening.

Thank God he looks a bit like Frank Spencer now.

John Entwistle looks his age. A cross between Kenny Rogers and Moses, he
wears a shiny Rubettes jacket, stands glued to the spot sipping from a
flask, but still plays bass guitar like a master.

ON drums Zak Starkey does a mean impression of the deceased lunatic Keith
Moon. He is mad, angry, wild. The total opposite of his laid-back dad,
Ringo.

But Townshend is the key element. He is the one who gives the show the
energy, passion and edge. The showman who is playing out of his skin.

But why are millionaire family men in their mid-50s putting themselves
through a punishing tour again? Surely the motivation isn't money?

"The motivation is that we are all running out of life and time to do
things," says Daltrey, warming up with a harmonica. "We realised we missed
each other and decided that whatever time we've got left we want to make the
most of it.

"I went to see Pete last year and said if we ever want to do anything
together we better do it soon because in three or four years we'll be past
it."

I'm sure money is a factor, particularly as my ticket cost pounds 100, but
you sense they are after something more. They want to prove a point. Earn
some respect. Show they can still do it. To back up their belief that 1960s
England produced the three best bands in the world, The Beatles, The Stones
and The Who. And that they, at least, are as relevant today as they ever
were.

I ask if he has been surprised at the excellent reviews and he gives me a
dirty look.

"We're a good band, mate. The best of the English doesn't go away. Over the
years we've worked this American market well. Actually I think we've ignored
too much of the world. I think we should get out there and show the places
we've never been too how good we are."

Isn't it a bit late for that?

"Not at all. The band is as vital as it ever was. We've got plans for a new
album. We're writing it now, on the road, as it should be done. I finished a
song today and I'm very pleased with it. As long was we can remain true to
ourselves I don't see why we can't do our best music now. Musically we're
more accomplished than ever."

But isn't rock 'n' roll angst best left to hungry, young men?

"Age is a myth when it comes to rock 'n' roll. Why does age have to be an
issue with our music when it's not an issue with any other form of music?
It's only an issue for some people because we invented it when we were
young.

"Age doesn't come into it. Style comes into it. But The Who's style doesn't
fit a particular fashion. We've always been kind of unfashionable," he says,
bursting into a raucous laugh.

They are certainly fashionable with the Americans. The 14,000 tickets for
Jones Beach were sold out in 20 minutes to an audience with an average age
of around 40.

Mixed in with couples in their 20s are men from The Who's generation who, 30
years ago, wished they'd die before they got old, and looking at the excess
weight they are carrying underneath their reversed baseball caps, it
wouldn't have been a bad idea.

Most wear Who T-shirts, the odd Union Jack is draped around a shoulder and
they go as wild as an audience in an alcohol-free stadium getting lashed by
rain possibly can. The adrenaline was flying on the stage and stirring up
the crowd.

"I get the same buzz as I did when I was a teenager," says Daltrey. "If I
didn't, I'd give it up."

Is it better than sex?

"Nothing is better than sex and anyone who says so has never had a good
woman," he mutters.

Is touring still all about sex and drugs then? "Sod off, we've all got our
families out there now," he says, pointing to a room where Heather, his wife
of 33 years, and their children Rosie, 27, Willow, 26, and Jamie, 19, are
mingling with the guests.

"I just love doing this job. Music transcends so much. It's hellish hard.
For those who think it is a nice cushy ride and an easy job, it really
isn't."

Surely they can't go at it with the same energy of 30 years ago?

"We do one show on, then have a day off. We're not flogging ourselves to
death and going home with trillions of dollars, we're touring and doing it
properly."

Daltrey, Entwistle and Townshend, three lads from Acton, West London,
started life as a group called The Detours in 1962. In 1964, along with
Keith Moon, they became The Who, and attracted a cult following as the
original Mods band.

They cracked America in 1969 after a stunning performance at Woodstock. But
after a string of hit albums in the Seventies like Who's Next and Live At
Leeds, their wild lifestyles pulled them apart. Townshend suffered a nervous
breakdown and in 1978 Moon died from a drink/drugs overdose.

He was replaced by Kenny Jones and the band played on.

Daltrey, meanwhile, was pursuing other careers, notably as an actor,
achieving critical acclaim for roles like McVicar.

In 1982 they announced their first farewell tour. But a series of one-off
gigs like Live Aid kept them coming back and in 1989 they embarked on a 25th
anniversary tour. They did the odd short tour in the Nineties before
re-forming for the current one.

"We started doing benefit shows in the States which kicked it off. We did a
thing for Pete's orphanage charity in Chicago, and raised over $1.5 million.
We did something for Neil Young's charity for severely disabled children and
then we played for the Robin Hood Foundation which is a big charity run by
record industry people, which raised over $10 million.

"Our aim this year is to do something for England. So we are getting behind
the Teenage Cancer Trust and aim to build at least one new ward.

"I don't know why but it seems harder to raise money in England and I want
to embarrass the bastards. We're doing a show at the Albert Hall to get the
big organisations to put their hands in their pockets."

Does he think about Keith Moon and whether he would be enjoying this new
lease of life?

"I think about Mooney every day. I'm working on doing his film. I've read
three scripts but they are all too shallow for the depth of the character.
He was an extraordinary man but there is so much myth surrounding his life.

In many ways he was an incredibly sad man but there's no denying Mooney
lived every second of his life."

There is a huge streak of patriotism in Daltrey.

"We are the one English group who stayed all through the 70s. The one group
who never left as tax exiles. I haven't even got a CDM (that's Cadbury's
Dairy Milk, kids), let alone an MBE."

If his bitterness in not receiving an honour is feigned, his bitterness over
the treatment of farmers is real. He tells how he had to get rid of his
trout farm to support his beef farm and goes into an impassioned rant
against the treatment of small British farmers.

"They are absolutely killing us, but I am determined not to give in and have
our food chain owned by a few multi-national companies. Farmers are like
priests. Destroy those people and we will never get them back."

And with that the 56-year-old country squire cuts short our chat about
government agricultural policy and prepares to walk on stage, bare his
chest, swing a microphone and rage against a world which doesn't understand
his generation.

Two hours 40 minutes later, I too am glad he didn't die before he got old.

THE GREATEST HITS TOUR

THE Tour starts in November, 2000.

Tickets for all shows go on sale on Friday, July 21, 2000 and are priced
pounds 29 and pounds 25 (pounds 32.50 & pounds 27.50 in London).

Call the hotline number now on 0115 912 9242 (They will only be taking names
and addresses. You cannot actually book and pay for tickets until after the
on-sale date of July 21).

Tour dates: Nov 2: Manchester Evening News Arena (0161 930 8000). Nov 3:
Glasgow S.E.C.C (0141 287 7777). Nov 6: Newcastle Telewest Arena (0191 401
8000). Nov 8: Birmingham NEC (0121 780 4133). Nov 10: Sheffield Arena (0114
256 5656). Nov 13: London Arena (020 7538 1212). Nov 15: Wembley Arena (020
8795 9523).

Tickets available on Who Credit Card Hotline: 0115 912 9242.

WHAT THEY PLAYED..

I Can't Explain; Substitute; Anyway Anyhow Anywhere; Relay, My Wife; Baba
O'Riley; Bargain; Drowned; Getting In Tune; Don't Even Know Myself; Pinball,
Wizard; Real Me; Who Are You; Magic Bus; Behind Blue Eyes; You Better You
Bet; 5.15; Won't Get Fooled Again.
The Kids Are Alright; Let's See Action; My Generation.

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