Chicago Show, Spanning the Generations

["Inga Glodowski" <iglodowski@uses.org>]

Hi all,

Here's an interesting review of the June 25 opener from my mom. I  got my mom & dad tickets for their 31st anniversary. I thought it  was fitting, because I discovered The Who through their record  collection. Such a good daughter, I am. (They've seen The Who  many, many times. Starting in, I think, '67. And, in case you're  wondering my mom is slightly younger thant TED.)

Inga, see you in Boston and at Jones Beach

"Hi Inga,
Thank you for having enough sense to buy me Who tickets.  I  obviously had been to snobby to buy my own since I had my usual  pessimistic expectations that their show might be an unenergetic  rehash of greatest hits. Shame on me.  

Well okay, maybe it was a greatest hits show, but energy
was not in the slightest bit lacking. Neither was quality.  The guys
gave their all, and we walked away thoroughly impressed.
Your dad had never heard Zak Starkey before, and he thought he  fit in well with the band.  He manages to invoke Keith's spirit  without trying to do the impossible by sounding exactly like him-- which would've only resulted in a bad impression.

Pete wore a black suit with a white polo shirt.  He never took the
jacket off, and he must've been roasting under it.  Roger's hair
is now short and he wore a black shirt, only partially unbuttoned, so
not a whole lot of his chest was visible.  It was also quite long.  Is
he tired of ladies staring at his butt?  John wore some sort of silly
shiny blue shirt, but who notices him any way? (No offense.)

Now let's see if I can read set list I tried to write on a piece of
throw-away advertising with a Sharpee.  It never occured to me to to
bring along pen and paper, but once I was there, I decided to copy  the set list.  Here goes:
Can't Explain
Subsitute
(These songs were done true to the recordings.  Short and pop- sounding, which made me wonder is the entire show would follow  that pattern.  It didn't.)
Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere
(This is where the  energy began to pick up.  Pete did an elongated
solo.  He was really moving with the music, and that's always a  sign to me that he's working, not just standing there trying to pick  up a pay check.)
Don't know the name of the next song. (It had this lyric in it  "Someone disapproves of what you say or did."  Something like  that, anyway.)
My Wife
Baba O'Reilly
(This was the first sing-a-long song.  The crowd went wild.
Incidentally, the audience was on its feet for the whole show.  Even  us guys in GA, but that's my kind of audience, so I appreciated it.
There's nothin' I hate worse than those "down in front" fuckers.)
The Seeker
(Pete introduced this as a "rarity", though I don't know why.  I can't
imagine any Who fan who doesn't know it.  But the next song was  the real rarity, and a real treat for me.)
I Don't Even Know Myself.
(Roger broke out his harp for this one and, frankly, he blew me  away.  I think I know what he does when he's not working.  He  must lay around his trout pond playing harp.  He's got a great  smooth bluesy sound.  Dylan could take some technique lessons  from him and Jim Liban could take some energy
lessons.  Damn, can he play that thing.)
Gettin' In Tune.
Pinball Wizard
(I know, I know, you didn't want this one in the line-up, but it's the
universal crowd pleaser and another sing-a-long.  It's also obvious  that Pete loves this one.  I think it's the song that he'll play  endlessly while sitting on his bed in the rock'n'roll old folks home.)
The Real Me
Magic Bus
(Here's where the maximum r&b really broke out.  It was long and
improvised and just great.  More Roger on harp.)
Behind Blue Eyes
You Better, You Bet
Who Are You
515
(This is the one I was waiting for, but this wasn't exactly my favorite
version.  John did a bass solo, which wasn't boring, but I'm not into
bass solos.)
Won't Get Fooled Again
(Last "official" concert song, after which Roger said, "If you make
enough noise, we'll come back to do encores. Enough noise was  made. Roger played guitar on the encores.)
Kids Are Alright
Let's See Action
My Generation.

I forgot to mention that Rabbit played keyboards, but you probably  knew that.  I had a lot of respect for the old men, not dragging  along a bunch of extra musicians to fill out the sound.  It wasn't  necessary. It was a real pleasure for me to the The Who do what  only they can do.

Would I see the Who again?  Oh yes, without a doubt,  unhesitatingly, something I can't say about the Rolling Stones.

Thanks again for the tickets,
love, your appreciative mom."