Forwarded from alt.music.who

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

I just had to forward this from alt.music.who.
Before anyone gets confused, this isn't me, I wasn't there.

From: QuickOne <soxtim@hotmail.com>
Newsgroups: alt.music.who
Sent: Monday, October 02, 2000 12:01 AM
Subject: onstage cleve.

Thought I might take a few minutes to describe to you what I was lucky
enough to experience on Sat. night.
I won MusicMaker.com's "Who wants to see the Who" contest. The main prize
was onstage seats for the Cleveland show.

I watched Unamerican from row three on John's side. After they left the
stage, myself and my guests were escorted beyond the barrier on and onto the
stage. We stood about one foot lower than the level of the stage. We were on
Johns side. Next to me was a guy who seemed to be Johns assistant. He handed
John cigs and drinks and took care of his guitars. We were told by the whos
production manager very sternly... "dont touch anything, dont lean on
anything, and DONT ASK FOR AUTOGRAPHS! I complied in all three respects.

Some observations and thoughts on this.
I was probably 8 feet from John and unfortunatly had to watch his ass all
night. Several times he looked right at us, but had little interest. After
his 5:15 solo he did point to us, and give half a smile... not bad for John.

I gained a new respect for Roger. He really seemed to enjoy himself. I was
loving being able to see all the facial expressions and signals between band
members. I'd missed this at previous shows becasue i was too far back.

When Pete went to play Sheraton Gibson, Roger walked right up to us and
engaged us in a brief conversation. Unfortunaly I could hardly make out what
he was saying... his accent was too thick... my ears too shot, and he was
talking fast. I said "I cant hear you" and he smiled and turned to go...
then he came back, got closer and said something to the effect of "what did
you do that they put you back here" I told him i won a contest. He laughed
and said... and this is the only thing he said that i could clearly
hear..."Fuck all that!" I felt like saying...yeah, but i"m talking to you
personally... pretty damn good seat if you ask me.

During sheraton Gibson Roger sat behind the drum and spoke with Zak... they
seemed to be enjoying themselves. John behind his amp... looked grouchy,
threw a few glances my way and smoked.

I never caught Petes eye, and as we know he doesnt cross the "Roger barrier"
into John's territory where i stood. that was a disappointment.

I also saw from, my vantage point, a groupie that fawned over Roger all
night. She had fake tits and was shoving her rack out as a gift for Roger.
She NEVER took her eyes off him, and at one point mouthed "I want you Roger"
to him. It was obvious she wasnt interested in the music... just fucking
Roger. At the end of the show she tried to get backstage but couldnt... she
kept saying Roger wanted her. .. Sorry bitch.

The sound was not the best where i was. Pete spoke a lot, but I couldnt make
any of it out. Also it was hard to hear his guitar playing.. a sore
dissapointment. I did hear Roger well, and the the bass and drums.... but
Rabbit might as well have not been there for what I could hear. I was
hearing mostly Johns monitor and Zaks actual drums.

It was cool to realize that I was hearing the actual crash of cymbals, and
not the amplified sound of them. I was very close to Zak, and he continues
to amaze me. It was fun to see him watch Pete for cues. Just got a few looks
from Zak.... not much time to smile when youre wailing on the kit like he
does.

Heres some little observations...
Johns fret dots on the neck of his guitar light up red... didnt know that.

Roger cracked up when a mic landed on his head after a bad toss.

Late in the show some others came up to where i was standing...I spoke quite
a bit with Ringo Starrs manager, who is a good friend of Zak as well. The
guys from the James Gang were also with us. Not being a fan, I can't tell
you their names.

Pete looks better in person than in pictures.

Roger just plain looks good.

Its great to see the band with no one to stand in front of you to block your
view. There was nothing but a few feet of air between me John.

It was also fun being on the bands level (actually a few feet lower, but I'm
tall). I didnt have to do the "front row neck crane."

Looking out over the crowd I got to see what it would be like to be a rock
star. I was facing the whole crowd... kind of fun to pretend.

Overall a great experience... although Musicmaker promised me a cash prize,
and I havent seen anything yet. I'm calling them tomorow to rag on em.

Did anybody see me up there? I was the bastard grinning the whole time. The
one in the green shirt  standing behind Johns ass.

Yes, i'm a lucky bastard. And it was all free! God Bless America.

Peace,
Quickone

PS I would love to get a copy of the show to hear the fully mixed sound that
I missed. Also Petes comments. PLEASE help me here... i know some of you got
it off WNCX... me being the stupid bastard that I am,  didnt realize they
were broadcasting live.
--

Right! Sit Down!
You think you've heard the British sound, and those British groups.
But as the people say, "You ain't heard nothing yet."