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Atlanta review from Atlanta Constitution



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OVERNIGHT MUSIC: No geezer rock
Phil Kloer - Staff
Friday, September 29, 2000

Uh, Pete, you got the gig. You can relax now.

Apparently nobody told Pete Townshend of the Who that at this stage of his
career he's supposed to be doing geezer rock, playing the oldies and
collecting the T-shirt sales receipts. Cause when Townshend and his boys
took the stage at Philips Arena Thursday night, he played like a punk
possessed.

Several years into AARP qualifying range, Townshend attacked his guitar with
the adrenalin-fueled ferocity of a 17-year-old kid torturing his first
Stratocaster while his parents are out of town.

He took long pick-shredding solos, and when he went into his trademark
windmill flails, the crowd reacted as if they were being goosed by cattle
prods.

Sharing the stage with Townshend were the usual Who suspects: Roger Daltrey,
shredding his lungs on lead vocals; stalwart John Entwhistle on bass, tour
veteran John "Rabbit" Bundrick on keyboards, and one who really was a kid,
and not just playing like one.

Zak Starkey, Ringo Starr's son, commanded the drum kit as if channeling the
licks of the late Keith Moon.

Along with 35-year-old oldies like set-openers "I Can't Explain" and
"Substitute," and a smattering from "Tommy" and "Quadrophenia," the Who
focused much of their attention on their 1972 classic album "Who's Next."

When Daltrey got to the most famous line from "Baba O'Reilly" --- "It's only
teenage wasteland" --- it was hard to tell to whom he was singing, since the
crowd was almost entirely middle-aged, with only a smattering of teens.

Townshend played off the fact that the band hasn't had a radio hit since the
Reagan administration. That would be "You Better, You Bet," before which he
noted, "We were a pop band then. You would have had to pay serious money to
see us." It was a joking acknowledgment of the $127 top ticket price for the
show.

by Phil Kloer
© 2000 Cox Interactive Media

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