Pete show and Rabbit's organ

[Jeff House <jjthandmeh@juno.com>]

Kevin O:  "I kind of felt sorry for those in attendance at the MSG 10/6 show
where Pete said very little except his rant against The Post.  He was
obviously pissed due to that article."

That's an odd reaction.  I felt sorry for me that I wasn't there.  No, Pete
wasn't chatty, but his performance (and that of his bandmates), was sleek
and intense.  The performance before that (10/4) was very different:  Chatty
(the 5:15 MP3 was from 10/4),  his playing was loose and jammy.  Quite a
contrast.

Brian Cady "I'm probably being my usual old-fashioned self, but I'd rather
hear The Who with piano than organ or synth."
Kevin O:  "Not "old-fashioned" at all.  I like to think of it as being a
purist, and I'm right behind you."
keets  "Same here.  The piano was awesome at Manchester, but I liked the
buzzsaw organ, too."

Uh-oh.  I have to disgree most of the above.  After many listens, Pete's
MP3s are my favorite semi-legitimate release of 2000.  Can they get a Grammy
for that?

I think you're falling into a nostalgia trap, guys.  Rabbit makes perfect
contributions to ICE, AAA, Relay, IDEKM, Substitue and MG (both Manchester
and the short jam section that was posted).  He is filling in the 'color'
(as Keith called it) with his organ playing much like Booker T or Al Kooper.
Yeah, the organ sounds retro but it works.  The Who was a nostalgia act in
2000, its OK that they sounded retro.  The tour was dubbed "Greatest Hits"
for God's sake.

He alternates between piano and organ, sometimes starting with melody
(Substitute), sometimes following Pete's rhythm (piano on AAA, organ on
'Real Me'), sometimes leading the jamming (organ MG-Manchester), sometimes
filling the transitions in the jamming (AAA).  He is filling some of the
space that Keith left behind and that Kenney and Zak could never fill on
drums alone.

But then again, maybe I am listening to the 2000 MP3s too much.

I hope Zak and Rabbit are included as full collaboraters on the next Who
project.  They both passed the audition IMHO.  Should they receive 1/5
shares of the performance $ as full partners?  That's a tougher question.

Jeff

"I'm proud of the re-emergence of this band" PT
"We'll be back"  RD
Mansfield, MA July 3 2000