Shoreline, Sacramento review

[Rich <legalize@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I attended both the Shoreline show on 7/3 and the Sacramento
(Marysville) show on 7/4.

The Shoreline Amphitheatre is an -excellent- venue for concerts and
just like 2000, Shoreline turned out to be my favorite show of the
ones I saw.  In 2002 I only could manage 2 shows, while in 2000 I
managed three (Shoreline, Gorge, Denver).  If I had the money and time
I would try and see more 2002 shows, but unfortunately I'm stretched
tight on both resources.

At Shoreline, I managed to upgrade my ticket to row 2, seat 2, center
section at the last minute.  I'm really glad because my ticketbastard
purchase had me on the absolute left end of the section and most of my
view of Pino would have been blocked by some sound cabinets.  With my
upgrade, I managed to be just to the right of Roger in front of Pete
and his amp stack.

If I had to pick a single word to describe the Shoreline show it would
be:
			    ferocious!

They seemed -much- louder than 2000, as far as my memory recollects,
and I had comparable seats although I was a few rows closer this time.
Zak has really found his groove on many of the songs and is playing
fills and tomtom work that puts his unique spin on the songs now,
instead of just attempting to reproduce the "classic" sound of the
songs.  Yet at the same time, it has a very "Who" sound and is a great
match for the rest of the band.  Simon's backing vocals really helped
on several songs and while I could -see- him playing guitar (mostly
acoustic), it was low in the mix and unobtrusive.

Although he's played some of the material before and obviously had
rehearsed with the band, Pino seemed like he was uncomfortable
improvising much with the material and just playing the tunes in a very
standard way.  This is probably to be expected when you have to fill
such giant shoes and some people are already irate at the very thought
of you being there in the first place.  So he seemed a little
intimidated and a little conservative in his playing, but he was no
slouch either.  I -liked- his bass playing, but of course seeing Zak
really pound the toms just reminded me of the absence of John and made
me sad at several points through the show.

To the best of my memory, this is the approximate setlist, which
didn't change between the two shows:

I Can't Explain
Substitute
Anyway Anyhow Anywhere
    AAA had a tremendous attack on the toms by Zak through the 'jam'
    section and he really seemed to be driving the song hard.  "It was
    most enjoyable!"
Who Are You
Relay
    This was also a great version, just as in 2000.  They hit a great
    groove at the end of the song.
Another Tricky Day
    Unexpected and nice!
Baba O'Riley
Bargain
You Better, You Bet
Sea and Sand
5:15
Love Reign O'er Me
    The 3-song vignette from Quad was very enjoyable.  I wondered how
    they were going to handle the break in 5:15.  They played it
    pretty standard and didn't give Pino a big bass solo as they
    obviously would have with John.  Still, it was a good performance.
    Roger's voice was in -excellent- shape for both nights and he
    really pulled off the full range in Love Reign O'er Me without a
    hitch -- no voice cracking or hoarseness whatsoever!  He belted
    out the "Love!" and at the same time ended the song on a very soft
    "Looooooooooove" which truly impressed me, even as a longtime fan
    of the band.  SaS/LROM were new experiences for me to see them
    play live in the stripped down configuration -- although I had
    seem them play these on Quad '96, of course.
Eminence Front
    This had a great groove on it as well and they really had me
    moving at Shoreline!  At Shoreline Pete introduced the song saying
    "this is a song about how you feel when you've done too much
    cocaine...." and then the intro synth tape starts and Pete did a
    pantomime "walk like an egyptian" stance to the beat.
The Kids Are Alright
    Some new lyrics were added/improvised here, but I couldn't quite
    make them out accurately enough to repeat here as Roger sang them
    rather softly.
My Generation
    During the bass solo, Pino played the first three riffs standard
    and then put a jazzy flourish on the last one which I did enjoy.
    This seemed to be the only time that Pino took any "liberties"
    with the material.  I was actually hoping for a little more flair
    from Pino, but I imagine its difficult enough to repro these songs
    on the first few shows.  I hope that by the time they get to MSG
    that the fans will get a little more improvisation from Pino where
    appropriate.  Lord knows, the man is capable of it and there's no
    reason he should hold back on being the best he can be.

    A contrast between Shoreline and Marysville: at Shoreline they
    seemed to find their "groove" in the very beginning and did more
    jams on the instrumental breaks.  At Marysville it seemed like
    they were having a tough time finding their groove and didn't
    quite hit it (in my opinion) until My Generation, which was in the
    second half of the show.
Won't Get Fooled Again
Pinball Wizard
Amazing Journey
Sparks
See Me, Feel Me
    The encore consisted of a Tommy vignette.  More live Who firsts
    for me were to hear Amazing Journey, Sparks and See Me, Feel Me
    performed live.  Zak really hit it on Amazing Journey as I recall
    and Sparks gave me goosebumps, just like the Woodstock version
    from the Kids Are Alright soundtrack always does.  Excellent!

    On each night, Roger banged the tambourines together so hard that
    he destroyed one each night.  The little metal discs started
    flying and by the end of Amazing Journey/Sparks, the damaged
    tambourine was so splintered that only the stretched skin making
    up the head was holding it together!  (A friend got a piece of the
    tambourine from Shoreline from a stagehand she knows.)  I guess
    they just don't make tambourines that stand up to "Who brutalism"
    anymore!

At one point during Shoreline, Pete stumbled and knocked over an amp
to which the crowd roared in approval.  It was clearly just a mistake
and the roadies came out and quickly uprighted the samp and fixed
everything.  This wasn't Pete's main amp with the microphones, but was
a second amp off to the side.  I don't really know which part of the
sound was being pumped through that amp.

Neither Roger nor Pete made many comments about John during either
show.  During Shoreline they only mentioned the obvious that Pino was
there to play with them.  After Marysville, Roger made a comment in
response to criticism that the band went on after losing John.  It was
short and to the point and I felt that his facial expression showed
that the carping and whining from people deploring their efforts to
continue pissed him off.  He said something to the effect of:

    "For all those people who criticise us for continuing, I can only
    say this.  If those firefighters and policemen in New York City
    can carry on in the face of their tremendous loss, then so can
    we."

'nuff said.

At the end of the Shoreline show, a sad moment came when they ended the
concert and TED are usually standing together with their arms around
each other.  Pete and Roger stood and embraced and Roger looked to his
right and extended an arm out of habit, only to realize there was noone
there :-(.  You could see the look on his face as he realized that
never again would the Ox be there to join them in the final spotlight
at the end and it clearly disturbed him.  (Shit, this is making me
choked up just writing this!)  Anyone doubting that they don't feel
Entwistle's loss has a severe case of recto-cranial inversion.  That
moment alone told me viscerally what I already knew intellectually.

Several of us commented that Pete and Roger looked very alone at the
end there.  I think they must have -felt- very alone as well, for the
next night at Marysville -all- musicians were invited to join in the
final embrace.  Pino, Zak, Rabbit and Simon all left the stage in a
four-man embrace, just before Pete & Roger also left.

During the Marysville show, an attractive big-boobed girl in a short
midriff T-shirt was in the front row, center.  She was jumping up and
down most of the show, with the attendent boob jiggling which caught
Roger's attention more than once.  I think she must have flashed her
boobs at the stage because Roger tossed his harmonica directly at her
after Baba O'Riley and thanked her for her breasts at the end of the
show!  You know that no man would -ever- have gotten Roger's harmonica
just after the song!

At the end of the Marysville show, a girl attempted to give flowers to
Pete and Roger at which point the security goons swarmed all over her.
Pete grabbed the microphone and said "Look!  Its a fight between men
and flowers!"  With a signal from Pete and Roger, she was allowed to
give them the bouquet and Roger thanked her over the mic.  Then the
mic. stand holder slipped and the mic. sank to its lowest setting
(about 2 feet off the ground), to which Roger quipped "The singer
isn't -that- short, Pete!" and just before leaving after Pete had once
again introduced all the performers, Roger added "...and Prince on
vocals!" making a reference to the performer's diminuitive stature
(even compared to Roger).

At the end of the Marysville show, there were some fireworks set off
from the top of the stage at the venue.  Nothing spectacular, but it
was nice to have some fireworks.  Roger did thank the audience during
the show for not only coming out to see them play, but also giving up
our July 4th holiday in order to do so.

Merchandise:

There were a new batch of T-shirts this time around, including women's
shirts for sale, which I didn't see in 2000.  Like 2000, I bought one
of most every shirt that they had for sale.  (Particularly since after
the 2000 tour, I didn't see any leftover shirts make their way onto
thewhodirect.com, as I saw with the Vegas/Empire jackets in '99.)  The
had a new tour program, with pictures from the 2000 tour.  I didn't see
my self in any of them, the venues were too large to include the crowd
in the pictures, unlike the '99 pictures that were used in the 2000
program where I -did- appear in at least one of the photos.

Additional items of note that were for sale: a lithograph print of
John's artwork showing "four rock guitar legends": clockwise from
top-left: Hendrix, Clapton, Page, and Townshend.  There was a
reproduction of tour poster from 1975 with printed autographs of
Roger, Keith, John and Pete.  These posters were a limited print run
of 2000 copies, each numbered.  I got number 510.  They also had 3
"badges" (pins) and a set of 4 fridge magnets as well as some coffee
mugs in addition to the programs, poster and T-shirts.

The posters are shrink-wrapped with a piece of cardboard to keep them
from getting damaged.  While this is nice, its nearly impossible to
keep them in good shape if you buy them before the show with all the
people bumping into you carrying 4 beers and all the crowds at the
venue entrances and exits.  I was lucky enough that the security
people at Marysville let me put my poster and tour programs underneath
the camera platform in front of the stage for safe keeping during the
show.  Without that, I don't know how I would have kept it from
getting damaged.  So, you may want to consider purchasing that poster
or program on your way -out- of the concert instead of on the way in.
Of course with the limited print run that also means you might have
less of a chance of getting a poster, but that's the skinny on that
and I'll leave the risk evaluation up to yourselves.  Very few venues,
if any, will let you exit to put stuff in your car and then return
inside.  (Why they don't let you buy the merchandise outside the venue
so you can put it away safely I'll never understand.)

Overall the experience made me feel excited, energized while at the
same time sad.  However, it was more cathartic to hear them play and
be with other fans -- "Who family" -- than brooding on a mailing
list.  Several times I was thinking "man, they are sounding better
than ever, I wish John was here too."
-- 
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