1989 tour and so on

["Andy Cummings" <thekindpad@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I thought I'd throw in my 2cents on this topic. I was 12 when The Who came 
to Sullivan Stadium in the summer of 89. At the time my interest in the Who 
was limited to the Whos Better Whos Best CD. I was still preoccupied with 
little league and Van Halen solos...however I do have the double CD Join 
Together, the Tommy concert video and a few bootlegs of that tour. 
Personally it's not my favorite period but like every Who tour it had it's 
good points. The setlists of course being a major turn on. From what I've 
seen and heard about that tour it was fantastic. The reviews were mostly 
favorable, the performances consistent and large sums of money went to good 
causes. As Pete was quoted as saying at the time,
"Form follows function...the function of the Who in 1989 is different than 
it was in the 1970s..."
In 1996 when they reformed to play Quadrophenia I was euphoric. I watched 
and documented the HBO broadcast and I knew that no matter what was said, 
they would be coming to the US for a tour. Call it intuition, I'm sure most 
of you knew it too;) I remember manning my tape deck the night of the MSG 
broadcast and being near orgasm for 2 1/2 hours. When they finnaly did come 
to the Centrum in Worcester I thought the show was fantastic and IMO the 
backing band was far better (more suited I should say) than the 1989 band. 
However I remember seeing reviews with headers like: "Talking About My 
Re-Generation" and "We Won't Go Broke Again". While there were plenty of 
good reviews it seemed that their crediblity had suffered. Back around in 
1997 to cash in on the summer sheds and the reviews were much the same, 
although not as plentiful.
Then we have what I think is the best Who tour of my lifetime, the 2000 
tour. Here we have many great reviews marveling at the energy and sound they 
were able to create at their age. The return to a five-piece unit no doubt 
restored much of the crediblilty they had lost and proved that they didn't 
*need* extra musicians if they didn't want them. Personally I only want to 
hear Pete on lead with the Who although Simon was a welcome subsitute in 96 
(lets face it, I didnt' think PT would ever play electric with the Who ever 
again so...) but I can do without Steve Boton, Phil Palmer, Geoff Whitehorn 
or whoever else. All great players in thier own right but stylisticly wrong 
for the music IMO.
The 2002 tour was great of course. I can only imagine what it would have 
been like had we not lost the OX. That being said I think that the first 
reunion shows in 1999 through the early shows of 2002 were the best we 
could've hoped for...especially for those of us who were too young to have 
seen the original band. Not sure that I have actually said anything of 
substance here but...whatever...rock and rolls all that counts.
peace

Andy


"I don't talk to musicians...
 they might influence me."
    - Pete Townshend
      Mansfield, Mass  7/26/2002

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