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The House of Blues Gig
I saw the boys at the House of Blues, doing the Maryville Academy Benefit, and it was just fantastic. The place was packed and their set list deviated a bit from what they did on the third leg: No "Bargain" and no "Another Tricky Day," replacing it with some more stuff from Quad. What was great was the audience singing almost every song with Roger while Pete was smiling at the audience's participation. "His Eminence" was slamming the shit out the Strat's whammy bar with more ferocity than usual...and it was noticed that there was more windmilling from Peter, as well. We all realized that he was happy to be there...and it was probably due to the audience feedback and their singing along with Roger. Of course, when it came time for the "Baba O'Riley" bit...everyone sang the "Teenage Wasteland" phrase with extra gusto...and for some reason...visions of N'Sync & Britney came into my head as TEENAGE WASTELAND pierced the air!! Indeed....
Zak was marvelous...but isn't he always? Yet, his drumming this night at the House of Blues was something to behold. Maybe it was due to us being so close to him. We were close enough to get the full effect of his power. Ditto Rabbit's playing...especially on "Who Are You" and "Love Reign O'er Me," the latter song being hypnotic in its effect...especially the way Rabbit was riffing the piano part. Pete did a marvelous "Eminence Front," almost scatting the lyrics. And no one gives Roger any credit for playing the main riff on that song with his blue Strat. He does a great job keeping that song going while both Pete...and Simon...are playing separate leads on that song. If you are lucky to catch the remaining shows, watch those guys play that song...and watch them play it. It's wonderful.
My biggest disappointment is the cutting short of "My Generation," which has always been my favorite jam song by The Who. My two favorite versions are "Leeds" and the one on "Blues to the Bush," but lately...on this tour...the boys have cut M.G. down almost as a seque into WGFA, which bothers me deeply. Yet...I ain't the boss...Pete & Roger are. So...I can't complain too much, despite the pricey tickets. The only redemption for M.G. getting chopped up is the encore...and Pete, God bless'im, does an almost note-for-note Leeds replay of "Amazing Journey/Sparks," which is worth the price of admission. (Guitar geeks note: Pete introduced a new white Strat, which he didn't have on the third leg of the tour...at least I didn't notice it.)
All in all, the HOB gig was wonderful. Pearl Jam opened the evening's festivities and they warmed the crowd up with 90 minutes of their wonderful music. Honestly, until I saw them, I wasn't a P.J. fan...but I am now. I'm a 48 year old lawyer...who cut his teeth on the original British invasion...and remembers that fateful night when Ed Sullivan said, "Ladies and Gentlemen...THE BEATLES!" That night my world, like Dorothy's, turned from black & white to color...and the lads from Liverpool & from Shepherd's Bush...have made my world a much better place to be. And on August 24th (of this year...) when I actually met Pete & Roger...IN PERSON...at The Who's Chicago concert (at the Tweeter Center, Tinley Park)... that colorful world became HDTV!!! It was a dream come true...after 35 years of waiting....
Now if I can just meet Paul or Ringo.
Oh well....Anywho...the HOB gig was great and a splendid time was guaranteed for all. That guarantee was met and no warranties were breached.
Have a great day all of you. I'm going home and eat dinner. The wife just called...and told me to get my ass home...AND RIGHT NOW.
Crazy Joe.
The Who Mailing List Digest wrote:
The Who Mailing List Digest
Wednesday, September 25 2002 Volume 09 : Number 274
In this issue:
Our Tarnished Who
Stripper interview in Mail On Sunday
Got my Detroit show cd's
Re: Dallas Review- it's long but worth the read
Re: Got my Detroit show cd's
Selling Toronto Tickets (3rd row)
and mark thinks Jim is a low brow??
Who Are They- mc's band
Re: Who Are They- mc's band
Who/Pearl Jam in Chicago
MC-Classic
ISADORE DOES BOSTON II !
Re: MC-Classic
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 24 Sep 2002 12:41:44 -0400
From: "O'Neal, Kevin W."
Subject: Our Tarnished Who
>From: "Jeff House"
>Subject: Re: Our Tarnished Who
>Scott Schrade some some very funny stuff and "....that's *your* Who that's
>getting the shaft in the press & public opinion. That's *your* Who that's
>considered a joke by many.
>That's *your* Who that people are disregarding as unimportant, greedy,
self-
>ish, uncaring, & irrelevant."
>
>That's cool. People laugh at the size of my ass on a regular basis. I'm
>just pleased that they're paying attention ;-)
Yes, (continuing on your big ass analogy), but they're paying attention
because you're walking around in front of them with a big ass. Once you're
out of town, the thing that people are remembering is......yo big ass.
BTW! "disclaimer"...I have no idea how big Jeff's ass is. I've never
looked. Really.
While no one can take *my* who away from me, or how *I* feel about my
who...what is slowly being eroded, and could be eroded more quickly
depending on future endeavors, is The Who's reputation which will influence
generations to come.
Funny, to me, the fact that the band cares about their reputation speaks
volumes.
Kevin in VT
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 24 Sep 2002 17:48:01 -0300 (ART)
From: =?iso-8859-1?q?ACLGC?=
Subject: Stripper interview in Mail On Sunday
Forgive me you all, but in the end "I hope I die
before I get old" becames "I hope I die old after lots
of drug, sex and rock and roll".
_______________________________________________________________________
Yahoo! GeoCities
Tudo para criar o seu site: ferramentas faceis de usar, espago de sobra e acesssrios.
http://br.geocities.yahoo.com/
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 24 Sep 2002 20:04:54 -0400
From: Keithjmoon70@aol.com
Subject: Got my Detroit show cd's
I have been listening to it over and over. At first listen I was shocked that there was no crowd noise at all. Until the encore. Was this the show that I was at? Yes it was. I heard mistakes that I did not hear live {like only Simon singing along with Roger at the end of YBYB}. The sound is VERY clear. I will not make this long because I am not at my computer {Hard drive deleted from a virus and is in the shop}. Second listen: I love it. Zak is thunderous and removes any "tarnish" that you guys may be talking about. {I don't get it} He is a master. Pure joy to listen to and worth the high price you paid for your system to hear him thud the heart of your chest and back. Just brilliant. Pino can be heard loud and clear and this recording removed any doubts I had about his ability. He was all over that fretboard. Very loud and VERY Who-like. Roger had a bit of a tough time at times and Pete varied from song to song. But I am just getting spoiled. The heavy hitters!
were by far the best. MG WGFA Tommy. I love this band and they are not making a mistake by doing what they are doing.
Jon in Mi.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 24 Sep 2002 20:07:01 EDT
From: Nelson9792@aol.com
Subject: Re: Dallas Review- it's long but worth the read
Thanks for your review of the Dallas show. It was interesting, but I must
take issue with a couple of points:
In a message dated 9/22/02 10:54:41 PM Central Daylight Time,
Sroundtable@aol.com writes:
> Many empty seats, however. Fuck Dallas, I say. All the money in that town
> and they couldn't sell out for the greatest rock music ever made by the
> greatest performers ever born. Ignorant Texans.
The place seemed full when The Who were on. The empty sections were at the
very top level on the sides. I don't think those were even opened up for
sale. A friend of mine bought a single seat from Ticketmaster the day before
the show and ended up on the last row of the top level. I beleive the other
"patchy" section in the area level was the "comp" section. Remember, this
was a bigger venue than Reunion Arena, where they played in 2000. Pete even
made some reference to it selling out.
> I think his first words were fuck you to this asshole dude who wanted his
> t-shirt signed. This moron ran over to the car and had to be restrained by
> security, and was almost shoving his t-shirt at Roger through the window.
> I'm glad he didn't give the autograph.
>
That reaction seems a little inappropriate and and uncharactaristic of Roger.
I somewhat doubt if he said "fuck you" to the guy. When Roger came out of
the back of the Cotton Bowl after the Dallas show in 1989, there was a mob of
fans and he signed for everyone (although by most accounts, he has become
less "cooperative" on recent tours).
Remember, not everyone loves The Who as much as we do. Personally, I think
it behooves them to ingratiate themselves to the fans when it comes to
autographs, etc. when possible (just my opinion). We know how great they
are, but the fact remains that (cynical mode on) this is a band down to two
original members, who have not released a new album in TWENTY years, who are
charging over $100 for tickets and still fill large arenas. As much as we
appreceiate them, they should also be grateful that people show up.
Another guy had taught his 3 yr old to windmill his arm and sing who are
you in order to
> get Pete's attention if he came by. UGH!! I think that disrespects the
> Who, but maybe I'm just being emotional.
Perhaps you are. That actually sounds kinda cute. Anyway, I'm glad you
enjoyed the show and made it home safely......
Cheers,
Michael ("Ignorant" Texan)
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 24 Sep 2002 21:09:05 -0400
From: "Scott Schrade"
Subject: Re: Got my Detroit show cd's
> I have been listening to it over and over. At first listen I was shocked that there was no
> crowd noise at all. Until the encore. Was this the show that I was at?
Soundboard recordings usually have very limited crowd noise. No microphones are used for
"ambient" crowd sounds.
> Zak is thunderous and removes any "tarnish" that you guys may be talking about. {I don't get it}
Well, let me clarify a bit. The tarnish *I* was speaking of doesn't concern the Who's current
ability to pull off a live show. There's no tarnish in that regard. The tarnish I see is on the
general
public's, or more precisely, the general rock fan's, overall image of The Who.
- - SCHRADE in Akron
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 00:15:25 -0400
From: "Ann"
Subject: Selling Toronto Tickets (3rd row)
Hi everyone,
John from the Who chat board is selling some great seats for the Sept 28th
Toronto show. I promised him I'd post on here for him. Here's the details:
FLR1, Row 3, Seats 41 & 42 (left of the stage)
He's asking what he paid for them through a broker which is $260US. If
you're interested you can email him at:
J_C_Bartee@msn.com or call him at: 919-828-7111.
Peace,
Ann
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 00:44:44 -0400
From: Sroundtable@aol.com
Subject: and mark thinks Jim is a low brow??
In a message dated Mon, 23 Sep 2002 11:53:00 PM Eastern Standard Time, TheWho-Digest-Owner@igtc.com writes:
> Or, we could simply preach! Spread the word to the infidels. A
> conventional war on Who-ignorance could take years and cost thousands of
> lives. But a pacifist approach (with a little strong arm tactics of course)
> could be the key. Imagine taking that wanker who wrote that awful article
> posted last week, tying him to chair, whipping him senseless with a Who
> concert T-shirt, and playing Young Man Blues until he cries
> for mercy... It
> could work! Preach brothers and sisters, preach!!!
>
> Jim in Colo Springs
Very creative, clever, and funny take on the bashing of the Who and how we should handle it. Why does Mark have it in for Jim so much when he posts things as good as this? And I'm not trying to "cause a big sensation," just praising Jim's work and wondering why Mark considers him a lightweight.
mc
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 00:50:28 -0400
From: Sroundtable@aol.com
Subject: Who Are They- mc's band
Our debut gig approaches and so does hurricane Isidore. We may be cancelled since it's an outdoor party. In any event, after an atrocious practice last night, where my singing was wretched (i was in a bad mood and didn't channel it well) and nothing went right, our guitarist and I worked alone tonight and worked out some things. We fixed PW, which was easy. We have also decided to expand PW and IF into a mini-Tommy medley. Open with the Sparks intro, except I'll sing Capt Walker didn't come home, etc... That will morph to Amazing Journey, but only the opening verse and the chorus followed by a little jam, then into Pinball Wizard. Full PW with added choruses from the Elton John version. We'll stop there to give IF it's own intro, using the movie/broadway solo guitar strum intro (a la PW) into a version similar to IOW. We'll then reprise a verse and a chorus from PW before hitting SMFM/LTY. Any thoughts? I'm kinda fired up about it. We'll try it full band tom nigh!
t at rehearsal. Wish us luck.
mc
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 00:57:57 EDT
From: SicilianMother@aol.com
Subject: Re: Who Are They- mc's band
Good Luck!!!
:)
Johanna
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 07:06:50 -0600
From: Sigel James Civ 10 ABW/LGCW
Subject: Who/Pearl Jam in Chicago