[no subject]

Who's last?
Roger Daltrey talks about what's next for iconic band
By KIERAN GRANT, TORONTO SUN

It's going to sound familiar, but The Who's Toronto
concert tomorrow may be their last. "Again," says
Roger Daltrey. 

"It is strange that we did our last gig there back
when I thought The Who was over," Daltrey says,
referring to his band's "final" concert at Maple Leaf
Gardens in 1982. 

"This could really be the last gig for us as The Who.
I don't think it will be, but potentially, yes. That's
kind of ironic." 

Tomorrow will mark the last show of The Who summer
tour -- the same summer that saw the band's original
ranks whittled down to Daltrey and Pete Townshend
after the death of bassist John Entwistle June 27. 

Daltrey says he and Townshend haven't decided on the
future of the band. 

Townshend has in the past expressed regret that The
Who pressed on after drummer Keith Moon's death in
1978. 

The band have defended their latter-day reunions as
being in the service of the music. They faced renewed
criticism for going ahead with their current tour with
replacement bassist Pino Palladino just days after
Entwistle's death. 

"We'd been with John 40-odd years and I shall miss him
terribly," Daltrey says. "But I think we do owe it to
our generation, who are this age, to show them that
they're going to be losing friends more and more. We
need to show the way by saying, 'You don't give up,
you carry on.' 

"At the time of Keith's death the remaining three of
us did make the arrangement that if, God forbid,
anything happened to one us, the other two could go
out and be The Who. 

"That's not to say Pete and I have made any decisions
as to where to go from here." 

Needless to say, the tour wasn't what they intended it
to be. 

The band hadn't much more than a weekend to rehearse
with Palladino. New material, the first Townshend had
written for The Who in 20 years, was largely cut from
the set. 

"We've risen to the musical challenge," says Daltrey.
"That's the easiest part of the day. Once we're on
stage, our lost friends come back. Keith and John are
generic to the music, they exist on that stage with
us. 

Still, he says, "The band's got all the vitality it
ever had, but there's a slight difference in the
sound. Pino could copy everything John played if he
wanted to, but obviously we don't want to do a
pastiche." 

Daltrey stresses that he's only speaking personally
and not for his ever-opinionated bandmate, but says
that he can imagine a musical future with Townshend. 

"I equate (the band) to a box where one of the sides
has fallen off and it leaves us a great deal of space
to experiment," he says. "I'm very optimistic. In some
ways there are more opportunities now. I think we
should take the challenge and ride with it. 

"That's my own opinion and Pete and I haven't
discussed it yet. It hasn't been the time or the
place. We're on our 26th show now and we can do
another two. We'll need some time after that." 

He adds: "It's always frustrating, and I'm on record
as saying this time and time again, that Pete stopped
writing for The Who 20 years ago. He's started again
now and some of it is superb. I feel that an intellect
the like of Pete Townshend has the potential to write
perhaps his best work at this age. 

"What I also feel good about now is that Pete and I
are really just the nucleus of The Who. The Who has
transcended us, it's bigger than us. We've had an
awful lot of young people on this tour -- a whole new
audience. You think, 'This is bigger than us now.
They're all in The Who!'"


=====
-Brian in Atlanta
The Who This Month!
http://www.thewhothismonth.com
New DSL Internet Access from SBC & Yahoo!
http://sbc.yahoo.com