Picture from the Austin American-Statesman.
Most of you who’ve known me for 20-plus years will getting treatment for whiplash; you got it from the double-take you did after reading the headline. Let me repeat, yes, I went to see Roger Daltrey of the Who. My friend Mark B had extra tickets to see this show. They were relatively free because he leased ad space at the Cedar Park Center for the Stars’ 2011-12 season. This being Austin, my love of music, a free ticket and getting a chance to hang out with a friend I don’t see as often as I would like to socially (the core of our relationship hovers around D&D), I couldn’t refuse. Besides, ever since I stopped listening to terrestrial radio, older works by are enjoyable again. It’s amazing what happens when you don’t have to hear the same few hits ad nauseum. The iPod didn’t kill radio (or TV), Lee Abrams, Emmis, Clear Channel, Viacom and the Right-Wing Noise Machine did. The real lesson is that content matters, not technology otherwise NPR and the broadcast networks would’ve evaporated.
Back to the review.
Roger is currently touring North America performing Tommy in order and in its entirety. Substituting for Pete is Simon Townshend, Pete’s much younger brother plus a small four-piece band covering the instruments vacated by Pete (he needed two guitarists), Keith and John. A chunk of the money is donated to teen-cancer research. I don’t think Roger needs the dough, I feel he just enjoys performing. Trust me, at 67, the man could rake in easier lucre than endure the grind of touring.
How was it? Surprisingly impressive given the lineup and circumstances. The only way it could’ve been better was the ticket incorporating a time machine to see the early Seventies’ performances or the early Nineties ensemble on Fox: Billy Idol as Kevin Cousin and Phil Collins as Uncle Ernie.
I have a soft spot for Tommy dating back to childhood. During HBO’s infancy, the network showed the Ken Russell film. It became quite the topic on the playground for a couple weeks, especially the part with Ann-Margaret writhing around in chocolate. The music’s context became more apparent through the indirect Classic Rock History lessons I received from Houston’s KLOL. I never have seen the 1993 London-Broadway musical. I do have the first casting which included Pete Townshend writing an additional song. Maybe someone more knowledgeable of the story can set the record straight for me too. Who killed whom? The boyfriend kills Captain Walker or the other way around? Since the movie is my foundation, I tend side with the former and it makes more sense.
Seeing this concert was another weird instance of synchronicity in my life. Recently, I read about how the whole record came together in the July-August 2011 issue of mental_floss, a magazine designed for me and Jeopardy! contestants. The author considers it a right-brain masterpiece. I have to agree. Without it, The Who probably would’ve dissolved and never made their biggest album Who’s Next which ironically was another attempt at a rock opera, not the all-killer-no-filler collection of singles.
What else about the show? After Tommy concluded, Roger thanked the audience for coming, introduced the band and performed some Who hits alongside a Johnny Cash medley. The biggest surprise was him singing his mid-Seventies solo hit “Without Your Love.” I always thought he was embarrassed by it. Never mind how it’s a great song, it just seemed contrary to his Rock n’ Roll, tough-guy image while this tune is more appropriate for Leo Sayer or Gino Vanelli. He did apologize to the Austin-based crowd that The Who has never performed in Austin and plans to take it up with Pete.
Overall I’m glad I went. It really strengthened my reconciliation with The Who’s music. I used to have a vinyl copy of Who’s Next in high school. I played it pretty heavily while living in North Dakota. “Behind Blue Eyes” has a built-in appeal to teenage boys is my personal theory. Then I ditched it around college with my Classic Rock purge and had a hard time stomaching The Who further because of a douchebag co-worker at GDW. Blaming The Who for this dickweed’s overall bad personality was unfair to them and inconsistent; Roxy Music didn’t suffer the same fate despite GDW’s resident alcoholic. Now I have another notch in my memory dedicated to seeing Rock/Pop History and Legacy filled.
Next up? Getting Mark B a copy of the show, available through iTunes!, as his Christmas present; killing the earworm in my head caused by Mark B’s brother-in-law saying how he wished Roger did “Another Tricky Day,” and finding the Easter egg on The Simpsons‘ 13th season DVD when The Who came to Springfield.
One last thing! I wore my new Roger Daltrey/Tommy shirt to Pinballz and fared pretty well for someone whose senses work.