Oh hi. It's been a minute, hasn't it?
Sorry for the lack of posts on here. I'm happy to say it's because I've been doing a lot of writing elsewhere, although I certainly don't want this blog to die. Where else can I blab about my favorite classic rock bands, silent movies, and TV shows?
Speaking of which, I have some thoughts about The Who that I want to share.
Sooooooo, on Friday night one of my lifelong dreams came true and I saw The Who in concert.
It. was. incredible.
To be quite honest, I don’t know how Pete and Roger can still do it – after almost 50 years of playing and touring, you’d think they’d have fizzled out by now. Not the case. They rocked harder than any other band I’ve ever seen live. Although, at one point, the amount of weed being smoked in the venue was so much that Roger had to ask that everyone “eat the rest” because the smoke was making his throat tighten up. Aww Roger, his voice is getting pretty shot but he did his best.
And Pete. Pete is a beast. Everything he did was spot on. The windmilling, the singing, the guitar solos. I am so amazed by him. I also thought it was cute that he wore his glasses for the whole concert (which at one point magically changed to sunglasses), making him look like a grandpa who just happens to be a guitar god.
As part of the band’s 2013 Quadrophenia tour, they played through the entire Quadrophenia album without stopping, followed by a handful of greatest hits (favorites: “Pinball Wizard” and “Baba O’Riley,” yeeee). It was so cool to hear the entire album live, even down to the ocean waves and the tea kettles whistling. The band was incredible too: Zak Starkey (son of Ringo and godson of Keith Moon) on drums, Pino Palladino on bass (let’s be real, who could replace John? but Pino is definitely the next best thing), and Simon Townshend (Pete’s brother) on guitar. So much win. So much awesome.
Some favorites from the setlist:
I’m One. I’ll be honest, there are a lot of songs on Quadrophenia that I never really listened to. This, regrettably, was one of them, and I have no idea why. It’s amazing. (1973 version with John and Keith here).
5:15. This song rocked so hard. They also incorporated John’s bass solo flawlessly, which I thought was a really nice homage. The crowd was going crazy, and it wasn’t until the end of the solo that I realized we were all cheering and screaming for someone who wasn’t actually there.
Tea and Theatre. I’m sure this is not how Pete and Roger would want themselves described, nevertheless, this song was adorable. It was the last song of the night. Watch the last 30 seconds of this video and tell me you don’t go “AWWWWWW”:
Conclusion: I LOVE THE WHO AND I LOVED THIS SHOW AND I HOPE ROGER’S VOICE CAN LAST THE REST OF THE TOUR, GOODNIGHT.
Last week I finished Pete Townshend’s autobiography “Who I Am,” which was a long and entertaining read. While I was reading the book, I kept thinking how much great material there was for a Pete-themed drinking game (ironic, given a lot of the subject matter). For example,
Take a drink:
*Every time you come across the words “auto-destruction”, “Impressionism”, or “visaging”
*Any time Pete goes on a tangent about his childhood
*Whenever Roger wants to get The Who back together and Pete isn’t interested
*For every groupie that John has
*Whenever Keith does something ridiculous (“While I made progress with my search for meaning, Keith was causing havoc with a birthday cake, a car, a swimming pool, a lamp and a young fan’s bloody head”)
*Whenever Pete cheats on his wife but he has such nice things to say about the girl he cheated on her with that somehow it seems ok
*Every time you turn the page during the “Acknowledgements” section
Take two drinks:
*Every time Pete drinks Remy Martin
*Every time Pete “quits drinking”
*Any time you think for a second that you understand Lifehouse
*Any time Pete agrees to do something, then backs out, then agrees again
In all seriousness though, this was a great read. I’ve always wanted to get a glimpse into Pete’s head, since he’s such an unconventional rockstar, and this was probably the closest I’ll ever get.
I’ll leave you with a quote from the Coda:
Play to the gods, or – if you prefer – to a small basket full of stuffed toys, or sing into the mouth of a hot-water bottle, or turn the knobs on a chest of drawers and pretend to be 20,000 leagues under the sea.
It’s all the same thing. If in doubt, just play.
That last one makes me smile. Crazy old Pete, he’s close to 70 and can still jump like he’s 25.
Also, apparently Pete has a book coming out this October??? Is it possible that I didn’t know this before today??? I need to stay more on top of these things.
Wayne, Townshend, Lennon, Mahal, Kerouac.
Remember the windmill video I did a while back? For the Who Windmill Contest? Well the nerdiness paid off and I won 2nd place!! The best part is, second place gets ROCK BAND 2! I also won the new Maximum R&B Live DVD and a Who shirt!! Ahhhhhhhh I’m so happy, and all thanks to this guy:
I wonder if Pete will see my video, ahahaha. How embarrassingly awesome!!
OH MY GAWD this is the best thing I’ve heard of since the OK Go Dance Contest: THE WHO WINDMILL CONTEST.
Dood.
Dood.
Dood.
I wanna do it.
One of the prizes (among others like Rock Band 2 and a STRATOCASTER SIGNED BY PETE) is this DVD, which includes several windmills in its trailer:
More windmills:
Won’t Get Fooled Again (the sound is a little off, but you get the idea)
Live Aid, 1985
Pete rockin at 61 years old
You guys, I’m not even joking. I WANT TO ENTER THIS CONTEST.
Pete Townshend’s birthday was 2 days ago and I FORGOT! I blame my midterm.
HAPPY LATE PETE DAY!
I found this video awhile back; not sure why no one else seems to have seen it but I find it HILARIOUS. Old Man Pete is such a spazz! I also think it’s funny how excited he is about that videocamera (he took it on stage with him???).
Vlog of a rockstar:
If you (and by you, I probably just mean me) yearn for more silly Pete footage, this Pete birthday tribute [2014 edit: the video is private now! so sad…] is pretty awesome, aside from the unnecessary subtitles. I never really associated the word “cute” with Pete Townshend, but this video manages to make him seem pretty darn cute. Awwww.
I saw this pic on Capslock Who and LOL’d. Oh Pete.
So I found out while looking at the classes for next quarter that the music history department is offering a class dedicated SOLELY to the Beatles. No joke. I think that is pretty amazing, although I would never take it (one, because I have no need for it in terms of my academic requirements and two, because I can guarantee I already know everything they’re going to teach…I guess it’d be a super easy A though). Anyway, a celebration in the form of macros:
OMG. I am so glad this exists:
New-Millenium-Pete dancing is almost as awkward as Early-60s-Pete dancing. But all the Pete in between = WIN.
YouTube is a godsend. I doubt anyone would care to watch an old rock god messing around in the studio, but I laughed so hard when I saw this. He is such a spazz!
Nikki Collister 