Thursday, March 01, 2007
ADVENTURES IN WHOVILLE
TIME NEEDED TO FIND A PARKING SPACE: 30 seconds. I lucked out.
TIME NEEDED TO FIND TOM P., WHO GRACIOUSLY OFFERED ME HIS OTHER TICKET FOR FREE!:
About a minute.
MEDIAN AGE OF THE CROWD: 45-50. We are definitely not dying before we get old.
YOUNGEST KID IN THE CROWD THAT I SAW: About 8 years old.
NUMBER OF PEOPLE I SAW IN WHEELCHAIRS WHO APPEARED TO NEED THEM DUE TO AGE, RATHER THAN A DEBILITATING ILLNESS: 3.
SCHEDULED TIME THE CONCERT WAS SUPPOSED TO START: 7:30.
ACTUAL TIME THAT THE OPENING ACT, THE TRAGICALLY HIP, FIRST WALKED ON STAGE:
7:30 on the dot! Amazing.
ELAPSED TIME BEFORE I REALIZED THAT I WOULD NOT BE BUYING A TRAGICALLY HIP CD, BECAUSE BASICALLY, THESE GUYS COULDN'T WRITE AN INTERESTING MELODY IF THEIR LIVES DEPENDED ON IT: About 10 minutes.
TIME THE WHO WALKED ON STAGE: 8:35.
ELAPSED TIME FROM WHEN THE WHO WALKED ON STAGE TO THE FIRST MOMENT I SMELLED MARIJUANA: One HOUR. We are DEFINITELY getting old.
ODDEST PIECE OF WARDROBE: Pete Townshend wore a suitcoat for the entire show, only taking it off after returning for the encore. He didn't even take it off when it was obviously getting in the way.
THE DORIAN GRAY AWARD: Roger Daltrey. We should all look that good at his age (incidentally, today is Roger's 63rd birthday. He doesn't look a day over 40.).
THE "F*$% DORIAN GRAY ALL TO HELL" AWARD: Pete Townshend. He DOES look every bit of his 61 years. Nevertheless, he still windmilled his ass off and jumped around the stage like a schoolboy on Red Bull.
BAND NOTES;
Pleasant surprise: Simon Townshend, Pete's brother, on second guitar and vocals.
Zak Starkey is no Keith Moon. But he's as close as anybody's ever gonna get. Which makes sense, since Keith (not Ringo) bought Zak his first professional set of drums and gave Zak lessons for a couple of years.
The older Zak Starkey gets (he's 41 now), the more he looks like Ringo. During songs that don't require much effort from the drummer (such as Eminence Front), his drumming style got VERY Ringo-like.
Bassist Pino Palladino is no John "OX" Entwistle. But he was fine. The only "OX"-like thing he was required to do was the bass solo in "My Generation" and predictably, his playing sounded NOTHING like John's, but that's okay.
John "Rabbit" Bundrick is as much a member of The Who as any of them, and played fine keyboards all night.
SONG I NEVER EXPECTED THEM TO PLAY, BUT THEY DID: The Seeker. Second song of the night. That's my favorite Who song and you never hear it anymore.
SONG THE AUDIENCE KEPT YELLING FOR, BUT THEY DIDN'T PLAY LAST NIGHT AND HAVEN'T PLAYED IT THIS WHOLE TOUR:
Magic Bus.
SONG I KEPT HOPING THEY'D DO, BUT THEY DIDN'T: I Can See For Miles
MOST OBSCURE SONG THEY PLAYED: Naked Eye, the B-side of their single "Join Together With the Band.
BEST THING ABOUT THE VISUAL EFFECTS: The projection screens. They moved together, and apart, and were perfectly synced all night.
WORST THING ABOUT THE VISUAL EFFECTS: The projection screens. With very few exceptions, the visuals for each song were made to last EXACTLY as long as the song, which made the whole show seem a little "canned." It was still good, though.
BEST SONG FROM THE NEW ALBUM: "Man in the Purple Dress." GOOOOOD song, Maynard.
THE WIERDEST "TOMMY" MEDLEY EVER: Pinball Wizard/Captain Walker (a 30-second prelude on the album; a ten-minute jam at the show)/Sparks/See Me, Feel Me
STRANGEST RECORDED ANNOUNCEMENT I'VE EVER HEARD: "Don't forget to order your OFFICIAL BOOTLEG of tonight's performance at..."
"Official Bootleg?" Wha???
TIME IT TOOK TO GET OUT OF THE AUDITORIUM ONCE I DECIDED TO LEAVE: About two minutes. That place empties fast.
TIME IT TOOK TO GET MY CAR OUT OF THE PARKING LOT AND ON THE WAY HOME: About 30 seconds. I lucked out!
TIME IT WILL TAKE TO GET MY HEARING BACK: What?
TIME IT WILL TAKE TO GET MY HEARING BACK: WHAT??!! SPEAK UP, DAMMIT!
TT
TIME NEEDED TO FIND A PARKING SPACE: 30 seconds. I lucked out.
TIME NEEDED TO FIND TOM P., WHO GRACIOUSLY OFFERED ME HIS OTHER TICKET FOR FREE!:
About a minute.
MEDIAN AGE OF THE CROWD: 45-50. We are definitely not dying before we get old.
YOUNGEST KID IN THE CROWD THAT I SAW: About 8 years old.
NUMBER OF PEOPLE I SAW IN WHEELCHAIRS WHO APPEARED TO NEED THEM DUE TO AGE, RATHER THAN A DEBILITATING ILLNESS: 3.
SCHEDULED TIME THE CONCERT WAS SUPPOSED TO START: 7:30.
ACTUAL TIME THAT THE OPENING ACT, THE TRAGICALLY HIP, FIRST WALKED ON STAGE:
7:30 on the dot! Amazing.
ELAPSED TIME BEFORE I REALIZED THAT I WOULD NOT BE BUYING A TRAGICALLY HIP CD, BECAUSE BASICALLY, THESE GUYS COULDN'T WRITE AN INTERESTING MELODY IF THEIR LIVES DEPENDED ON IT: About 10 minutes.
TIME THE WHO WALKED ON STAGE: 8:35.
ELAPSED TIME FROM WHEN THE WHO WALKED ON STAGE TO THE FIRST MOMENT I SMELLED MARIJUANA: One HOUR. We are DEFINITELY getting old.
ODDEST PIECE OF WARDROBE: Pete Townshend wore a suitcoat for the entire show, only taking it off after returning for the encore. He didn't even take it off when it was obviously getting in the way.
THE DORIAN GRAY AWARD: Roger Daltrey. We should all look that good at his age (incidentally, today is Roger's 63rd birthday. He doesn't look a day over 40.).
THE "F*$% DORIAN GRAY ALL TO HELL" AWARD: Pete Townshend. He DOES look every bit of his 61 years. Nevertheless, he still windmilled his ass off and jumped around the stage like a schoolboy on Red Bull.
BAND NOTES;
Pleasant surprise: Simon Townshend, Pete's brother, on second guitar and vocals.
Zak Starkey is no Keith Moon. But he's as close as anybody's ever gonna get. Which makes sense, since Keith (not Ringo) bought Zak his first professional set of drums and gave Zak lessons for a couple of years.
The older Zak Starkey gets (he's 41 now), the more he looks like Ringo. During songs that don't require much effort from the drummer (such as Eminence Front), his drumming style got VERY Ringo-like.
Bassist Pino Palladino is no John "OX" Entwistle. But he was fine. The only "OX"-like thing he was required to do was the bass solo in "My Generation" and predictably, his playing sounded NOTHING like John's, but that's okay.
John "Rabbit" Bundrick is as much a member of The Who as any of them, and played fine keyboards all night.
SONG I NEVER EXPECTED THEM TO PLAY, BUT THEY DID: The Seeker. Second song of the night. That's my favorite Who song and you never hear it anymore.
SONG THE AUDIENCE KEPT YELLING FOR, BUT THEY DIDN'T PLAY LAST NIGHT AND HAVEN'T PLAYED IT THIS WHOLE TOUR:
Magic Bus.
SONG I KEPT HOPING THEY'D DO, BUT THEY DIDN'T: I Can See For Miles
MOST OBSCURE SONG THEY PLAYED: Naked Eye, the B-side of their single "Join Together With the Band.
BEST THING ABOUT THE VISUAL EFFECTS: The projection screens. They moved together, and apart, and were perfectly synced all night.
WORST THING ABOUT THE VISUAL EFFECTS: The projection screens. With very few exceptions, the visuals for each song were made to last EXACTLY as long as the song, which made the whole show seem a little "canned." It was still good, though.
BEST SONG FROM THE NEW ALBUM: "Man in the Purple Dress." GOOOOOD song, Maynard.
THE WIERDEST "TOMMY" MEDLEY EVER: Pinball Wizard/Captain Walker (a 30-second prelude on the album; a ten-minute jam at the show)/Sparks/See Me, Feel Me
STRANGEST RECORDED ANNOUNCEMENT I'VE EVER HEARD: "Don't forget to order your OFFICIAL BOOTLEG of tonight's performance at..."
"Official Bootleg?" Wha???
TIME IT TOOK TO GET OUT OF THE AUDITORIUM ONCE I DECIDED TO LEAVE: About two minutes. That place empties fast.
TIME IT TOOK TO GET MY CAR OUT OF THE PARKING LOT AND ON THE WAY HOME: About 30 seconds. I lucked out!
TIME IT WILL TAKE TO GET MY HEARING BACK: What?
TIME IT WILL TAKE TO GET MY HEARING BACK: WHAT??!! SPEAK UP, DAMMIT!
TT
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