Sunday, November 9, 2008

The Who, LIVE from Nokia Theater, Los Angeles, California.

The problem with any opening act for an iconic band is that, no matter how good they are, you've forgotten them by the end of the show.

"Who were they?""

"Yeah, they played the concert that we went to."

"No, I mean the other guys. Who were they?"

"Woncha tell me who are you? Hoo-hoo, hoo-hoo--"

"No, I really want to know--"

"--Whooooooo are you? Hoo-hoo, hoo-hoo

Seriously, it can be exasperating.

Fortunately, I wrote down the name: Inward Eye, from Winnepeg, Manitoba, Canada. I have no idea how successful they're going to be, but they were fun to watch and had a song or two worth mentioning. "Hypocrite Hop" and others from their forthcoming EP, "soon to be available on iTunes." I'll have to ask my kids what that means, but it doesn't sound like you can actually buy a CD or a record or a tape. Ah, the good old days, when your music collection consisted of objects too big to lose, rather than kilobytes of data that disappeared when your hard drive crashed.

Music has changed.

That riff sounds remarkably like Alice Cooper's "School's Out," doesn't it? It's not a cover; the song, "Shame" is on their upcoming EP. But other than a cover of Smokey Robinson & The Miracles' "Tears of a Clown," it was the only lack of originality they showed for the night. Inward eye performed with high energy and got the crowd amped up for the Who. Not many of us left our seats, but that had more to do with the median age of the audience than with the opening act's ability to move us. If you like high-energy Indie-Rock, you will definitely like Inward Eye.
4/5 "Circle A"s
4/5

* * *

I've gotten used to concerts where the lights go down just before the headliner comes on stage, often preceded by some canned music or even a video. So it was a pleasant surprise when the spotlights shown on Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend, who simply walked out on stage and greeted the audience. Absent were Keith Moon and John Entwistle, who died on June 27, 1978 and June 27, 2002, respectively. In their place were Zak Starkey (drums) and Pino Palladino (bass), as well as John Bundrick (keyboards) and Simon Townshend (second guitar), Pete's brother.

The Who's six man lineup opened with "I Can't Explain," their first single, released in 1965. Many of the classic "Who moves" were present: Daltrey twirling the microphone with the cord (let's see him try that with a wireless mic); Townshend jumped in the air and swung his arm in his trademark, counter-clockwise strumming move. But there were no guitars smashed, no sliding across the stage on his knees.

Wannabe Scott Halpins, hoping for their big break were out of luck: there was to be no appeal to the audience to provide the band with a drummer. Starkey was highly energetic and by all appearances, had not taken horse tranquilizers prior to the show. Sadly, there was no performance of "Boris the Spider" or "My Wife," although Palladino mimicked Entwistle's jazzy bass style on "My Generation."

At some point, the crew strapped an acoustic guitar on Daltrey for "Who are You," "Real Good Looking Boy," and others. Prior to the latter beginning, Daltrey discussed The Who receiving an honor from the Kennedy Center for their contributions to our culture. He indicated that he found this ironic, since his primary influence on him, musically, had come from the United States. "I know Pete probably didn't write it for this guy, but I sing it for Elvis Presley," Daltrey said. "Real Good Looking Boy" began with Bundrick playing "Can't Help Falling in Love With You," while the "draft" clips of Elvis Presley shown on the screen behind them. Their much appreciated rescue of "Behind Blue Eyes" from the mediocre grasp of Limp Bizkit (who left out the spirited, second half of the song, opting to keep the melody of "no one knows what it's like," and then further degrading it by adding new lyrics) was spot on. I choose to believe that there is a special place in Hell for hacks that employ sampling from, or dissect great songs in order to "remake" such treasures in their own image. Dante placed the Titans in the ninth circle, only because wasn't alive to hear pop divas like Janet Jackson butcher "Ventura Highway."

I took some video on my phone. Problem was, I can only take thirty seconds at a time:


For those of you that didn't recognize the song through the garbled mess the small microphone on my cell made of it, that was "Baba O'Reilly." Townshend said that he always imagined a mobile home traveling across Nevada. He was pleased that Americans appeared to have adopted the song, and said, "We gift it to you."

Daltrey managed to struggle through, his voice gaining strength, ironically, in the midst of the song "Getting in Tune." He even reached down and found the old screams for "Love, Reign O'er Me" and "Won't Get Fooled Again."

The Who wrapped up the show with an instrumentally heavy (long) version of "My Generation." The audience gave them a standing ovation (except for the drunk behind me that risked his life by booing them) until they returned to the stage.

Townshend began with a descending dissonant chord progression that sparked cheers of recognition from a few, until he began the syncopated, strumming rhythm that characterizes Tommy's "Pinball Wizard." What remained was a medley from Tommy (see Encore, below). The show concluded with the surviving original members, Pete and Roger, performing a moving rendition of Tea and Theatre; they seemed to cling to those last fleeting moments as the Los Angeles night unfolded and welcomed these pioneers of rock into its warm embrace:

Will you have some tea
After theatre with me?

We did it all - didn't we?
Jumped every wall - instinctively
Unravelled codes - ingeniously
Wired all the roads - so seamlessly

We made it work
But one of us failed
That makes it so sad
A great dream derailed

One of us gone
One of us mad
One of us, me
All of us sad

All of us sad - lean on my shoulder now
The story is done - 's getting colder now
A thousand songs - still smoulder now
We played them as one - we're older now

All of us sad
All of us free
Before we walk from the stage
Two of us
Will you have some tea?
Will you have some tea
At the theatre with me?

Rating
5 out of 5
5/5
Part nostalgia, part gratitude for the many years of music and the chance to see them play, if only once.


Set List
I Can't Explain
The Seeker
Relay
Fragments
Who Are You
Behind Blue Eyes
Real Good Looking Boy
Sister Disco
Baba O'Riley
Getting In Tune
Eminence Front
5.15
Love Reign O'er Me
Won't Get Fooled Again
My Generation

Encore:
Pinball Wizard
Amazing Journey/Sparks
See Me Feel Me/Listening to You
Tea And Theatre

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