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"Some of Us Are Still Here..." Indeed: The Who in Mansfield, MA 7/26/02Jul 27 '02 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line Not quite as good as two years ago, but still an excellent show nonetheless.
I still remember hearing the news about John Entwistle just about a month ago. While I was saddened, a certain selfishness came over me. "Son of a b*tch," I thought, "only another month before I was going to see them again. Guess that ain't happening anymore." Then came the rather surprising news that Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend had decided to carry on with their tour. My show was on. The "show" was last night, it was The Who minus one half, and quite frankly...they came, they saw, they kicked my a*s from one end of Great Woods (f*ck Tweeter by the way) to the other, and then Roger and Pete embraced in a hug at the end of their regular set as if to say "we're still standing." Interestingly enough, Townshend himself made reference to this before The Kids Are Alright, saying "Some of us are still here. Some of us are still careful about what we eat and drink...We might not be having as good a time as John was in Las Vegas...We're pretty sure he was enjoying himself," before adding in emphatically "and it's not to be recommended!" Of course, he was referring to the reports that a large amount of cocaine was found in Entwistle's system that surfaced one day before this second leg of the tour kicked off last night. The opening act was Robert Plant, which for once means the Who didn't drag along some AWFUL band the way they used to. Plant showcased many of the tunes from his new album Dreamland ("this is another song from my new album, and since I'm a wh*re, I"m gonna wh*re it out to all of you like a dirty wh*re"). The songs from that album were mostly psychadelic blues with some middle eastern meddling as well. Some of it was interesting, some of it was just plain bad. He basically ignored his previous solo material with the exception of a rollicking Tall Cool One. He played some Zeppelin songs as well (no Misty Mountain Hop dammit), mostly ones that aren't as well known. Going to California was especially beautiful. But the night clearly belonged to the Who. Accompanied by Ringo's son Zak Starkey on drums (I dub him "Mini Moon"), Pino Palladino on bass (I dub him the creepiest looking motherf*cker I have ever seen in my life, he looks like he could've been the funeral director for John's funeral), and Rabbit Bundrick on keyboards, the band played songs from throughout their eras. They ripped into the real early stuff to begin the show (I Can't Explain, Substitute and Anyway Anyhow Anywhere), and then moved forward from there. They hit an early high with back to back renditions of I Can See For Miles and a joyous Baba O'Riley before ruining all that momentum with the worst setlist addition from one of their worst albums, Eminence Front. They quickly made amends though, playing Sea and Sand (by far the happiest moment of the night for me), 5:15 and Love Reign O'er Me back to back to back. Love especially was magical, with Daltrey unleashing a back breaking, glass shattering scream that proved my theory that Fred Durst et al has nothing on him still. With regards to 5:15, the infamous bass solo has been all but stripped away, with Townshend now stepping up into the forefront. For the most part, in fact, Palladino stayed in the background, although when the band rammed through My Generation (complete with Daltrey rolling his eyes towards the heavens on the "hope I die..." line), he played the bass solo competently and was rewarded with a warm ovation. Everyone knew what was going to close the regular set, and Won't Get Fooled Again was off and running. Daltrey's mid song scream was completely AWESOME, I can still hear it ringing through my ears this morning. "YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" As the rest of the band left the stage, Roger and Pete stayed and embraced. From there, it was a montage of photos, first of the band through the years, and then of John through the years. As the montage stopped and John's face looked back at the 19,900 fans in attendance, a huge ovation occured. This led to the band coming back on and ripping through a medley of Tommy songs, including Pinball Wizard and Amazing Journey, 11pm curfew be damned (they played to about 11:20). For those of you in the area who missed THIS show, the band is coming back at the end of September to the same venue. I can't afford to go again, but I really wish I could. If you can afford to go, I highly suggest you do. It might be the Who minus one half, but the Who minus one half still beats the hell out of Nickelback and Creed... The Who's setlist for last night, 7/26/02 I Can't Explain Substitute Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere Who Are You Another Tricky Day Relay I Can See for Miles (Bargain was taken out, WOO HOO!) Baba O'Riley Eminence Front Sea And Sand 5:15 Love Reign O'er Me Behind Blue Eyes You Better You Bet The Kids Are Alright My Generation Won't Get Fooled Again Encore: Pinball Wizard, Amazing Journey, Sparks, See Me Feel Me, and Listening To You.  |
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