It's long been fashionable to write off the Who, and the band's Pete Townshend has through the years done so with a venom reserved for its harshest critics. Townshend questioned the band's relevance back when his g-g-generation was upended by the short-lived punk scene of the late-1970s. He criticized its decision to carry on after the untimely death of drummer Keith Moon in 1978.
He has spoken ambivalently about the band ever since it resumed touring in 1989, years after the band's "farewell tour." Throughout, Townshend's occasional resentment of Roger Daltrey as his vocal interpreter has only added to the mercurial relationship they have shared since the band's founding in 1964. For these reasons and more, it's easy to forget that the Who, which performed Monday in Toronto, has often been ranked below only fellow British Invasion bands the Beatles and the Rolling Stones as the greatest of all rock bands.
Townshend, for only reasons he can answer, has seemingly worked overtime to turn off longtime fans. He has cynically allowed the music he wrote and so many hold dear to pitch everything from television series to automobiles when not being repackaged into "best of" collections. In a recent Rolling Stone interview, Townshend wondered why anyone would even want to see the aging band perform.
Just for good measure, he said the same things about Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones. Then, the Who - Townshend and vocalist Roger Daltrey, augmented by Pete's brother Simon Townshend on guitar; Ringo Starr's son, Zak Starkey, on drums; Pino Palladino on bass and John "Rabbit" Bundrick on keyboards - released the band's first album in 24 years and undertook a world tour that have both drawn critical acclaim. In Toronto's Air Canada Centre on Monday, the inspired band stormed through 23 songs in 125 minutes that, from the opening three-minute burst of "I Can't Explain," sent the surprisingly mixed-aged capacity crowd into various states of euphoria.
Townshend attacked his guitar with familiar fury and conviction marked by his patented windmill and leaps into the air, ripping off power chords on such crowd favorites as "Baba O'Riley" and "Won't Get Fooled Again" and the overlooked, sublime "Eminence Front." A hoarse-sounding Daltrey, bothered by a cold, compensated with a still-powerful reach and more nuanced performance. The band inventively reworked or extended several songs, including the seminal "My Generation," backed by a video spectacle colorfully recapping the band's early years.
The use of three video screens high above the stage, and one large one often split into five panels, directly behind the band, presented a constant stream of images. Unfortunately, the occasional use of bright lights behind the band served to obscure their presence and force viewers to look away. The Who - which saw Bundrick's technician filling in due to a family illness - slashed and cajoled its way through such career-spanners as "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere," "Who Are You," "Behind Blue Eyes" and "Pinball Wizard.
" Many of the album's new - and mostly warmly received - songs were given a workout, including acoustic numbers "A Man in a Purple Dress" and the closing "Tea Theatre" performed only by Daltrey and Townshend. Electric numbers such as "Mike Post Theme" had a more muscular sound aided by the driving Starkey, who had been mostly absent from the recording. As the Who exited the stage for the third and last time, the concert confirmed the band's explosive power and unique stature in rock history.
At the same time it reflected the extrardinary bond that continues between fans and the band that goes far beyond mere longevity. Townshend, as with Daltrey, seemed genuinely touched by the crowd's response, and to be resurrecting the Who. Just another case of "Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss?
" On a recent post on Townshend's Web site, he exhibited a more charitable attitude toward the band as he revealed plans to bring the tour to Mexico, South America, Russia and possibly China. "This new large-scale adventure is not intended to suggest a last gasp. I simply wanted to make sure as many people as possible heard about our new music, and got to enjoy our old music, while Roger and I are still fit and strong," Townshend wrote.
"While we can, we will always perform together now in some shape or form. This is not an end, it really is a beginning for us. We two old buggers have one of the great banners of rock history to wave, and we are determined to wave it, partly in memory of our two buddies who flew the coop.
"Roger and I have each other, and that means more today than it did when we first crossed angry paths as kids in Acton in 1960, 46 years ago.
News RSS