concert memoirs pt. 27 - the who

The Who
7/22/97 Target Center w/Dave Ticket Price: $31.00

Dave and I were working together in those days. Slaving away at small t-shirt printing shop in Minneapolis. I was in the art department, he was a printer. We discovered we had in few things in common. One being that we were both fans of The Who. We had both seen them at least once before and we were both uncertain about seeing them again if it was going to be another greatest hits tour.

It’s true that when I had seen them at the St. Paul Civic Center (10/2/82) it was a life-changing event for me. And it’s true that it was mostly a greatest hits show. I guess I wanted to keep those memories untarnished by seeing a show of aging rock stars going through the motions (as if The Who ever did that).

Then I heard on a local adult contemporary radio station that The Who would be performing their second rock opera, Quadrophenia. Quadrophenia is the favorite album of most Who fans. There’s just something about that album that gets into every fiber of your being. It’s hard to explain.

I told Dave. Dave said, “We’re going!”

Although we opted for the cheaper seats, we were geeked about the show. Working at a t-shirt shop, we were able to make up a shirt with a 100 day (or whatever the number was, I forget) countdown to the concert. Each day one of us would put the shirt on and the other would use a marker to X out the day. What a couple of dorks.

Our seats were decent. A bit far from the stage, but we had a straight shot at viewing John, Rog, and Pete. The good drummer, but a poor fit for The Who, Kenney Jones had been replaced by Zak Starkey. Starkey, unlike his father, Ringo Starr, is a drummer. (Ok, I stole that line from some cable show.) Zak Starkey is an excellent drummer. He’s a great fit for the band.

To flesh out the Quadrophenia story they had some film clips on the big video screens and a couple of extra performers to sing a couple parts. But it was still essentially The Who. Gone were the horn section, extra backing vocalists, percussionist and guests like Phil Collins and Billy Idol. All of which were used for their Tommy tour a few years earlier. They did have Pete’s brother Simon for an extra guitarist and vocalist to take over for John whose voice had gotten too low to be used in concert. And they had “Rabbit” Bundrick on keyboards.

Roger’s voice had aged, but he could still belt out the songs. Pete and John were as good as ever. These guys weren’t just going through the motions. Although the tour may have been put on mainly to get John Entwistle out of debt, the band still had the fire, the passion for rock’n’roll.

The absolute highlight of the night was Townshend’s acoustic solo performance of the song Drowned. On the album Roger sings the lead, but as far as I can tell, when performed in concert Pete takes the lead vocal. It’s one of my favorites off that album. And when Pete performed it that night it was glorious.

He has a power to pull so much sound out of an acoustic guitar. Townshend has said that when John plays he’s like an entire orchestra. I’ve heard the same said for Keith Moon. I say that when Pete Townshend picks up his acoustic and plays as he did that night it’s mesmerizing. Drowned alone was worth the price of admission.

Realizing that I came to The Who late in their career, I was very impressed with the number of younger people at the show. Dave and I were surrounded by many Who fans who were much younger than we. I was further impressed when, during the encore, the band played an acoustic version of Won’t Get Fooled Again and the youngsters recognized the song before I did. Imagine that!

It had been nearly 15 years since I had first seen them in concert. The Who could still deliver the goods. I’m glad Dave and I had decided to go to that excellent show.

9/11/08

Seven years. No attacks on American soil.

Thank you!

concert memoirs pt. 26 - the jayhawks, frank black & cheap trick

The Jayhawks

7/9/95 First Avenue w/Paytee Ticket Price: Comp. Tickets

It should be well noted here that this was not a date. Paytee and I were just friends. Paytee was a woman I had worked with in 1993-94. We were both laid off from that job and went our separate ways.

It would have stayed that way had we not met up again at a mutual friend’s party. We realized that we enjoyed each other’s company and we started hanging out together. This concert was one of our hanging outs. Again, it wasn’t a date.

There’s not much to tell. I had a couple comp. tickets for the show so we went. Paytee didn’t think much of the band, so we left.

Frank Black w/Jonny Polonsky
4/13/96 First Avenue Alone Ticket Price: $8.00

I went to this one alone. Frank Black had some pretty good solo material and I wanted to check him out. Besides, I had never seen Pixies and this might be as close as I would get. Incidentally, he didn’t play any Pixies tunes.

He was really having a good time playing up the “rock god” thing. He’d stand at the front of the stage, fists on hips ala Superman, while nodding his approval as the adoring crowd cheered. I’m sure it was all an act. At least, I hope it was.

This wasn’t an all-age show. You had to be 21+ to attend. So, I couldn’t figure out how an obviously underage kid could be there jumping around on the dance floor.

When the show ended, I asked the child how he got in. He told me it was his mother who brought him. His mother! Apparently, a parent can bring their kid to a show at the First Avenue. I’m not sure I like it, but it’s legal.

Updated 9/22/08

I just learned that my future wife had also been to this show. We didn't know each other yet, but we were there together. Awwwww.

Cheap Trick w/Flipp
7/11/97 First Avenue Alone (?) Ticket Price: Unknown

Finally! After more than 13 years since John and I weren’t able to see the band because of a snowstorm, I finally got to see Cheap Trick play live. They had been a favorite band of mine for years and they were worth the wait. I’m sure they had come through town many times in those 13 years, but this was the time I saw them.

They were very good. It was easy to tell these guys were old pros at the rock’n’roll. Very professional and very fun.

Rick Nelson was funny and still quite the showman. He must have brought ten guitars including the four (or was it five) guitars in one and the double guitar made to look like a cartoon of himself. He threw out an album jacket when they played Surrender, a custom at Cheap Trick shows. He also threw out a couple dozen guitar picks. Each emblazoned with his mug. I snagged one.

The rest of the band were right on. Robin Zander’s voice might have lost a little of its range, but he was still great. He still had the rock star thing going, even if he tried to hide it a little. I say that because during an instrumental section of a song, he snuck over to the side of the stage, out of sight of most of the audience, and took a great big swig from a bottle of Jack Daniels. Rock’n’roll!

The opening band, Flipp, was impressive as well. A local band with a sort of a Kiss meets The Sex Pistols thing except they are better musicians. Flipp generates a love/hate reaction. I thought they played really well and had some good songs and were fun, as did most of the audience. But some audience members disagreed.

When Rick Nelson thanked Flipp for warming up someone shouted, “Flipp sucks!”

That surprised Nelson. “Really? They did?” was his reaction.

Anyway, I was most impressed when at the end of their set Flipp’s lead singer got behind the drum kit and played Back In Black. Big deal, right? I should mention that he played guitar and drums at the same time. Sure it’s a gimmick, but it was still impressive.