Opening up for The Who was a Long Island based folk singer named Leslie Mendelson. She sounds like somebody I would hear at Club Passim and indeed she performed there not long ago. Mendelson was essentially there to give people time to get into their seats. But Mendelson had her moments such as when she called her last LP "Love and Murder" "a family album." A new album will be released in the fall featuring a song called "Medication" which she dedicated to Johnson & Johnson. It was a damn good song.
Mendelson performed a Dr. John inspired song called "It Seemed Like a Good Idea at The Time" before segueing into the late New Orleans legend's signature song such a night. She closed with a song called "The Human Touch" which she performed live with Jackson Browne this summer and will be featured in a documentary about the AIDS crisis in the early 1980's produced and directed by Paul Haggis called "5B". Mendelson was A-OK. You can see why The Who asked her to open for them again after doing so back in May.
After a 30 minute intermission, The Who hit the stage with a full orchestra. They began their set by playing several cuts from "Tommy". At 75, Daltrey's voice has lost none of its power especially as he hit the high notes on "See Me" which received a lengthy standing ovation. For the first time on American soil, The Who performed "Hero Ground Zero" which will appear on a yet to be titled album to be released in November. Townshend dedicated the song to Bob Blocker, a friend of his who had died that morning following a fall.
The orchestra took a break while the main band - Daltrey, Townshend, his younger brother Simon on lead guitar, Jon Button on bass, Loren Gold on keyboards and Zak Starkey on drums (that would be Ringo's son) played classic Who songs like "Substitute", "The Seeker" and "You Better Bet" before Daltrey & Townshend did an acoustic version of "Won't Get Fooled Again". Part of the orchestra returned for "Behind Blue Eyes". Particular attention must be paid to violinist Katie Jacoby. The camera showed her on the big screen almost as much as Daltrey & Townshend. Aside from her Asian allure, Jacoby is a damn good violinist who stood out on "Behind Blue Eyes".
As the full orchestra returned, Townshend apologized to the audience about the quality of their performance. Daltrey had trouble with his earpiece earlier in the show, but the audience voiced its disagreement with Townshend's assessment. Aside from Daltrey's top notch vocals, the 74-year old Townshend can still play guitar with the best of them. As Daltrey later said, "We've lost our youth and we've lost our glamour. But we've still got the music."
After debuting another new song called "Big Cigars", The Who embarked on several selections from "Quadrophenia". When Townshend finished "Drowned" he confessed he'd torn off a fingernail. "it won't bother me now, but when I get to bed -" and then made some whimpering sounds. Another prolonged standing ovation was earned with Gold's keyboard playing & Daltrey's vocals on "Love Reign O'er Me". The audience kept standing as the familiar notes of "Baba O'Riley" sounded to close the show. Jacoby again shined & held her own with Daltrey & Townshend as she flawlessly played the most famous violin solo in rock 'n roll history.
While walking up 8th Avenue, a couple of women had heard from other audience members unhappy there was no encore. I turned to them and said, "They played almost two and a half hours straight." One of the woman added, "And the orchestra took a break. They didn't." And they get to do it all over again on Tuesday night in Toronto.
The Who could have retired 40 years ago & still been legend. The fact they continue to perform and continue to strive for perfection is a clear message they don't want to rest on their laurels. Audiences of all ages should be blessed as The Who keep Movin' On.
No comments:
Post a Comment