The 'Kids' Are All Right

REVIEW

By Mark Voger

Staff Writer

Walking in, this longtime Who fan was prepared to watch his final Who show. The Who ain’t The Who without John Entwistle, right? Heck, they only finished the tour because the dates were booked and the set was built and paid for. And after all, the crew has mouths to feed.

Walking out, one hopes to see this Who again.

Even without the indispensable, irreplaceable Entwistle (who died on the eve of the tour), this was The Who we saw Friday at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel. No question about it. Amen and hallelujah.

Maybe it was because the void was so great, and there was so much to live up to, but guitarist Pete Townshend and singer Roger Daltrey (the only remaining Who founders) seemed to perform with more fire than ever.

Townshend, in particular, was almost manic at times. Wearing a scowl, the 57-year-old guitarist rarely coasted, torturing his red Stratocaster and punctuating his power chords with more “windmills” (Townshend’s trademark strum) than at any Who show in memory.

Prior to the show, Entwistle was memorialized in a film (produced by tour sponsor JBL) broadcast on the arts center’s giant video screens, which featured footage of the bassist rehearsing with The Who shortly before his death.

Then The Who — Townshend, Daltrey, keyboardist John “Rabbitt” Bundrick, drummer Zak Starkey, bassist Pino Palladino and Townshend’s brother Simon on second guitar — came out to perform its erstwhile opener (and first-ever hit), “Can’t Explain.”

The band’s strict onstage configuration spoke volumes.

Townshend and Daltrey roamed the stage, free to do their microphone twirling and windmills, while everyone else stayed obediently tucked away in the corners. This was very much The Pete and Roger Show.

“When Roger and I started this tour, there were three original members left,” Townshend said while introducing the band. “Now, there are just two.” On choosing Palladino to replace Entwistle: “We made one telephone call.”

Some banter between Townshend and Daltrey led to another Entwistle reference.

Introducing “Behind Blue Eyes,” Townshend said, “You can learn this song at school.”

“I never went to school,” said Daltrey.

“Yes you did. That’s where you met me,” Townshend came back.

This was followed by some jokes about spending more time behind the bicycle shed than in the classroom.

But after the song, Daltrey backpedaled, advising children in the audience to stay in school.

Added Townshend: “We’re allowed to do it, but you’re not. We can sleep with underaged women; we can take heroin; and we can drop dead!”

Daltrey unbuttoned his shirt during “Love Reign O’er Me,” revealing an amazing physique. (After The Who’s final final tour, Daltrey can find a job with Chippendales.)

The Who performed “Substitute,” “Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere,” “Who Are You,” “Another Tricky Day,” “Sea and Sand,” “Bargain,” “Baba O’Riley,” “I’m One,” “5:15,” “You Better You Bet,” “The Kids Are Alright” (with rambling extra verses), “My Generation” (with a passable Entwistle imitation by Palladino) and “Won’t Get Fooled Again.”

KATHY VOGLESONG/Special to the Press

Singer Roger Daltrey, drummer Zak Starkey and guitarist Pete Townshend of The Who perform Friday in Holmdel.

In other words, the set list was no great surprise — that is, until the stunning encore. The Who performed a long “Tommy” medley comprising “Pinball Wizard,” “Amazing Journey,” “Sparks” and “See Me, Feel Me.”

Opening act Robert Plant called this a “Geritol sponsored” tour. “Dion and the Belmonts will be out next,” he joshed.

The former Led Zeppelin crooner’s set was an infommercial come to life for his latest CD, “Dreamland,” right down to the backdrop emblazoned with the cover graphics.

Plant’s new band, Strange Sensation, sounded like The Doors at their trippiest on the singer’s trance-like opener, “Win My Train Fare Home (If I Ever Get Lucky).”

Plant still has that great moan, though the shriek from his “Led Zeppelin II” days is long gone. Only the throwback perm and unflattering shirt betray his advancing years.

Plant was generous to his old Zeppelin fans, sprinkling the set list with Zep chestnuts that, for the most part, fit the spacey milieu he is now working in: “Celebration Day,” “Going to California,” “Four Sticks,” “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You,” “Hey, Hey, What Can I Do.”

“Tall Cool One,” a gimmicky song from the vapid ’80s, was Plant’s only clunker. “Darkness, Darkness,” his new single, was conspicuous in its absence. The haunting “Morning Dew” was the only other new song performed. Plant’s encore was a rousing “Whole Lotta Love.”

At one point, when Plant pulled up a fallen microphone stand with his foot and caught it, he joked: “It’s taken me 35 years to get that right.”