The Who's fans put Mississippi on the rock map

By Steve Riley

Clarion-Ledger Gulf Coast Bureau

BILOXI — To grasp the popularity of The Who, the legendary British rock band that blasted the Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum on Wednesday night, go first to their fans.

The fans who arrive early — some at 8 a.m. for a concert that starts 12 hours later — and stay late.

The fans who litter the grounds outside the coliseum with beer bottles as they listen to taped music of their heroes.

The fans who fight through a myriad of security guards and race for choice places to stand on the floor of the coliseum for the general admission concert.

"I saw them in Philly in 1976," said one devotee who identified himself only as Elroy. "I said if I ever got another chance, I'd see them again."

Elroy, 31, made the four-hour trip from Houma, La., without a ticket to the sold-out event. "They put a lot of energy into it on stage," he said. "You get your money's worth."

Elroy is old enough to remember The Who's first tour in the early '60s, but 15-year-old Kent Bruce of Jackson wasn't yet born.

"I'd see them if they were anywhere in the South," said Bruce, a sophomore who skipped Wednesday classes at Jackson Prep to get in line for choice seats. "My mom, she's not really for it, but I told her I had to come."

Bruce, along with 15,000 other fans from at least four states, came for the music — an energetic, loud, two-hour set that included an effective mixture of Who classics and some more recent songs.

The years have claimed the length of lead singer Roger Daltrey's hair, but have stolen none of his vigor.

Daltrey, sporting a semi-short businessman's haircut, pranced cockily about the stage in his white tennis shoes, twirling his huge microphone like an overzealous cowboy wielding a deadly lasso.

He belted out powerful vocals on Who standards Won't Get Fooled Again and Pinball Wizard/See Me, Feel Me.

And while time has abated some of lead guitarist Pete Townshend's fabled destructiveness — he's only smashed "a couple of guitars on this tour," said one member of the group's entourage — none of his showmanship or quality guitar work has been taken away.

Music review

Townshend, moving his tireless right arm in speedy, windmill style, looked as if he would destroy his guitar with powerful licks if he didn't smash it later in a fit of fury. (He didn't.)

Townshend performed his patented form of rock ballet — countless leaps high into the air, perfectly in time with the band's driving beats; his feet, clad appropriately in blue running shoes, flew in a dozen directions.

Bass player John Entwistle, keyboard player Tim Gorman and drummer Kenney Jones — who replaced rock legend Keith Moon after Moon died in 1978 — provided ample support for the two master showmen during the 22-song set, which ended with an encore of Young Man Blues and Summertime Blues.

Other selections included Sister Disco, which featured 12 large white searchlights spanning the enthusiastic crowd, Baba O'Riley, Drowned, Long Live Rock and the title track from the band's latest album, It's Hard.

It was hard to get the show started. After a 30-minute warm-up by The Rockets, a rock group from Detroit, concert officials had difficulty convincing fans to back away from the stage, where the crush had destroyed parts of the barricade.

No doubt thinking of the 1980 Cincinnati disaster, which claimed the lives of 11 fans who were stampeded in the rush to enter an arena for a Who show, officials refused to start the concert until the fans retreated. The Who's performance started at 9:35, about 30 minutes late.

The Biloxi show was the band's 29th performance in a 40-show North American tour, which has been announced as its last.

The Who performed in Atlanta on Saturday; Lexington, Ky., on Monday; and Birmingham on Tuesday prior to its Wednesday show in Biloxi.

But the group showed no fatigue from that travel grind. The Who's sheer energy and power made it seem that the band still remains eager for the recognition, fame and adulation that follows a supergroup.

The Who reached that status long ago. Just ask their fans.