' At Columbia

The Who Accorded
A Standing Ovation

by JAMES D. DILTS

What distinguishes The Who,
the British rock group that
played the Merriweather Post
Pavilion at Columbia last
night, from myriad other rock
groups is that form and content
are so closely interwoven.

The group that preceded The
Who on the bill offered a good
illustration. The leader of Ten
Lucy, a deaftening and deriva-
tive local band, had Joe Cock-
er’s mannerisms down pat and
the group together managed to
sount quite avbit like Crosby.
Stills, Nash and Young on
“Woodstock” and “Kent
State.” But except for an open-
, ing original, the material was
a collection of quotes from

9 other sources.

Then after announcements
(“This is a mini Woodstock—
first aid is over at the side”),
The Who ran on stage.

New Tune:

With a scissors kick from
guitarist and composer Peter
Townshend, a twirling of the

mike from lead singer Roger
Daltry, a silent stare from

bassist John Entwhistle and
a crash of cymbals from drum-
mer Keith Moon, The Who be-
gan. Their first two tunes
were new ones they added to
their repertoire after the suc-
cess of their rock opera,
“Tommy.” The third tune,
“Water,” featured both Daltry
and Townshend. Townshend

announced the next tune, “I
Don’t Know Myself,” another

original, but decided not to
play it, “because I’m too
stoned to tune up.” In “Young
Man Blues,” 3 Mose Allison
tune, Daltry captured some of
the original down-home Delta
feeling and Townshend’s gui-
tar wrists were straight out
of Fifties rock ‘n’ roll.
Towshend then announced
“something we’ve done 40 or
so times and swore never to

perform on the stage again.”
There were anticipatory howls
from the audience which were
quieted by drummer Moon,
who grabbed the microphone
and shouted, “It’s a bloody
opera, so si-ddown and shud-
dup.”

Townshend managed a key
change in the overture, then
everybody laid-out and Moon
shadow-drummed while Town-
shend played jazz-flavored
chords. For the next 45 min-
utes, several thousand fans ap-
plauded whenever they had
the chance as “The Who went
through the complete version
of “Tommy.”

In Person

Although it is possible to
hear “Tommy” on records and
recognize it as one of the
most brilliant rock tunes by
any rock group playing today,
Townshend himself has said
that something is missing if
one can’t see the group in
person.

Daltry twirls the micro-
phone. staggers back against
the speakers and recovers in
time for the next chorus.
Townshend leaps in front of
the band. Chief Moon splinters
half a dozen drumsticks. The
only sane and silent man is
Entwhistle, who occasionally
smiles.

After several choruses of the
finale, “See Me, Feel Me,
Touch Me, Feel Me,” The
Who staggered back exhausted
and the crowd gave them a
standing ovation. It is obvi-
ously what they had come to

hear.
The Who followed with

“Summertime Blues" and
some of their other new ma-
terial. but it was clearly anti-
climactic. Perhaps it is for-
tunate that no other rock
group has to play the Post
Pavilion for another few days,

anyway.