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Friday, June 30, 1989

Courier-News photo by David Bergoland

Pete Townshend's high-flying antics delighted crowds during last night’s performance.

In four hours of rocking,
The Who proves ageless

By LYNN M. JACKSON
Courier-News Staff Writer

The Who proved that rock ’n’ roll has no age limits last
night before 54,000 fans at Giants Stadium.

The third stop of The Who’s 25th anniversary tour
found the band in fine form, from opening “Tommy"
selections to “Twist and Shout" three hours and 40
minutes later.

The Who will be at Giants Stadium tonight, Sunday and
Monday. Obstructed view tickets are available.

Half-an-hour late, Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend
galloped on stage to the “Bonanza” theme song, and the
ride through 25 years of Who songs began.

It was a mixed crowd, from bandana heads to bald
heads. Button-down types stood next to black T-shirts,
while Mom. Dad and the kids shared the experience.

The Who went through many songs from the rock
opera “Tommy,” which it performed Tuesday night at
Radio City Music Hall. It was only the third time the
band had performed the opera, and the first since 1970.

The band really got the crowd going with “Amazing
Journey.” John Entwistle played an outrageous bass
line, and Daltrey hit his tambourines so hard they broke.
Older folks in the crowd sang along, played air instru-
ments or pointed out to their children what to watch.

After “Acid Queen," the band launched into “Pinball
Wizard," about the same time someone remembered to
take the wraps off two giant-sized video screens.

“Do You Think It's Alright” and “I’m Free" were next,
as Daltrey proved he can still hit the high notes. Town-
shend took over for “Tommy’s Holiday Camp,” and
showed he was no slouch on vocals by hitting the high
note on the last line, “The holiday is for-ever.” He was so
pleased he did it again, pointing his finger in the air as if
to ask the crowd if it were a good idea.

“We’re Not Gonna Take It" ended the “Tommy” selec-
tions, and then the band spoke to the crowd.

“It’s great to see you, New York and New Jersey,”
Daltrey shouted.

Then Townshend took over the mike. “This is a song
we're going to do nightly to address old friendships and
celebrate 25 years," he said as the band broke into “A
Friend is a Friend" from his new album, “The Iron Man.”

Ironically, one of the many cherry bombs heard during
the evening was thrown as the band hit the chorus of ”Be
friendly, be friendly now."

Townshend waltzed around the stage with his guitar to
another song from the album, “A Little is Enough.” Then
it was time for schtick.

“This song is by the English Beat,” he said, introducing
“Save It for Later.” “I thought it was a song about Eat
Me Dates.”

Townshend was referring to his appearance on David
Letterman's show the night before, when Letterman had
the dates as part of his Supermarket Finds segment.

Daltrey pulled out another cover, Bo Diddley’s “I’m a
Man,” by saying, “This is a song from back in our old
days. Back in those days, we used to play a lot of blues
material.”

REVIEW

And for those who heard that Townshend wouldn’t be
playing electric guitar on the tour because of tinnitus, or
ringing in his ears, don’t worry. Townshend, he of the
trademark windmill windup, played almost half of the
songs on electric and went for lots of reverh on the
Diddley classic.

Then it was time for standards from The Who song-.
book. Early songs like “I Can’t Explain,” ”Substitute,"
a ld “I Can See for Miles" sounded better than ever.

Then Entwistle took a turn at the microphone.

“This is John ‘Thunderfingers’ Entwistle, also known
as The 0x," Daltrey said. “We also call him Cuddly,
Fluffy and Big Black Johnny Twinkle.”

“Most of us leave out Big Black and just call him
Johnny Twinkle.” Townshend said.

Any reports that the band members don't get along are
false. -

Entwistle ripped through “Was I Alright?” and his own
“Boris The Spider” before Daltrey took over for “Who
Are You?"

After a break, The Who was back with “Magic Bus.”
Then it was time for a rarely performed song, “Maryann
with the Shaky Hand," from “The Who Sell Out." Daltrey
and Townshend shared the vocal, screwed up the lyrics
at the end, then both cracked up.

It was a greatest hits parade after that, with “Baba
O’Reilly," “My Generation,” “Let My Love Open the
Door," “5:15" and “Love Reign O’er Me.” Daltrey, espe-
cially, sounded much younger than 46.

For some reason. the band decided to tackle “Love
Hurts," an old Nazareth tune. Daltrey began it solo on
acoustic guitar before the band kicked in.

Entwistle came back for two more songs, but his voice
seemed strained on “Too Late the Hero” and “My Wife."

With “Sister Disco,” The Who proved you don’t need
Spandex or long hair to rock out, although Daltrey
sported a dangly ear cuff. The band’s middle period was
represented by “Rough Boys,” “Join Together with the
Band,” “You Better, You Bet," and “Behind Blue Eyes.”

The next song, “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” summed up
the whole reason The Who still makes sense. As Town-
shend sang “Pick up my guitar and play, just like yester-
day,” he looked over at Daltrey and smiled.

The two were joined by Entwistle in a Three Stooges
routine to get Townshend’s guitar off to end the show.

“We wanted to have some fun, and we've really had
some fun tonight," Daltrey told the crowd before the
hand came back for an encore of “Barefootin’,” Jimi
Hendrix’s “Hey Joe,” and “Twist and Shout" to end the
evening at 12:10 am.

Simon Phillips was phenomenal on drums, almost
making one forget the late Keith Moon. John “Rabbit"
Bundrick was equally adept on lead guitar, and the three
backup singers as well as the horn and percussion sec-
tions were welcome additions.