AT MINNEAPOLIS AUDITORIUM

The Who Present Rock Concert

By Will Shapira

It's unlikely the Friday night-Saturday morning rock concert of The Mystics and The Who will soon be forgotten by the several thousand who endured it for four-and-one-half hours at the Minneapolis Auditorium. (That's counting from the alleged 8 p.m. starting time 'til the actual 12:30 a.m. conclusion.)

Chances are, ears are still buzzing.

Both groups were super-loud and both achieved a few magical, soaring moments. But overall, it was a too-long, dragged-out evening.

After a 90-minute delay at the start due to "technical difficulties," the local award-winning Mystics took the stage. They came on strong right from the start and in their abbreviated set, turned on the crowd with soulful, swinging versions of "I Want to Take You Higher," "Changes" and several other songs. Because they were the warmup group, they had to quit early but left a highly favorable impression.

The Who then followed and quickly announced that they have done their rock-opera hit of last year, "Tommy," to death.

Yet, somehow, they saw fit to do the entire double-record piece. This might have been a worthwhile enterprise had they taken "Tommy" seriously. Unhappily, they shucked it, hoked it up, joked around with it and parodied it; the result was boredom.

Once "Tommy" was disposed of, however, The Who finally got down to business on several tunes from their latest album, "Live at Leeds."

"Summertime Blues" was particularly rewarding and they maintained the pace on "Shaking All Over" and "My Generation."

There is no denying the talent of The Who. Lead guitarist Peter Townshend, vocalist Roger Daltrey, drummer Keith Moon and bass guitarist John Entwistle are among the top rock musicians on the scene.

But their concert was ultimately unsatisfactory and showed that perhaps it's time The Who discard "Tommy" or at least cut it down to a tolerable length.

Will Shapira writes for Connie's Insider, local pop music newspaper.

S. Minneapolis Fest Scheduled

The annual South Minneapolis Summer Festival will be held Aug. 7-9.

Key events include a parade down Lake St. and the coronation of this year's Miss South Minneapolis at Powderhorn Park, both scheduled for Aug. 8.