. The Who—-
:they wow
- 13,500
By JIM HEALEY
The Who. Wow.
The granddaddy of full-bore,
w i l d rhino, thunder rock
' bands left a full house stunned
' at Veterans Memorial Audito-
' rium Tuesday night.
They were assisted by one
i very fine, tasteful light show.
Besides the usual spotlights,
: three “laser lights” posi-
tioned on stage were beamed
out toward the crowd of 13,500.
Eerie Effect
It was an eerie, space-age
effect. Very exciting. _
Even the warmup band was
' outstanding. Toots and the
Maytals, a Jamaican reggae
' group, played a flawless set.
It was a show with class.
something Des Moines doesn’t
REVIEW
often see. It will be recalled,
no doubt, as THE rock event
for some time to come.
Why was The Who so neat?
Probably because they under-
stand that rock is entertain-
ment.
HeaVy Stuff
Their music was fine — the
heavy but melodic stuff from
w h i ch their reputation is
carved — “Can’t Explain,”
“Baba O’Reilly.” “I‘m Free,"
“Pinball Wizard.”
But wonderful as the music
was, the show was the thing.
It was a performance.
Roger Daltrey, lead singer,
played his usual role of God.
. Pete Townshend, guitarist,
was the high-camp buffoon;
drummer Keith; Moon, the
- wiseacre. and bassist John En-
twistle, the straight man.
Jarring Note
The only jarring note was
when Entwistle’s bass amp up
and quit mid-song. “Th at
probably blacked out half the
residential area,” drummer
Moon quipped.
After a vain attempt at
playing without the bass, they
walked off for 20 minutes of
repairs.
The laser show was in-
troduced dramatically as Dal-
» trey intoned the opening line
from title song of the rock
opera “Tommy.”
“See me, feel me, touch me
. . ." A red pencil beam shot
outward from center stage
and split into three thin
beams. From stage left and
right, blue-green beams raced
out and splintered into dozens
of delicate tracers.
Brilliant White
About the time the crowd
got used to that effect. a
brilliant bank of white spots
winked on and bathed the
fans.
The same laser beam effect
was used during the final
tune, “Won’t Get Fooled
Again.” Before the concert,
many questioned whether it
could justify the $7.50 bite to
get in. It did.
REGISTER PHOTO
BY DANA DOWNIE
Peter Townshend, colorful
lead guitarist for The Who,
bounds across the stage
during the British band’s
concert at Veterans Me-
morial Auditorium Tuesday
night.
Miller play to
be presented
The Drama Workshop will
present Jason Miller’s “That
Championship Season” at 8:
pm. Thursday through Sun-
day and again Dec. 12 through
Dec. 14. at the First Unitarian
Church, Bell Avenue and
Casady Drive.
The play, directed by Alan
Langdon, was a Pulitzer Prize
winner, received the Tony
Award and the New York
Drama Critics Circle Award
for the best play of the 1972
season.
Tickets may be reserved by
calling the box office, 282-1678,
Wednesday through Sunday
and Dec. 11 through 14 be-
tween 4 and 8 pm. Admission
is $3.50 for adults and $2.50
for students.
Strike closes
Italian schools
ROME, ITALY (AP) — A
24-hour strike Tuesday by
nearly 800,000 teachers closed
Italian public schools from
kindergartens through univer-
sities. Thousands of teachers
and students marched on the
Education Ministry in Rome,
snarling traffic for several
11 o u r s , and demonstrations
were reported in all major
cities.
!
First Run Showi
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