Much Ado About The Who

Band set for return tonight By Jacqueline Arnold Staff Writer

In the final stages of The Who hoopla surrounding tonight’s kickoff performance at the Civic Center, the most relaxed concert-goers Tuesday seemed to be the band members.

“No problems musically,” British drum technician Ravi Sharman said, referring to the British rock ’n’ roll band’s two- to three-hour rehearsal Monday at the Civic Center. Tonight’s concert will be a preview of a 25-city tour to mark the group’s 25th anniversary.

Sharman, who has been with the band for the past 10 weeks, was spending a good part of his day Tuesday soaking in some sun from atop a street barricade along Oakland Avenue, a closed-off street behind the Civic Center.

Clad only in black nylon shorts, black shoes and shocking-red socks, Sharman said Monday’s practice had gone so well that band leader Peter Townshend declared Tuesday a day off.

The band would return today for about an hour of sound checks, he said, but most of the work had been completed during the 18-hour days a road crew of more than 100 spent at the center since their arrival June 9.

In general, things seemed unusually quiet around the Civic Center Tuesday. A purple-and-white tour bus left the center about 2 p.m., heading north on Glen Street. Sharman and two other crew members lounged around on the grass by the Hudson, with no hassles from the curious.

A reporter from the Philadelphia Daily News, after speaking with Sharman, said he was disappointed there wasn’t a mob of Who fans and media crowded around the back doors of the center, seeking a peek at the band.

“Maybe they’re all coming in

Fan wants to meet Townshend By Jacqueline Arnold Staff Writer

It was little more than 36 hours before tonight’s concert by The Who, and John Richichi was standing next to a personal letter from band leader Peter Townshend, hung on the wall of his Queensbury home.

“Good luck with hearing from the post office. Sounds good, doesn’t it?” the letter read. “I hope you and Pam had a wonderful anniversary.”

The letter was dated October, 1985.

Richichi, who got the letter in response to a birthday card, is now a letter carrier for the Broad Street post office. His wife, Pam, just gave birth to their second son, Joey, and his family just moved into their Luzerne Road home this past Easter.

Things seemed to be getting off on the right foot for Richichi, but he still expressed one small wish — a wish that almost fell at his doorstep when The Who, a British rock ’n’ roll band, decided to “warm-up” for their 25th anniversary tour with tonight’s performance at the Civic Center.

“I want to meet Pete Townshend,” Richichi said Tuesday. “That’s my dream, to meet him.”

Richichi said he’s not one of those “crazy” fans who would “go nuts, screaming, running across the parking lot” if he happened to see the 43-year-old British star, arguably the mastermind behind The Who.

“If I did see him, I’d walk casually and slowly, even if it means I’d miss him,” the 28-year-old Richichi said.

But that’s hard to believe from a 10-year fan who has 144 albums and 45 singles, a half dozen framed letters and a wooden chest of drawers crammed with Who paraphernalia.

That’s hard to believe from a man who sent an express letter to Townshend in England when the

See Who: Back Page Avid Who fan John Richichi shows his stuff. (Monty Calvert photo) See Fan: Back Page