Whammy Bar: Pete Townshend

By Larry Dowbrow
Pete Townshend is the greatest guitarist to inhabit this or any other planet.

That isn’t an opinion; it’s a simple, declarative statement of fact, à la “the sun is hot” or “cows are furry.” He mixes melody with serious technical chops. He links chord fragments and riffs in a manner that has yet to dawn upon even the most gifted players. On a more macro front, he is the mind behind classic rock’s greatest single Who’s Next and double Quadrophenia, both more ambitious and tuneful than Exile on Main Street discs. I think he may have cured a few communicable diseases, or invented a water-filtration device for use in sub-Saharan countries, in his spare time.

To sum up: I dig everything about Pete Townshend, even his regal rock-star schnozz. So when I learned that The Who had scheduled its 56th post-retirement area performance, I cleared the calendar and dry-cleaned my well-worn “Farewell Concert 1982” tee.

This tour arrived with a twist: it represents the first time the band has played new music – from Endless Wire, set for release in the U.S. on Halloween – since the early 1980s. And really, even if the “band” (why not just call them “The Two” at this point?) hadn’t decided to enter the studio, would it have mattered? I’ve never understood why aging acts like The Who and the Rolling Stones get ripped for hitting the road time and time again. They’re rock stars; this is their job. What are they supposed to do, open a quaint bed-and-breakfast in the English countryside? Serve as Wal-Mart greeters?

The show didn’t offer much in the way of surprises. As always, the band opened with the bright burst of “I Can’t Explain” before rambling through “The Seeker” and “Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere.” They trotted out the usual war horses – “Who Are You,” “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” “Behind Blue Eyes” – and a kind of musical highlight reel from Tommy. Each of the last few tours had offered a similar mix.

The difference this time around? Townshend wore what appeared to be a linen pillbox hat, which he angrily ripped off his head halfway through the show. Oh – and he actually seemed to want to be on stage.

The last time I’d seen him play live was in 2002, a few weeks after John Entwistle died. The tour went on owing to financial issues, something about insurance not covering expenses associated with cancellation, and Townshend looked about as interested as a kid being fitted for school uniforms. Last night, he twitched to and fro with abandon, filling nearly every silence with some kind of technically immaculate guitar spasm.

He transformed “Eminence Front” from one-riff staple to sonic maelstrom, shirking his lead-vocal duties in the process. The extended “My Generation” outro, which featured a few lines from the obscure 1982 album cut “Cry If You Want,” saw Townshend skip between delicate chord construct and hammer-happy runs up and down the fretboard. Even “Won’t Get Fooled Again” transcended its chord-blast roots, with Townshend getting a head start on the synth intro courtesy of a ground-trembling feedback jolt.

As for the new material, always tough to judge in a crank-it-up-duuuuuuuude! arena-rock context, the band played the hell out of it. It’s worth noting that Townshend’s few comments to the audience were about the new songs; he more or less apologized to the audience for including them in the set.

And while Roger Daltrey’s voice remains an instrument of blunt force, the two Who dudes sure don’t seem to like each other all that much. Aside for an awkward half-embrace at the end of the show, neither acknowledged the other at any point. Pete interacted considerably more with hard-core fans in the front rows than with Roger. To avoid future unpleasantness, maybe we can separate the two of them with a layer of unyielding, opaque plexiglass. I’m sure the lighting guys could work around it.

So yeah, Pete Townshend can still play the guitar a little bit. He doesn’t have to smash a guitar into teensy, eensy pieces to show that he remains invested in songs written 30 years ago; a windmill here and a judo-kick there will suffice. There’s nothing in this show that devotees haven’t seen before, but it’s gratifying – and rare – to witness one of the old guys pouring himself into the task at hand.

Comments

[Jim McAllister]

I'm afraid we're going to have to agree to disagree on the subject of Pete Townshend. Admittedly my bias against him goes right back to the 1960s when he smashed every guitar he played. As a dirt-poor working class kid who couldn't afford even one guitar I quickly came to totally despise Townshend for smashing guitars I couldn't even dream of owning. I never really got The Who. I mean, Moon grossly overplayed on every song, Daltrey's voice had no warmth or timbre in it, and Townshend was of garage band guitar playing ability at best. The shining light in that band was John Entwistle. He was the virtuoso. That's why they had as many bass solos as guitar solos. And the bass solos were better!
I'll be the first to admit that Townshend could write a catchy song. I will also admit that I loathed "Tommy" to a degree I don't have the vocabulary to express. OK it was the sixties and excesses were the norm but I hated Tommy. Roger Daltrey's voice didn't suit a quarter of the songs and the whole concept was overblown in the extreme. As for their "comeback" songs just prior to poor Keith's passing, "Who Are You" and "You Better You Bet", they were pitiful even by the Who's sandards. I wish they'd never seen the light of day. If this sees print I'll probably be villified for my opinions but I give them none the less.

[HHB]

Larry do yourself a favor and listen to some Tommy Emmanual (he's featured this month LOL) before you right your next column

[david macpherson]

I saw The Who in london, ontario canada back in September/06. The Band kicked ass! Daltery and Townshend totally worked well together and joked. As far as not liking the Who because Pete townshend broke his guitar get a life! When pete first did it, it was by accident and the crowd loved it, maybe you hate Jimmy hendrix to for lighting his guitar on fire? The new album endless wire is excellent, just takes time to get to use to it but it's worth it. As far as The Who concert they would blow away any band half their age of the stage. As far as any Who music they were and are ahead of anybody else in music. The new fans are proving that. As far as musical arrangements The Who is way above The Rolling Stones And even The Beatles! Peace
Now Who Are You!