Tao of Pauly

Bruce Cohen's WHO Review

Bruce Cohen saw the infamous WHO at MSG in NYC on Sunday. Here's his review:

"August 5, 2002. I saw the WHO... It was the second time I saw them. The last time was 20 years ago in 1982. In 1982, I drove down from Rhode Island with my Deadhead buddy and caught them at the Shea Stadium that summer. Kenny Jones was the newest member of the Who having replaced the immortal Keith Moon after his death.

Well, last night the RE-ENERGIZED WHO were playing at Madison Square Garden where they continued their summer tour after losing their Bassist John Entwistle just 2 weeks ago. John passed away from a heart attack.... apparently from the effects of cocaine. Despite the replaced Bassist (Paladino was the bass player for Pete Townshend's solo projects and live shows) the WHO ROCKED!!!!

Robert Plant opened up the show, though I got in a little late. I caught a wild hard rock version of MORNING DEW!!! My friend seemed to feel that Plant's voice was not quite what it used to be, but nonetheless he did do some ZEP tunes: "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You", "Four Sticks", and "Tall Cool One" (Plant's Solo album). He ended his set with "Whole Lotta Love".

Well...... THE WHO came on and they just did HIT after HIT opening with "Can't Explain" into "Substitute", "Bargain" then "The Kids Are Alright", "You Better You Bet", "Behind Blue Eyes". Daltrey's voice was still great and Townshend played extended lead solos on every tune. The WHO seemed to have the highest energy I have ever seen. The drummer Starkey (Ringo's son) RE-energized all of tunes, because his style is very .... very KEITH MOON like. While he keeps steady time (in the pocket) he also does those rolls all around the drum set like Keith Moon would do. In the middle of the set, they went into songs off of QUADROPHENIA, doing "Sea and Sand", "Drowned", and "5:15", which I didn't think they would do without Entwistle on bass. They did an amazing "My Generation" to end the set.

The Encores were from TOMMY which was the Rock Opera that they had performed live a few years back with drummer Simon Philips. They performed "Amazing Journey" which is a really cool melodic arrangement. Then they did "See me, Feel Me" which ended the show. The WHO are still among the Greatest Rock bands out there. I was way psyched and I was invaded by two wild guys from England who were heavy WHO freaks, so, I really got a true taste of what these WHO TYPES ARE ALL ABOUT........ GOTTA LOVE those two crazy druken bastards who sat next to me, they made the show......."