This picture is by Maddie Maddie and I went to see The Who last night at TD Garden in Boston. And boy, did they put on a great show! I was a little concerned heading into the show because a friend of mine saw them playing the Superbowl and said they sucked. I decided to go anyway, since I have been listening to The Who for over forty years and I love their music. I am so glad that I did! I thought they did a great show. Both Roger Daltrey and Pete Townsend are over seventy years old, and while they have lost a step in old age, and don't move around as much as they once did, they both still sound great. Keith Moon and John Entwistle had both died years ago, so others have taken their place and did a great job as well. This wasn't my first time seeing The Who, so I have some basis for comparison. I saw them rock Giants Stadium back in 1989, when John Entwistle was still the bassist. My history with the band goes back even further though. Meaty Beaty Big & Bouncy was one of the first albums I ever bought back in 1976,.The Doors' LA Woman was the other. Both albums had already been out for a few years before I got them, but to be honest, they both came out when I was five, so I wasn't buying anything, let alone music back then! I still have both albums too! These bands and their albums, have been a huge part of the sound track of my life. Tell me, what was playing in the background during important moments during your life? For me, oftentimes it was bands like The Who, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, The Doors and Jimi Hendrix. In fact, "Thank You" by Led Zeppelin was My Wife & I's wedding song. The singer for our wedding couldn't really get it, so we did not play it at our reception, but we did dance to it before we left the house on the way to the church.
Last night, it felt so good to share such a large part of my life with my daughter. She doesn't know how much it meant to me that she actually enjoyed it. My daughter and I have gone to concerts before, but this was the first one where I likely had a better handle on the music than she did. I caught myself a few times leaning over to tell her something about the song coming up after I heard a note or two of the opening and recognized it. The memories I had while listening to the music, and being able to share some of that with her while she was experiencing it for the first time truly made my night. What's more, one of my daughter's friends also went to the concert with his parents and she ran into him there. Now, she will have her own memories from the show that he too will be able to relate to. He was in a different section than us, but he stopped by to see Maddie, which I think helped to make the night a little more memorable for her as well. There were so many songs I knew and loved played last night that I had a tough time picking just one favorite. I remember singing along to Love Reign O'er Me and Join together, as well as You Better You Bet and Won't Get Fooled Again. Pinball Wizard was done really well and Eminence Front (one of my favorites) was a first for me, since they didn't play it at the show I went to in 1989. Oddly enough, Maddie's favorite song of the night was called The Rock and is a purely instrumental piece. She liked it for what they dedicated it to and for the scenes they flashed up on the screens as they played it. Her next favorite was Baba O Riley. Maddie loved the concert too, by the way. One song that they didn't play that I remember from the 1989 concert was Magic Bus. Before the concert even started, they had a little film on the screen talking about the band and one of the things they mentioned was that John Entwistle used to hate playing that song in concert since he really only got to play one chord and that the song would usually go on for six to eight minutes and he would be really bored. When I read that, I knew we were not going to get Magic Bus... and I was right. Another song that was rightfully absent was Summertime Blues. In 1989, the concert I went to was on the July 4th weekend, and The Who played that song as one of their encores.Well, March is still winter in New England, so there was no Summertime Blues. Well, I think I have rambled long enough. I am happy that I got to share one of my favorite bands with my daughter. These guys were good in 1989. After so many years, I think these guys were GREAT in 2016. Now that they are in their seventies, I am not sure if they will be able to tour much longer. I hope they do. I would love to bring Ashleigh to see them one day when she is old enough. My thanks to The Who ... for making music I could grow up with. What amazing memories. Thank you.
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