Nobody Can Die Until THE WHO Have Finished Playing

In contrast to the belief shared by many rock journalists that the Who have seen their day, I can tell you that they have not. I just saw them live for the first time at the August 9th Miami Baseball Stadium concert and without question they are the finest live band in the world. That’s a fresh opinion. I was not bored because I’d seen them umpteen million times; I had never seen them back in the old days when they were younger so I expected nothing of them and had nothing to compare the show with. I just thought they were amazing. When I become so jaded as to think a band as great as the Who (or the Rolling Stones for that matter) has “had it” just because they’ve been around for over ten years, I will stop writing.

They played twenty songs over a period of two hours, spanning their history from “Summertime Blues” and “Can’t Explain” through Tommy and their current hits from the Who By Numbers. Everything was superb; Pete Townshend is still the greatest guitar showman of all time—age has not lowered his jumps, weakened his splits, or altered the quality of his unique playing style. Roger Daltrey sings more beautifully than ever; years of practice and solo endeavors have increased his range and melodic abilities to the hilt. It’s thrilling to watch him circle the stage like a caqed animal. Keith Moon is still the wonderfully mad drummer—so what if he drinks too much and has fun at parties; he’s still great. And John Entwistle goes on writing, playing, singing . . . just being his steadfast, sturdy self. The Who are an establishment; they will last as long as they keep touring and recording.