My Favorite Year Pt. 2

When the announcement for the March 11th 1976 gig at the Garden came on the Scott Muni show (Was it Scotzo's show? Hmmm, that was awhile ago-might not have been!) on February 14th 1976 about 9:30 pm, I was in a complete and utter panic...So much so that I had completely misunderstood the difference between the GARDEN State Arts Center and Madison Square GARDEN. I was 14, what do you want? I hadn't ever even been to NY yet, even though I lived an hour away from it for my entire life! So on top of not being able to attend the 3/11/76 show because I couldn't get a ticket, I was most unhappy to know the show would be taking place in NY and not NJ. PNC is about 15 minutes by car from my house, and when the Quadrophenia tour came there in 1997 I was beside myself. I thought 'my life as a WHOfan is complete, I can die now and it will all have been worthwhile.' Well, that is because I had yet to see the WHO in the current incarnation from the place where I wanted them to play a mere 10 months into my lifelong obsession. I ended up getting a seat exactly one row in front of where I was for Quad for this show. Have I had enough miracles as WHOfan yet? I wonder. This was the show where Roger fell over the monitor and Pete was whipping it with his guitar cord, saying it was a very bad monitor for tripping Roger. The whole thing reads utterly corny in print, but to me, it gelled the moment as the very very first time that they looked like they really felt like they belonged together onstage and they were a working band. At the risk of adding Like They Used To Be In The 70's...I truly treasure the beauty of watching these guys use this tour to become a band again, rather than 4 guys who make the most money when they are on stage together... The first 4 shows (HOB and SBE) were testing ground....once they committed to this tour, they were either going to rise to the occasion or have the biggest disasters of their careers. I feel quite privileged to have watched them testing and finding a way to make it work, to make the magic. This show was also the very first time I ever saw and heard Bargain live by the band. Pete had played it at the 98 HOB show and well as Sadlers Wells, but it wasn't the same. It had to be the WHO for it to really count for me. I knew they added it to the setlist because Terry was kind enough to call me and tell me not to read the reviews, that there was a surprise or two...and I said They played Bargain, didn't they? and he hesitated only a moment before confirming. I remember it was almost all the way into Pinball Wizard before I got ahold of myself...I had been a picture of motion up until Pete said "this one's called Bargain" I felt all the strength drain out of me and I just stood there. It took a lot to try to focus to stay with the song so I would be able to remember if forever. I will, too.

What a crappy drive up 95 through CT and RI to MA. An enormous contrast to the drive from NJ to VA I would complete in just a few days. This show was my 'worst' seat of the tour, a big 17 rows back. It doesn't sound so bad; in fact it is a seat some would sell the unspoken for, but I am spoiled, and if I am not close enough to witness all of the band interaction, I feel cheated. The sound IS better towards the back, though, for those of you who have never been any closer than the 50th row and are cussing at me right now. My one great advantage at this show was I was directly underneath the large screen at the side of the stage and had numerous unbelievable close-ups of Pete's hands as he played some of the best guitar I have ever seen him play. I was so moved by his work that I spoke with him the next day; when I told him it was the best I had ever seen him play, he said, in typical Pete fashion, "I know." I have a CDr of this show, as I needed to make certain I wasn't hallucinating. I wasn't. Between his solos on Bargain and My Wife and adding Naked Eye/Listening To You (and it's subsequent argument) to the set, I was -again- beside myself. Another couple of days of this was undoubtedly going to kill me. I didn't care. As soon as one show ended, and the final notes of My Generation faded into the night air, my energy was directed towards getting to the next show, how I was going to get enough rest beforehand so I could drive so I could get there in time and be ready. I had told John after the PNC show that I was about to embark on the best week of my life, that I was going to see him every other day until Sunday---he looked at me as though I had gone mad! Little did he know how I got to that point!

I drove home from MA, slept, drank, slept some more and got up and left for VA. This is a much nicer drive than to MA, except for traffic backups. It was interesting because my plan was to drive home after the show. Thanks to a friend, I was able to cop a couple hours of sleep before leaving. The joke about Nissan Pavilion is to drive to the middle of nowhere, hang a right and There You Are. It's a nice venue, just that the one road in/one road out thang wasn't working for me. Kathleen and I had ordered tickets through the VIP service and we were a bit apprehensive about what we would end up with. I will never forget her calling me on the cell saying "Is row A section 2 OK for you!?!?!" This was her birthday gift for me, one of the best I have ever had. They played Bargain (My favorite) and I'm One (her favorite) in a row, and at the end of Magic Bus, Roger threw me his harmonica (this sits on the speaker next to my computer as I type this). All in all, a really nice well done inspired show, I think the 'tightest' one yet in terms of the band rapport. I have been searching for the boot of this show, and I have yet to find it, but having been there, I can highly recommend it, especially if it is a well recorded one (from what I understand the sound on the boot that is circulating is a bit low). There were 2 more shows for my favorite week, and all in all, I was having the time of my life. In spite of all the money on hotels and food, all that driving -which I was pretty much used to anyways- it was a lot of work. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

I wish I had a lot of nice things to say about this show, it being a part of this special week and all. I had a nice seat, and was actually had eye contact with Terry who was 2 rows behind me so we could exchange expressions....it's always fun to see the WHO with Terry, who has been a fan since the early 70's. But it was, to me, one of those "pete townshend" shows where he treats the others as his backup band. There is little if no interaction. They played well, it was just not as inspired, at least to me. We were ejected from the backstage area before the band came out, too, which really pissed me off. Security at some of these shows is instant asshole just add a t shirt variety. I have yet to hear a recording of this show and I wonder if my impressions will be confirmed when I do. All in all, a 'good' WHO show, but my least favorite of the tour. It's down there with the first MSG show, which I will write about briefly later. There was, however, plenty of "Pete Belly" as I call it, because he was wearing his denim jacket with no shirt underneath. This alone was the price of admission, at least for me.

Every end-of-a-tour-leg show is traumatic for me. Every End-Of-A-Tour show is potentially deadly! This one was interesting in the respect that watching The WHO every other night for a week is exhausting but is essentially (pathetically) what makes life worthwhile. Who gets to do this? Who WANTS to do this? I don't know. But I DO know that I will never ever forget what it felt like. Ever. It was Sunday and the weather started to go downhill badly. By the time we got there we realized it was going to be cold and rainy all night. I had done may usual Ticketmaster computer waltz and gotten a seat in section C. Because of the way the seating sections 'fan' out at this venue, I ended up with a front row seat. It was wayyythefuckoff to the side (PT's side) but front row nonetheless. We all were at hospitality before the show and Pete was there (wonder of wonders). I had left a message for him at Camden which was apologetic and abrupt at the same time. So I was keeping a low profile, but intent on ushering in a friend so that she would be able to meet him, if only for a second. (two very contradictory images, I know.) My friend was admitted and had her few seconds with PT ..this is the person who told me about the band in the first place, when I was 12 years old! It was only appropriate that she get a chance to meet him! His gestures to me, later, acknowledged that he had received my message and understood (as usual). This is the frame of mind in which I enjoyed this show. It was a very conflicting show for me emotionally. I had seen PT there for Psychoderelict in 93, shortly after meeting him for the first time. That night, I was the only person waiting at his car; when he came outside, his reaction indicated that he knew who I was and what I felt about that show. These events, along with his more recent interaction, really colored my view of the show this night. I have the CDr and listen to it religiously. Consciously, I cannot interpret whether this was a good, bad or indifferent show. To me, it was a culmination of many many things, least of all a very viscous guitar death. I watch this video now and think "good god! what a quadrophenic performance!" There is too much going on. Even after the smash...he walks to his amps and just stands there....like he was waiting in line or something! No, I cannot offer the slightest bit of opinion on this show, unfortunately. I can only say that being there made all the difference in the world to me. My heart, my soul, my life will never be the same.