The Who Are Better You Bet!

November 15th, 2012 by The Professor

Daltrey’s vision of a modern-media Quadrophenia is a surreal sensation on stage

-by Radio RockonTour host Timothy Tilghman

Just where have these two guys been hiding? Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend are touring behind a fourth generation staging of Quadrophenia and the Whuo Duo have never sounded better! Their Tuesday night performance in Washington, D.C., rivaled the magnificence of their singular May 2004 date in NYC. Cancel all the catty criticism about The Who. This revised touring version of the British legend’s 1973 Opus is really the real deal.

Maybe fan anticipation in the aftermath of their last outing in the USA from the 2006/2007 Endless Wire Tour kept expectations artificially low. The Who’s November 13, 2012 appearance was an incendiary affair with the team of musicians firing on all musical cylinders. Celebratory praise does not efficiently describe the intense level of satisfaction the unit generated in concert.

Townshend’s first major musical piece was the Rock Opera Tommy, released in 1969. His next group proposal was the aborted Lifehouse project in 1971, which eventually morphed into the generic Who’s Next album. Townshend’s preoccupation with the quintessentially British battle between the Mods and the Rockers during the early 1960s provided him with a musical vision as the basis for his 1973 theme-album Quadrophenia.

The tale of a Brighton teen torn by four personalities was actually a composite reflection of the four musicians that once constituted the original members of The High Numbers. Townshend’s fictional anti-hero turns 40 next year. Quadrophenia was eventually made into a 1979 cinematic presentation staring Police bassist Sting as Ace Face.

Early Who singles were styled as recordings for the popular Mod market genre. Competing contenders as British Mod outfits were both The Kinks and The Small Faces. Ringo Starr may have delivered the best line in 1964 about the Mod lifestyle confrontations in the film A Hard Day’s Night when asked by a female reporter if he was a Mod or a Rocker. Starr replied, “I’m a Mocker”.

Both Roger Daltrey’s vocals and Pete Townshend’s vocals were exceedingly stronger than during the course of the last Who tour. Plus, Townshend’s forceful guitar assault eclipsed his playing style from the Endless Wire shows. The core band consists of Zachary Starkey on drums, Simon Townshend on guitar, and Pino Palladino on bass. The touring ensemble includes John Corey and Loren Gold on keyboards, Reggie Grisham and J. Greg Miller as the Brass Section, and Frank Simes on guitar.

As a value-added bonus, The Who continued the concert without hesitation by segueing directly into five major Who classics sure to make the most loyal Who fan salivate for more musical treasures. Two incredible highlights were the inclusion of John Entwistle’s bombastic Bass solo during “5:15”, and Keith Moon’s humorous vocals spliced into “Bell Boy”. Daltrey labored to interject these live archived sequences into the Quadrophenia + More Tour production, and Townshend personally recognized Roger for his efforts to create both poignant segments before their lone encore together.

The Who, Verizon Center, Washington, DC, November 13, 2012 setlist: I Am The Sea * The Real Me * Quadrophenia * Cut My Hair * The Punk Meets The Godfather * I’m One (At least) (Pete Townshend vocal) * The Dirty Jobs (Simon Tonwshend vocal) * Helpless Dancer (Roger’s Theme) * Is It In My Head * I’ve Had Enough * 5:15 (Entwistle bass solo) * Sea And Sand * Drowned (Pete Townshend vocal) * Bell Boy (Keith’s Theme – Moon’s vocals) * Dr. Jimmy (John’s Theme) * The Rock * Love, Reign O’er Me (Pete’s Theme) * Who Are You * Behind Blue Eyes * Pinball Wizard * Baba O’Riley * Won’t Get Fooled Again * Encore: Tea And Theater

Posted in Music, Reviews | No Comments »

Breakfast on the Road: Roger Hodgson Live

November 12th, 2012 by The Professor

Legendary composer Roger Hodgson is entertaining enthusiastic audiences

– by Radio RockonTour host Timothy Tilghman

Roger Hodgson formerly from Supertramp is currently embarking on his first solo tour featuring an outstanding support band. The backing musicians include Kevin Adamson on keyboards, David Carpenter on bass, Bryan Head on drums, and Aaron MacDonald providing his talents as a multi-instrumentalist embellishing the Hodgson compositions on stage.

Hodgson’s popular Breakfast In America Tour arrived in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, on Friday, November 9, 2012. The band sounded flawless in performance as if it was practically studio perfect. The modern wonders of technology breathe inspired life into the classic Supertramp catalogue penned by Roger Hodgson. One is left to image what The Beatles might have achieved soundwise if this state of the art equipment had been available to them on tour almost five decades ago.

Hodgson himself segued between keyboards, a 12 string acoustic guitar and onto Grand Piano in sharing his musical gift with the Franklin County crowd. Without question, the exceptional level of musicianship presented by Hodgson and company simply topped off the scale. The sparse stage motif left the music to do all the convincing that if you missed Breakfast, then you missed the most important musical fuel out on the touring circuit.

Blending his Supertramp singles with choice solo material selections, the Grove Theatre patrons erupted in appreciative applause throughout the evening. It’s wonderfully rare that a seasoned artist delivers an entire repertoire at such high caliber. The positive impact of love as a powerful theme in music is truly compelling. The Shippensburg venue is a fantastic facility to enjoy intimate concerts, and Hodgson was well suited to appear here.

Hodgson prefaced many of his songs by revealing personal insight into composing his material. He sang four stellar tracks from the 1979 classic album Breakfast In America. A real treat was hearing “The Awakening” accompanied on his 12 string acoustic guitar, an unrecorded tune that Hodgson said is an invaluable lesson about forgiveness. The beautiful melody and touching sentiment exemplify his hallmark traits as a quality composer among his celebrated peers.

Although the ecstatic audience stood up for several standing ovations during the evening performance, it was at the end of the night that Hodgson encouraged his fans to enjoy themselves by standing and clapping along with his second encore. As the lights went up so did the house in unison as Hodgson launched into “Give A Little Bit” ensuring everybody was motivated by its infectious chorus.

Grove Theater, Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, November 9, 2012 setlist: [itunes link=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/take-the-long-way-home/id449815550?uo=4″ title=”Take The Long Way Home” text=”Take The Long Way Home”] * [itunes link=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/school-live/id502038005?i=502038340&uo=4″ title=”School” text=”School”] * [itunes link=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/in-jeopardy/id110449627?i=110449645&uo=4″ title=”In Jeopardy” text=”In Jeopardy”] * [itunes link=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/lovers-in-the-wind/id110449627?i=110449652&uo=4″ title=”Lovers In the Wind” text=”Lovers In the Wind”] * [itunes link=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/hide-in-your-shell-live/id502038005?i=502038331&uo=4″ title=”Hide In Your Shell” text=”Hide In Your Shell”] * [itunes link=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/easy-does-it/id111466?i=111446&uo=4″ title=”Easy Does It” text=”Easy Does It”] * [itunes link=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/sister-moonshine/id81776249?i=81776294&uo=4″ title=”Sister Moonshine” text=”Sister Moonshine”] * [itunes link=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/breakfast-in-america-live/id502038005?i=502038336&uo=4″ title=”Breakfast In America” text=”Breakfast In America”] * [itunes link=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/lady/id16018606?i=16018473&uo=4″ title=”Lady” text=”Lady”] * Rosie Had Everything Planned * [itunes link=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-logical-song/id111521?i=111503&uo=4″ title=”The Logical Song” text=”The Logical Song”] * intermission * [itunes link=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/child-of-vision/id1485110?i=1485106&uo=4″ title=”Child Of Vision” text=”Child Of Vision”] * [itunes link=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/only-because-you-lord-is-it/id502038005?i=502038337&uo=4″ title=”Lord Is It Mine” text=”Lord Is It Mine”] * [itunes link=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/death-and-a-zoo/id502522497?i=502522507&uo=4″ title=”Death And A Zoo” text=”Death And A Zoo”] * If Everyone Is Listening * The Awakening * [itunes link=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/dont-leave-me-now/id43265?i=43263&uo=4″ title=”Don’t Leave Me Now” text=”Don’t Leave Me Now”] * [itunes link=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/music-video/dreamer-live/id329080746?uo=4″ title=”Dreamer” text=”Dreamer”] * Fool’s Overture * Encore: The Two Of Us * [itunes link=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/music-video/give-a-little-bit-live/id329081131?uo=4″ title=”Give A Little Bit” text=”Give A Little Bit”]

Posted in Music, Reviews | No Comments »