The who – 25 years
In 1989, Ashley and I made a big financial plunge to see the Who ion their 25th anniversary tour. Ashley was still working on classes at Tulsa University. We lived precariously between paychecks and made a lot more use of the credit card than we really should have.
I had said that it would be cool to see the Who on that tour, but the closest they were coming to Oklahoma was Kansas City. The venues in Oklahoma had been the sane for years; while other cities had built larger and larger places that the mega bands could sell out. That meant there was a void in Oklahoma for the big acts. Sure, we could get the smaller bands, and bands on their way up, or bands on their way out, but big names like the Who, or Pink Floyd? No.
Well, what I dreamed about, Ashley made happen. Before I knew it, we had tickets at Arrowhead Stadium, and someone to baby-sit our 1 ½ year old Fletcher. Ash had arranged for a hotel for the night and we were set to go. Me, as always, I worried about money and this and that… while Ashley acted.
We dropped off Fletch to his grandparents and turned our car north towards Kansas City. The drive is about 5 to 6 hours, but we had music and Ashley loves a road trip.
When we reached the stadium, we decided to drive on to the hotel to check in and leave our stuff there. The hotel was less than picturesque. It was a little shabby, and after collecting our keys, we walked down a hall that had several burnt out lights, a small crew of suspicious types loitering in the halls and eventually a room that sent shivers up Ashley’s spine. There were huge stains on the floor and an atmosphere that smelled of smoke.
Ashley said, “We are not staying here!” being the no confrontationist that I am, I was saying, “Oh, Ash, it’s not that bad. It’ll be OK and it’s just for one night.” There started the argument, which she won and she went back to the desk to get back our money and find another hotel.
We located another place. It was acceptable. So we unpacked our gear and made ready to head for the musical Nirvana.
The parking at Arrowhead was atrocious. I guess, never having been to a professional football game, I had no concept. I knew college games, but usually got in those on a coach’s pass. It was a huge expanse of concrete, impatient cars and rushing concert goers ranging in age from 13 to their forties.
We finally parked, at another unexpected expense, and made the great trek to the stadium. There, stood in line to handover our ticket and make our way to the upper levels of the stadium, where were about as far away from the stage as possible. We were lucky to even have seats, and I had no complaints about where wee were because the stage had huge screens set up on both ends.
We ended up sitting behind the Hatfirlds and McCoys reunion. There were these two huge mountain man looking guys seated directly in front of us. Both wore overalls, were longhaired and had bushy beards. They started drinking early, it seemed, and were just getting into second gear when we arrived.
The band opened the show with the song “Overture” from the “Tommy” LP. They followed with several “Tommy’ numbers before making a charge through their body of work. Later on, the band would play “Tommy” in its entirety on stage in New York City. Wish I could have seen that too, but there was no disappointment here as Pete windmilled across the stage, Roger growled out the lyrics to “My Generation” and John stoically thundered on the bass guitar.
Keith Moon had been dead for almost 11 years by the time the 25th reunion came around. He had been replaced by Kenny Jones of the “Small faces” and, for this tour, after an apparent fallout with Daltry, Simon Phillips pounded the drums for the Who. But, with the bass guitar vibrating the rafters at the back of the stadium and Townshend bouncing across the stage, wielding the guitar like a weapon, Keith was missed but covered.
The band took a short rest midway through the show while the screen showed a video of Townshend’s solo project “The Iron Man.” It was animated video of the song, “A Friend is a Friend.” A few years later, Pete would follow that up by acting as producer of the animated movie “The iron Man” based upon the book by Ted Hughes. “The iron man” was actually the first CD I ever owned, before I even had a CD player. I won it off Rockline radio.
When the band returned, Roger roared on “Love reign Over Me” and “Behind Blue Eyes,” both songs from two of the Who’s concept albums, but it was only a warm up for what was to come. With the stage lights out and stadium dark, the computer sounds of “Won’t Get Fooled Again” tumbled across the arena. The crowd rose and cried out in unison! The Mountain men in front of us, excited and inebriated, rose quickly, and stumbled backwards into our seats. Rising among apologies and spilled beers, I hurried to see past them to the stage where now, lights flashed on and off in tempo to the building computer sounds.
When the stage lights flashed on to reveal Pete amid a windmill at mid-stage, and Roger, microphone swinging overhead, stepped forward to shout…
“We'll be fighting in the streets
With our children at our feet
And the morals that they worship will be gone
And the men who spurred us on
Sit in judgment of all wrong
They decide and the shotgun sings the song”
The energy of the song that vibrated through the huge stadium crowd was amazing. Hands in the air, people standing side by side, from young teens to mountain men, screaming the lyrics in unison.
As the song was reaching it height of momentum, suddenly the stage goes dark once again, the guitars and drums fall silent. Only the background of the synthesized computer sound echoes across the stadium. Smoke began to roll across the stage as the notes grew louder and were sometimes followed by a roll of drums.
It was then, as the drums began a frenzy of thunder than the lights flashed on, Pete Townshend sailed through the air, landing in a power slide across the sage, hand held high as his wind mill chord roared through the speakers. Simultaneously, Roger Daltry stepped forward through the smoke and gave a scream that must have come from someplace other than earth, and it still chills me even as I type this today, some 20 years later.
“Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
And the band crunched the song to its majestic crescendo!
The band would return for an encore, but I was left exhausted by the force of that song. The whole trip had been worth it simply for that moment.
I still believe that scream is one of the best screams ever in rock music. I put Joe Cocker and his wail n “A Little Help From My Friends,” ASL Green in “Let’s Stay Together,” “Mustang sally” and Wilson Pickett, and Janis Joplin “Another Piece of MY Heart” are up there too… but Roger is the king of the scream.
I would get to see the Who once again, and this time with my sons, Fletch and Corwin. We were able to see them after the first album they had made in over a decade, “Endless Wire.” By then, John Entwhistle would have also left this mortal coil. Some people referred Pete and Roger as “Who Two,” but they still played like demons on stage. At the age of 59, Pete may not power slide across the stage, but he is still kinetic and his guitar and pen still excite his listeners. Roger may have lost a little range, but no one, Never, will be able to make chills go down my back like his wail in that song.
05-08-1989: Kansas City, MO, Arrowhead Stadium – set-list
Overture, 1921, Amazing Journey, Sparks, The Acid Queen, Pinball Wizard, We're Not Gonna Take It, Secondhand Love, Let My Love Open The Door, Face The Face, I'm A Man, I Can't Explain, Substitute, I Can See For Miles, Trick Of The Light, Boris The Spider, Who Are You, Magic Bus, Baba O'Riley, My Generation, A Little Is Enough, 5.15, Love Reign O'er Me, Sister Disco, Rough Boys, Join Together, You Better You Bet, Behind Blue Eyes, Won't Get Fooled Again, Eminence Front, Hey Joe, Twist And Shout
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