NEIL! ;Neil Young at the Fabulous Fox 6/28 Concert Review

It had been since 2009, since Neil Young has played Missouri. I'd seen his previous two stops in the state(not counting two Farm Aid appearances in St. Louis in 2009 and KC, Kansas 2011) and will probably see him anytime he comes my way. When this small run of solo dates were announced St. Louis got a date, based on it being a part of Neil's favorite venues in favorite cities. And I scooped up the best tickets I could, as early as I could.

I would up with seats about 15 rows back on the right side and surviving the the nasty rain and road construction on Grand Avenue, me and my dad got there in plenty of time. At 8 PM sharp, the lights dimmed and...we got an opening act. John Hammond, a white blues man, I'd never heard of and never saw anywhere Neil having an opening act. Yea. He was a good player, playing acoustic, harp and a resonator, but I'm not a blues guy, so it sounded monotonous. His part lasted around 30 minutes with eight songs. The gap between his set and Neil's was longer than his set.

The one thing to expect with Neil, is for him to not do what you're expecting of him. Just because it's solo, doesn't mean he's just acoustic. A few years back he made up shirts that read, "I said 'solo.' They said, 'Acoustic.' However, he came out strong in that format with older songs, after a standing ovation before he played a note.

He switched to banjo after four songs, before strapping on his White Falcon, for a stunning Ohio, the highlight of the night. He prefaced it with a segue about playing love songs like that, into a story behind creating Ohio and writing songs that made him an angry. He used that format several other times, leading into more political songs later in the set. Neil never got outright political, but danced around the edges. "...Now you can just make up shit... I don't know.."

Throughout the night, Neil was more festive and talkative than in the previous two shows. He talked multiple times about his guitars and pianos, where he got them and what how they were part of the creative process.  And he was very witty and self-deprecating. He even joked that, "Most of the time I don't talk as much, and still don't know what I'm doing. I'm just being honest up here." Part of the madness was him trying to figure out what he was going to do next, as well as issues with harmonicas, needing a different one, putting it in water, etc. Knowing Neil doesn't like fakeness, but a lot seems like it might be part of show and dragging it out.  Neil's set-up was adorned by three different pianos, as well as his pump organ, which never got used, which I would say gives a lot of credence to Neil playing it real.

And give me the awkwardness and unique. If there's one thing I despise, is the same "show" different city approach, where even the banter with the audience is the same every city between songs. Everyone likes great sound that is polished, but it lacks that surprise element.

Of course he didn't play all of his hits, though he ended his main set, with The Needle and the Damage Done and Heart of Gold, with five out of the ten songs off of Harvest getting played. And ten of the 18 songs, I hadn't seen him do live.

Which brings me to the worst part of the show. The biggest criticism I have, is that he only played for a little over 90 minutes. Going by older solo shows, he's varied it from 90 minutes to over two hours, so it's in the realm of being a normal show. But for a $165 a ticket, I'd like at least two hours.

And some comments I read on Thrasher's Wheat, laid some possible blame onto obnoxious fans, shouting out crap all night. To be fair they did it the first time I saw him at the Fox in 2007 and the same with Jackson Browne in 2010 there. But they didn't start it until towards the end of the show.( A notable exception was during After The Gold Rush in 2007, where Neil lost his place and had to redo a verse) There were d-bags doing this from the start last night though. I think it's just part of the singer-songwriter concert experience. Especially ones who don't play straight up hits. But maybe it did fluster and annoy Neil. At point he told us, "All that doesn't register up here," though once when someone shouted out about Lincvolt, it did put a smile on his face and led to a story about his electric classic car project. Other cities set lists will show... I

Overall a really good performance, though I think the KC show ranks better at the moment, due to length. And of course there is a still a bucket-list of songs, I'd still love to see him do...

Set List

On The Way Home
Homefires
Love Is A Rose
Only Love Can Break Your Heart
Mellow My Mind
Ohio
There's A World
Love In Mind
Are You Ready For The Country?
Tonight's The Night
Speakin' Out
Angry World
Love And War
Peaceful Valley Boulevard
Out On The Weekend
The Needle And The Damage Done
Heart Of Gold
-------
Tumbleweed

	Post Dispatch's Review here

The Well Worn Honky Tonk Highway; Alan Jackson 9/8 St. Charles Family Arena Concert Review

Alan Jackson has always been one of my mom's favorites, the neo-traditionalist with fiddle and steel guitar (And come on, only the most anti-country city slickers could dislike his music). When the announcement popped up that he'd be playing in St. Charles, near my mom's birthday, it sounded like a good idea to see this living legend of country music (And I mean country music, not Jason AlBryan Georgia Line crap).

We got decent seats on the right side of the stage 11 rows up, though blocked by some speaker cables. There was a surprise opener 20 minutes before showtime, Adam Wright, a singer-songwriter who played solo with an electric guitar for four songs. It wasn't nothing much, and later I found out he's Jackson's nephew.

At 7:30 sharp, Lee Ann Womack and band took the stage for an 11 song 50 minute set that was superb. This is the third time I've seen her, all as an opening act for bigger stars. She ran through most of her well known songs, as well as some new material. She also played Lord I Hope This Day Is Good, as a tribute to Don Williams who passed away earlier. The set was over way too quick. Again she is superb as an opening act, well known with "songs you've heard of," as she said during the show and musicality thoroughly on the country side. I find it greatly ironic that someone who came to fame as a crossover star in Shania's wake, is a standard bearer for what is real country music.

Set List 

Does My Ring Burn Your Finger
Never Again, Again
A Little Past Little Rock
I'll Think of A Reason Later
All The Trouble
Long Black Veil
Lord, I Hope This Day Is Good
I May Hate Myself in The Morning
The Way I'm Livin ????

I Hope You Dance
Ashes By Now













The set change took about 25 minutes and Mr. Jackson hit the stage at quarter til nine, with an introductory video and Gone Country, or at least a snippet of it, with him just singing the chorus. The first thing I noticed and my mom mentioned after the concert, it looked like he had trouble moving, whether it's drink, old-age, bad leg, too tight jeans and boots or some combination. In fact he'd take rests on a stool, between songs as a different member of his eight-piece band was allowed an intro-jamming at least once. But he seemed to get more lively as the evening got going, telling the audience, "..stand up and dance, sit and enjoy the music, we're pretty laid back up here," as well as pointing out some of the handmade signs the audience were holding up.

Jackson like his neo-traditionalist friend and ally George Strait, is a living legend that has enough number ones to make a concert just on those alone. He pretty much played the more well known ones and I was pressed to think of ones that I was disappointed he didn't play. His cover of It Must Be Love, was the closest especially for a Don Williams tribute, as one he didn't play . Jackson was a master showman, working the crowd signing autographs, throwing t-shirts to the crowd and name-dropping Missouri with lyric changes multiple times in songs. This is a contrast to Strait, who is more old school without the showmanship and I've heard compared to being more like a jukebox in concert. Not to mention the aforementioned Strayhorns band of Jackson, getting time to shine and vamp on solos.

The song that stuck out best was As She's Walking Away, with Jackson giving Zac Brown's part to one of his sidemen(complete with making him wear the stocking beanie). There was nothing really special about it, but it kept it with the theme of the song, without having to resort of video screens and let Jackson play the wise barroom sage...

Overall it was a good concert, but nothing spectacular. Again, someone with so many hits, it makes highs and lows of a show scarce. The biggest disappointment for me was the length. The show was roughly only 90 minutes long. Even though with a great opening act, I got my money's worth, for the ticket  price and $10 gouging for having to pay for parking, it should have been a little longer and closer to two hours. The other mild disappointment for me could have remedied both, was the truncated versions of  Gone Country (chorus only), Here in the Real World and Chasing That Neon Rainbow (first verse and chorus on each). Those are three of his best and a couple I like better, so I enjoyed getting just those, but the overall length of the concert made me wish for the complete songs...

As I said the man is a living legend and Country Music Hall-of Famer(or soon-to-be) and was glad to be able to see him in concert as well as take my mom to see another of her favorites.

Set List

Gone Country (Snippet)
I Don't Even Know Your Name
Livin' on Love
The Blues Man
Who's Cheating Who
Here In The Real World > Chasing That Neon Rainbow>As She's Walking Away
Little Bitty
Drive 
Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning
Don't Rock the Jukebox
Remember When
Good Time
It's Five O'Clock Somewhere
Chattahoochee 
Where I Come From
-----------
Mercury Blues


St. Louis Post Dispatch Review Here

The Gunslinger; Shooter Jennings 5/27 at The Blue Note Concert Review

It had been eight years since I last saw Shooter Jennings in concert. Far too long. I was planning on seeing him the last time he played the Blue Note, in Columbia in 2013, but my dad bought tickets for another concert the same night. So, I wound up seeing the Sail Rock tour instead. Hell, 2013 was the last time I went to the Blue Note too, when I saw Billy Joe Shaver...

And waking up with little good sleep and a continuing sinus headache, I wasn't sure if I was going to make it tonight. But good old Claritan cleared it up and, after the storms dissipated,  I was on my way. I got there about 40 minutes til doors opened with a small line. Past history says to get there early enough to avoid being snaked through the alleyway. But it wound up being maybe half full at most tonight, probably due in part to the holiday weekend and that the students are gone for summer, which is a good thing.

Once inside, it was a 50 minute wait until the first openers, the Tanner Lee Band hit the stage at 8:30. They were a traditional four piece that played eight songs in little over half an hour. They were okay, but suffered from the muddied sound opening act syndrome. I would kind of describe them as somewhere between Southern and Country Rock.

Then a quick set change, led to Mountain Sprout taking the stage, playing nine songs at around 45 minutes. They're a Hellbelly Bluegrass bearded quartet from Arkansas and as their leader said in his quick talking Southern accent, "We sing about sex and drugs." Which is pretty much right on. And their songs were quite good as well as hilarious. Their opening song Dry Counties, set the tone, as well as Money, Pussy and Drugs and Screw the Government. Their songs are refreshing tongue-in-cheek honesty...


The final set change took a bit longer and Shooter, clad in his purple Nudie-like suit, and his four piece band came out a little after 10:30, opening with Electric Rodeo. His four piece "LA Band," featured Aubrey Richmond on violin, which added a unique texture to Shooter's sound, along with the typical guitar, drums and bass. I've always loved the countryfied live version of 4th of July over the more rocking take on the studio album and the fiddle here took the place of the steel guitar and sounded beautiful. But it was one of many beautiful solos and fills throughout the show.

The more hard rocking songs started out the show, before Shooter favored the acoustic guitar for the majority of later songs. Maybe the best song was Outlaw You, which brought an intensity that helped feed the audience, as well as the aforementioned fiddle work. Another highlight was Nashville from Afar and the intended George Jones song (Or so Shooter thought as he related the story.), Living in A Minor Key. There definitely was a slant towards his Black Ribbons and onward material, as he only played five songs from his first three albums. (I'm kicking myself for not seeing him at the Blue Note in 2007 or the next year at the Montgomery County Fair, when the The Wolf was released, which has become my favorite album of his and missed seeing him preform most of those songs live...)

A guy nabbed one of the set lists and let me take a pic.

Shooter played around 90 minutes, closing with the cover Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues and no encore, or the fake encore as I call it. This was the first show, I've seen him, where he didn't play a Waylon cover. (Though Waylon did cover Good Time Charlie, I'm not sure his version is the most famous). The only bad parts was I wish Shooter played longer, and the tall guys that moved their way to the front right before Shooter started. Though by halfway through, they had moved again or left.

This was fourth time seeing Shooter, overall it was a kick ass show, well well worth more than the $20 ticket and convenience charges. I'm sure some of it was not having seen Shooter for so long. But I love Shooter's blending of music, from Country, various forms and eras of Rock, to things I'm not big on like Electronica.

Set List (In case image gets deleted )

Electric Rodeo
Steady at the Wheel
Don't Feed the Animals
Triskaidekaphobia
The Real Me
Outlaw You
The Last Time I Let You Down
Nashville From Afar
Wild and Lonesome
I'm Left You're Right, She's Gone
Living in a Minor Key
The Door(A George Jones Cover) 
The Other Life
Manifesto No.1
All of This Could Have Been Yours
Summer of Rage
The Gunslinger 
4th of July
Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues

The Low and High Times of Missouri Basketball

The last time I wrote about Missouri Tigers basketball, was twice in a couple weeks span in 2014, with an end of season review and then with the news of the Kim Anderson era happening after Frank Haith's escaping the posse out of town. Then between starting college classes and not having the free days off  I used to have from work, my overall blogging slipped and well, Missouri basketball under Kim Anderson didn't exact inspire much to write about....The last three seasons of Missouri basketball produced less than 30 wins combined. As many point out, Frank Haith won that many in his first year at Missouri...

Then the official word, what many of us fans expected sooner, happened after the final regular season game of the season, was that Kim Anderson wasn't coming back for next season. I had decent hopes for Kim Anderson at Mizzou, but he was in over his head, inheriting not the best of situations; a young inexperienced team, as well as a horrendous APR score and the beginnings of an NCAA investigation, that Anderson didn't even get told about until the took the job.

But it wasn't as horrible a situation as his defenders made it out to be. He had quite a bit of talent on his first roster with Jonathan Williams III(who's now starting for the possible NCAA Champion Gonzaga Bulldogs) and several other four stars, recruiting and rerecruiting  some back on board. The biggest knock on Anderson was that people didn't think he'd be able to recruit at a Division I Power 5 conference level, but he'd be good with the x's and o's and developing his players.

Except it turned out to be more the opposite. His first season he had a talented young roster, that seemed on the cusp of getting over their humps, but an injury to their best scorer, Montaque Gill-Caesar , derailed what progress was being made on a team that struggled to make 60 points. And then the transfers started, with multiple players leaving on a yearly basis. This wasn't what people meant by bringing back the years of Norm, specifically the mid-90s version of Norm.

And there seemed to be no progress among players, no continuity, no development and no sense that things were going to get better. Many felt he was lucky to get a third year. His tenure started with an embarrassing home loss to UMKC and this season featured three more home losses to low majors at home that probably sealed his fate for good.

As the lows started to wear off, with the excitement of a coaching search(which happens too frequently with MU for my tastes), things seemed to be on the right track. Early signs seemed to be that Tom Crean, who was running out of favor, with a cutthroat fan base at Indiana that's stuck in the 1980s, was the man for the job. I was totally on board for this. He's a great coach that's proven he can build up a major conference team, take a team to the Final Four and bring in major talent. Hell, he's recruited Missouri better than Missouri has.

Alas the behind the scenes wrangling didn't pan out and it was soon announced that Cuonzo Martin was offered the job and sources early on indicated he was going to take it. I'd rather have still had Tom Crean, but Martin has shown he can recruit high level talent and build decent teams, where down years are NIT years. The biggest concern is whether he can get over the hump of hovering around 20 wins and not be perceived as a job jumper. I really think he'd still be at Tennessee if not for sort of being Frank Haithed out of town. We want a guy that wants to be here for the long haul and at least in the press conference that's what Martin alluded to too. 

Of course that same day or the day after, it was announced that Washington was parting ways with Lorenzo Romar, for six straight years of missing the NCAA Tournament, while having stellar talent and recruiting classes. And he happened to have the number one recruit by many services coming in, whose father happened to be an assistant coach for Romar. When that axe fell, Michael Porter Sr. started making plans and rumors of a job offer to be an assistant at Missouri, where he previously coached on the women's team(His sister-in-law is the coach) started swirling.

When that became official, it was pretty clear that Michael Porter Jr. was coming to the Tigers. The number one player in the country was coming back home and going to play for Ol' Mizzou. For a MU fan, the 180° turnaround in a matter of weeks has been something out of our wildest dreams. Good things don't happent ot Missouri.  Martin has gotten interest drummed up, all while he's still not even done recruiting  and not even coached a game for us yet!

All I know, is that I'm ready for next fall.

A 2016 Collegiate Men's Olympic Basketball Team

Has it really been four years, since I first did this during the 2012 Olympics? Why, yes it has. I did manage to go back and fill in all of the other years Olympics team with college stars and wanted to for the World Championship teams as well, but life and wasting time have taken hold.

So, while I intended to get to this a while back, I figured I'd better get to it now. And I'll continue the trend of picking the guys that were in college last year, even if they've signed pro contracts and played in the Summer League or whatever it's called.
My coach this time out, is the great(I have to grudgingly admit this as a MU fan. Oh what could have been in 1999...) Bill Self, the head coach of Kansas.

Starters

• PF/C Brice Johnson (North Carolina)
• PF Perry Ellis (Kansas)
• SF/SG Denzel Valentine (Michigan State) 
• SG Malcolm Brogdon (Virginia)
• PG Tyler Ulis (Kentucky)

Bench

• C A.J. Hammons (Purdue)
• C Kaleb Tarczewski (Arizona) 
• F Georges Niang (Iowa State)
• F Brandon Ingram (Duke)
• SG/SF Wayne Selden (Kansas)
• SG Grayson Allen (Duke) 
• PG Frank Mason III (Kansas) 

 Similar to what he did, by taking his whole KU team for the World University Games in 2015, I think Self takes at least three of his Jayhawks. Even though he likes to play with two point guards on the floor, I think he only chooses two true point guards, due to the amazing Denzel Valentine, as well as Grayson Allen who did a lot of the running the show for Duke in 2015-16.
Overall I think the team is pretty versatile. I probably picked one too many big guys, instead of another guard(Marcus Paige, Kris Dunn, Ron Baker, Fred Van Vleet), but having extra size and height is always a good thing. The forwards are the same way, being leaner and more athletic, which helps match the style du jour of the Golden State Warriors. Again, there were several that probably should be on this team (Nigel Hayes, Alex Poythress come to mind) from that spot. There were just a lot of of talented and upperclass players which made these choices hard.

 Now, maybe I'll get to filling in the teams for the World Championships....

Meet Me in Kansas City; 4/7 Bruce Springsteen Sprint Center Concert Review

I almost didn't get to see the Boss this time out. St. Louis was announced as getting one of the original dates for his The River 2016 Tour. The day they went on sale, I didn't get up early and by the time I checked only nosebleeds were left. And it was "sold out" by the late afternoon.(I use that term loosely because the day of the March 6 show or a day before, I could have gotten tickets off Ticketmaster. Though nosebleeds again).

There were several reasons for this, one he was playing in Chaifetz Arena, instead of Scottrade Center, due to them having the Arch Madness tournament going on that weekend and Chaifetz holds half of what Scottrade does. That and St. Louis has increasingly seen a lot of quick "sell-outs" recently, which to me means the legal scalpers and secondary sites are getting most of  them right-away.

Another key factor was there was only sixteen or so dates originally announced, which meant people all over the country might be planning a trip to see it. Not to mention people from Kansas City.

Lo and behold, a month of two later, more dates were added and K.C. got a date. The night before they went onsale, I made sure I knew my passwords for the AXS ticket site and my internal clock got me up in time. I played around for forty minutes or so until I got seats 17 rows up on the side and in the closest or next closest section towards the stage. I was gonna see the Boss and the E Street Band in 2016 after all.

Me and dad arrived about an hour before the actual start time, mainly because he couldn't find Popeye's. He passed up one in Oak Grove and then had to settle for a hot dog and soda at the Sprint Center. He's still trying to get to pay the $11 for that. Not gonna happen.
We also failed to find the proper exit, even though we'd been there three times previous. It's a quick short exit, but we missed it and had to do some back and forths. We did the same thing leaving, though more from not having a proper exit to I-70, and I wound up in Kansas, leaving the state for the first time in at least five years. The last time I can for sure remember leaving Missouri, was in similar fashion after me and my brother saw Pearl Jam in St. Louis. We didn't make a good exit and wound up taking a detour into Illinois.


Bruce and the band hit the stage a few minutes after 8. Their entrance two by two(sans Patty, who's never been at the four shows I've seen) until Bruce comes out with house lights up, is not quite as powerful as the past, with the house lights getting turned out all at once and the stage lights not coming on until after the first notes are played. The opening song and The River outtake Meet Me in the City is a strong opener, up tempo and catchy. He also threw in some ad libs to Kansas City, about "where the crazy little women were at."  Then, Bruce gave us the standard intro to the album about being about, "love, marriage, sex...I wanted to write about everything.

I'll admit, though I got the River Deluxe Box Set, I haven't given the album a proper listen, though know most of the songs. It's a challenge playing a 20 song double album in concert, which clocked in close to two hours. Overall it was a great experience, but with so many ballads and lesser known material it can be a struggle for audiences.

And at the Sprint Center it was no different, which with previous Kansas City concerts, I've been they've been pretty laconic and mellow. The crowd was into it with the faster paced and rocking numbers and would sit down and take in the ballads and slower numbers. Crush on You, You Can Look, Out in the Street, Cadillac Ranch,(Which, he sing, "...in the Kansas night." Wrong state) and Ramrod were kick ass and he had the crowd's full attention.
The middle part of the album performance, seemed to sag down the show. With the opening songs, it felt like it breezed by, until around I Wanna Marry You. The funny thing was by the time the last five, four of which were slower ballads, came around I felt they came off better. Fade Away and the Price You Pay, were two of the stronger parts. Maybe, I just knew the album portion was about down.

But as soon the River portion, was done, it was an apparent audible into Badlands, which got the crowd pumped again and kept them up the rest of the show.  There was another audible to Candy's Room, but no real surprises the rest of the way, save for The Rising not being played. The first time out of four that he hasn't played it. But She's the One has made it all four times.

By the time he hit Thunder Road, I knew it was pretty close to E-Street auto pilot the rest of the way. I discussed with my dad, that he might play a Merle Haggard tribute song, but alas it didn't come to pass. I was mostly hoping for a surprise or song or two I've never seen. He did do Bobby Jean along with Shout, which fulfilled that. Well, in addition to the 17 on the River I'd never seen, plus the opener.

Overall, I'd say the last Kansas City show was better and probably my favorite of the four shows I've seen.(If I'd been a bigger fan at the time, the St. Louis 2008 show would have probably blown me away.) The album while good and gave me two of my favorites, in Two Hearts and Cadillac Ranch, which I'd never seen live, lose some of the randomness and uniqueness of a Bruce show. He didn't play any sign requests. Then again, I think I saw just a handful, Crush on You, Lucky Town, Death to My Hometown and something else that I can't remember. Also, apart from a few intros during the River, there wasn't much rapport with the audience, save for the band intros during Shout and the foodbank shout out before Born to Run.
One cool sign that did get rewarded, was one that read, 'Weinberg's a Badass! Max after the band lineup walked over and gave that person his drumsticks. I've think I've said it every time I've seen him, but Max is well...a Badass. He's probably the hardest working man in show business, when playing with the Boss.

It was a good show and definitely worth it. And I'm sure if I wasn't a set list watcher and reader on Backstreets, I'd have enjoyed everything a lot more. And I'm hoping of course for one more run of shows in the future....

Set List

Meet Me in the City
The Ties That Bind
Sherry Darling
Jackson Cage
Two Hearts
Independence Day
Hungry Heart
Out in the Street
Crush On You
You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)
I Wanna Marry You
The River
Point Blank
Cadillac Ranch
I'm a Rocker
Fade Away
Stolen Car
Ramrod
The Price You Pay
Drive All Night
Wreck on the Highway
Badlands
No Surrender
Candy's Room
Because the Night
She's the One
Backstreets
Thunder Road
Born to Run
Dancing in the Dark
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
Tenth Avenue Freeze-out
Shout
Bobby Jean 


KC Star Review and Backstreets Review

Who Made It? Yes They Did; 3/26 The Who Concert Review

The Who, like many adolescent males, became my band when I was 16. My dad had a Greatest Hits album, that truly wasn't, that as I started playing more songs from, the more each captivated me. While there was only 13 songs(and it didn't have Baba O'Riley, I Can't Explain, among others), each seemed unique and versatile. From the years of 2000-2005 they were close to my end all tastes in music, until I started sliding toward Bob Dylan.

While it's now down to the Two really, I've always wanted to see them in concert. In 2002, they had announced a date in St. Louis, but never went through with it and did a Chicago charity show instead. On the Endless Wire Tour in 2006-07, they skipped over Missouri again, yet played Des Moines and Little Rock. The same thing with the 2012-13 Quadrophenia Tour and other mini tours they've done in the last sixteen years.

However, the Who announced their The Who Hits 50! Tour in 2014, as their last big tour. And it really might be this time, given their ages. And there were St. Louis and Kansas City dates, early on in the tour. I got St. Louis tickets and was as excited as could be. I was finally going to see my teenage heroes, May 7, 2015.
Then a few days before the concert, they postponed both Missouri dates and Louisville, due to Roger Daltrey's cold. They soon announced a new date of December 7 as the makeup date, during the second American leg. Only then, a few months later, they announced that entire leg was postponed due to Daltrey contacting viral meningitis.

The third date, was eventually announced as March 26, which meant my dad would get to go with me on his birthday. And since it was a holiday weekend, I haven't worked in five years, I didn't need to take a vacation. Or so I thought. Great management, led us to having to work Good Friday and then announcing Monday that we were being scheduled for Saturday and wouldn't honor any new vacations. So, I wound up losing my holiday pay.

And to be honest, I was still checking throughout the day, to make sure it wasn't canceled. Me and dad arrived with thirty minutes to start time, which wound up being pretty close to 7:30, with opening act Tal Wilkenfeld, a female bass player and her band. Her group was decent, but as dad said, 'seemed out of place, opening for the Who," even though she's played with other legends. She played eight songs over 45 minutes. Me and my dad discussed that people are too polite and how in the past, opening acts for the Who, would get booed off stage, if not up to par. 

This was supposed to have been Joan Jett and the Blackhearts as the opening act if we would have got either date last year. But she had other commitments and we got a lesser act. This was the biggest loss of the postponed dates, even more so than my lost holiday pay.

I got good seats, 13 rows off to the stage. And the people  in front of us were of fairly large size, so we didn't stand up Won't Get Fooled Again.

One of the neat things in before the shoe and in-between the sets, the large video screen behind the group, showed the history of the band in various aspects, from memoriams to fashion to current band members. They also showed a history of the Who in St. Louis, mentioning opening for Herman's Hermits in 1967, playing Tommy at Kiel Auditorium in 1969, the Quadrophenia Tour at the Arena in 1973, as well as stops their in 1980 and 1982, the Tommy anniversary tour in 1989 at Busch Stadium and the 1997 Quadrophenia Tour at Riverport.

After a 30 minute set change, The Who took the stage to Who Are You? There was a bit of muddiness in Daltrey's voice in the second song, The Seeker, but that was it. The rest of the night his voice was really strong, compared to previous concert reviews I've read the past 15 years.

I've tried avoiding reading set lists, over the past year or two, though I got a glance in my Facebook newsfeed a week or two ago. But looking now, they've stayed pretty static since last summer and if they would have played the original date, we would have gotten I Can't Explain, Magic Bus and Squeeze Box among others.

Townshend has seemed to gotten mellower with old age. He was plagued by monitor issues, as well as a cold, and during his vocals on Bargain, he could be seen spitting something out between lines. Yet, he remained in high spirits all night, laughing and trading barbs with Daltrey all night. When Daltrey was trying to fill a gap during an ear monitor issue, with thoughts on age and still doing this, Townshend said, "We're fucking old pussies."  Yet both men were spry for seventy year-olds. Townshend jumping around and doing his trademark windmill guitar strums full of action. Daltrey as well running around stage and doing his microphone twirl and catch, though missing it a few times. After all "We're a boy band...Just an ugly one," according to Daltrey.
And Daltrey introduced The Kids Are Alright with an anecdote about getting married and divorced after having a child in 1963. Townshend next introduced I Can See For Miles as their first U.S. hit, when most of us weren't born, in 1967. Someone in the front row said they were born in 1963, or Townshend just used it as a setup, saying, "O.K., you were. That's about the same time Rog was having his child. You're his poor bastard child."

My highlight, was probably Join Together, which had everybody bouncing. One of my very favorite songs I'm One, was dampened  by Pete's cold, which made him sound like "Kermit the Frog." As he started singing with his high voice, Pete was sort of right on.

We got nice suites from both Quadrophenia and Tommy, as well as most of their hits. ("Well, none of them were really hits."). The closing was the one two punch of Baba O'Riley and the piece de resistance Won't Get Fooled Again. Afterwards, Townshend introduced the band, which was comprised of three keyboardists, his brother Simon on rhythm guitar, Pino Palladino on bass and Zak Starkey on drums, who was introduced "This poor fucker had Keith Moon as a babysitter...and turned out completely normal. Surprisingly." He is a stellar drummer, who definitely learned a lot from his baby sitter and is more similar to him than his own famous father.

After a few more words and thanks they left the stage, with no encore. Townshend claimed to want to return see everybody and "take at trip down on that river, before I fucking die!" And it was well worth the wait. The set list and show would have probably better if the concert happened last May, but it was still an amazing journey. And totally worth the lost holiday pay.

Setlist

 

Who Are You
The Seeker
The Kids Are Alright
I Can See For Miles
My Generation
The Real Me
Pictures Of Lily
Behind Blue Eyes
Bargain
Join Together
You Better You Bet
I'm One
The Rock
Love Reign O'er Me
Eminence Front
Amazing Journey>Sparks
Pinball Wizard
See Me Feel Me
Baba O'Riley
Won't Get Fooled Again

Post Dispatch Review