590 posts 5/23/2016 6:23 pm
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The Who by numbers
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Why should I care, why should I care?
Girls of fifteen
Sexually knowing
The ushers are sniffing
Eau-de-cologning
The seats are seductive
Celibate sitting
Pretty girls digging
Prettier women.
Magically bored
On a quiet street corner
Free frustration
In our minds and our toes
Quiet stormwater
M-m-my generation
Uppers and downers
Either way blood flows.
Inside outside. Leave me alone.
Inside outside. Nowhere is home.
Inside outside, Where have I been?
Out of my brain on the five fifteen.
On a raft in the quarry
Slowly sinking.
On the back of a lorry
Holy hitching.
Dreadfully sorry
Apple scrumping.
Born in the war
Birthday punching.
He man drag
In the glittering ballroom
Gravely outrageous
In my high heel shoes
Tightly undone
They know what they're showing
Sadly ecstatic
That their heroes are news.
Why should I care?
I went out to see a Who cover band the other night and this is what happened! First of all, everything I tell you is true and factual. I'm stating that up front, because what I'm about to tell you won't sound that way. In fact, it sounds like a fantasy I would have in my teenage years. And I have to tell you, while this was transpiring before me, I was feeling a strong feeling of Deja vu!  No, really that part I'm telling the truth about too, it was like I dreamed this once before, and now I'm realizing it. I've had experiences like this through out my life. They don't happen very often but when they do, I'm conscience of it. First let me start at the beginning, as you know, about a year ago, I was working on some Who songs and I wrote a post about the band and I uploaded a video of me performing Pete Townshend's solo song " The sea refuses no rivers ". I'm a big Who fan, even bigger then Van Halen if you can believe it, or maybe it's about even?  I grew up with the Who being my favorite rock band! Even though I liked a lot of other artist, The Who loomed large in my mind and thoughts during that period. Like I mentioned before. Pete Townshend and the band were saturating the media at the time. You couldn't get away from them. They were frequently on the cover of the Rolling Stone, and every other music magazine. They were even on the cover of Time when some people got trampled to death at one of their concerts. Oh, there was no internet back then, so you had to read magazines to find out any information about anything. In addition to being played constantly on the radio, they were also putting out records, books, movies, and concerts. If you lived in America at that time, you couldn't not be aware of the Who, even if you wanted to!  I realized this, especially after the other night when I became aware that I knew the words to every single song this tribute band played. Yeah, I used to listen to the records all the time, so I knew them real well. Anyhoo! Because I was going to the show, I wanted to get a Who T-shirt. I have a few of them already, but I don't know where they are and I don't want to tear apart the whole house looking for them. So I went to the mall. I figured they might have one in the record store, yes a few of those still exist yet, or this other store where they sell cool clothing I buy to wear in my videos sometimes. I went to both places and they didn't have anything for the Who. Oh, they had Zeppelin and Doors shirts of course, but no Who!  As I was walking out, I saw this air brush t-shirt store. I didn't think they would have anything but I checked it out anyway. And lo and behold, on the top shelf they had a genuine Who T-shirt!  I couldn't believe it! It's really cool and you'll see it in the next videos I upload with Who songs!   It was sitting on top of the shelf on a mannequin torso. It was the last one in the store and it was perfectly my size! I should have realized something was up, just by the sheer coincidence and luck of finding that shirt when I probably shouldn't have found it there? Well anyway, I went home and tried it on, it fit perfectly! Now, to explain how I planned to attend. I didn't want to take a date, mainly because I wanted to enjoy myself and not deal with some woman's bullshit that night!  I have several women I could have taken, in fact, there's one who's bugging the shit out of me to take her out on a real date! I thought about it, and knowing what would happen, from past experience, I decided the best course of action would be to go alone! Also, I might meet a hot chick there and bang her out in the parking lot?  I didn't drive either, I had a friend give me a ride. And no, it's not because I was going to drink. I don't drink any longer. But, I figured I might relapse, in the heat of the environment and have a few. So, it's better to be safe then sorry.  But no, I didn't drink any alcohol that evening, but I still got revved up by all the excitement I experienced at the show. About the band. They are a top notch tribute band that look and sound exactly like the original Who band. They portray them at various stages of their career, mainly in the Keith Moon era. Not only do they sound like them, but they wear the same clothing, preform the same movements, dialog and in between song banter of the original band. They also seemed to have recreated their personalities accurately as well!  And yes, the equipment is exactly what the original band used during that era! That was the first thing I checked when I walked in and past the stage. Pete used to have these modified Les Paul guitars, with three humbuckers and signal splitters for each one. I have the same thing on my modified strat by the way. It looks real cool, but it doesn't really affect the tone of the<b> guitar </font></b>that much. Mainly because he played so loud! Any nuances in tone would be lost at that volume.  Sorry, didn't mean to get too technical and go over your head with those kinds of details. Which I'll relate more about later.
So, I went in, after paying the admission. The first thing I noticed was this was a nice new state of the art modern club! I don't go out much anymore, because mainly I got tired of hanging out in run down dives and piss holes populated with drunks and losers and weirdo's. After I checked the stage I surveyed the crowd. It was a little depressing. There were only about thirty or forty people there. Mostly middle aged men. Or a bunch of old fat guys with crew cuts. There were very few women as well. Only a few of them brought their wives. But, interestingly enough, it seemed that most of the guys had the same idea I did, and didn't want a woman around to fuck up the show for them. See, with age comes experience!  Now, I was the only person who was wearing a Who t-shirt. Not one of those old geezers put on a Who shirt for the show. Some of them were wearing t-shirts, just not the Who on them. I got there early, so I had dinner at the bar. What? You want to know what I had? I had the shrimp and fries and a seltzer water with lime. It was good!  And the only young hot chicks there were.......wait for it........the waitresses! 
Like I said, this club was really nice, they had this cool lighting system and kept changing the colors of the house lights and they were playing Zeppelin over the PA until the show started. After I finished my meal, I paid with a twenty and didn't collect my change, leaving it for a tip, it was about six bucks and some change. I did what I've naturally done from years and freaking years of experience of hanging out in clubs. I picked out a spot to stand in, and there I would own it for the rest of the night. I stood at the base of the stairs leading up to a balcony. It was half way between the bar and the stage. I'm not one of those up front guys. Because it was so sparse, I didn't need to be. Okay, like I said, I was the only one wearing a cool Who shirt, and my hair is getting longer again, so no one, except the band, looked as cool as me in that room. Now that I think about it, they may be why things happened later they way they did? Now, here is where we enter into the twilight zone. But before we go there, I want you to know, just like when I went to the fucking court house to fight the fascists, I had absolutely no pre-conceived notions or ideas about anything. I thought I would go to the show, stay alone and un-notice by myself for the whole night, hear my favorite songs and go home happy! Instead, I got sucked into a vortex of my old Rock God life style and rode the wave for the whole night! Like I said, all the men in there were old fat guys, or your Dad! I was the only one, who didn't look like that. I have longer hair, I'm much slimmer or in better shape then any of them and I was wearing a cool Who shirt. In fact, I looked pretty much the way I used in high school when I was a rabid Who fan originally! I'm only about eighty pounds heavier now then I was back then. Which isn't bad because I used to be seriously skinny and under weight. We were poor and had no food, so that why that was like that. No, don't cry, I got a great job when I was fifteen at a restaurant and I used to scarf food every chance I got. I got money too, and I used to go down to the record store and purchase..........wait for it...............Who albums! I still have them! So, I'm standing there, minding my own business waiting for the show to start when to my right, the guy playing Roger Daltry approaches me and points to my shirt and says, " Cool Shirt '! I was shocked and a little taken a back for a moment because this guy looked and sounded like the original. Oh, they're all English guys in real life by the way. I thanked him and he went up on stage. The guitarists put on his ax and said, " it's going to get loud "! I yelled back " It better be "! And the whole room reacted to my comment. For the rest of the night, it was me and the band doing the show. Yes, I even performed with them at one point! I know what you're thinking but yeah, I really did, I'll explain later. They go into the show and start ripping on the songs. I think the first one was " I can't explain " or " Substitute "? I don't remember which. But they played all the hits or all the songs you probably expect them to through out the night. Well, me being a rabid fan I was singing along and slapping my hands against my sides. I tried not to play air<b> guitar </font></b>along with the band, because that is definitely not cool, out in public!  Of course, you know I can play the actual song if there was a<b> guitar </font></b>in my hands, but they don't know that. Which brings me to something I want to confess. This is really weird for me, and maybe I shouldn't admit to this? But when they first started playing I had a split second impulse to run up on stage, grab one of the guitars and start performing with them. I don't know where that came from, probably from my years of experience doing just that, maybe? But don't worry, I restrained myself so I wouldn't get bounced out of the club. LOL! 
After the first set I'm still standing there by the stairway and the guitarist comes up to me. He shakes my hand and in heavy British accent says, " Thanks man, I really enjoy your energy for the show "! What ever that means. I reply by thanking him as well and mention that I admire how accurately he had been playing the songs. I told him " I play as well, so I know what's going on with these songs ". He just gave me a look, with no emotion, and then headed to the stage. I didn't understand what that meant until later. I think he thought I was just telling him that, to impress him or something but maybe I was lying? Until, I think, this happened. They guys playing Roger and Pete were on stage waiting for the rhythm section or John and Keith to come up. The guitarist started mucking around, the same way I do when I have my<b> guitar </font></b>and I'm plugged in. He played the opening riff for " Rough Boys ", then, someone in the audience requested " Let's see action ". For those that aren't familiar with the song, the beat is clapped at the beginning. So, because they still didn't have the drummer up with them. As soon as they started playing the song, I impulsively started clapping the beat to the song! That time I couldn't restrain myself. It was at that point the guitarist looked right at me, and I knew what he was thinking this time. He gave me a look of recognition, or he knew at that point I was like him or a fellow traveler in the<b> guitar </font></b>cult we both belong too! You may be wondering how he knew that, considering I was clapping and not strumming something? Well, it's hard to explain, but if you were one of us, you'd understand, that's all I can tell you. So the show resumed and I kept up my shouting and making comments. I'm surprised at my behavior myself, because usually I'm shy and reserved but it was like I was a member of the band and participating with them. It was weird! Then during a break in between songs I yelled out " Baby don't you do it " ! One of my favorite Who tunes. The guitarist looked at me and then they went into the song! I was shocked and almost fell over in disbelief! To tell you how significant that is, my friends. who have bands and I jam and hang out with won't even do that, in taking a suggestion for a song to play while they're on stage! They ripped through it and then the guitarist pointed at me and said, " That was for you "! I stood there in shock!  So, they kept playing and doing all the classic songs and then finally the show was over. I was so bummed because it was one of the best shows I've been to in freaking years and I can't remember when I had such a good time going out to see a show, anywhere!
So, I wondered outside, they had another bar with an outdoor terrace where people were conjugating. I called my friend to come pick my up on my cell. He said he'd be there in fifteen minutes, it was over a half an hour, you all know how "friends " are. So I'm sitting there watching the sharks, or the group of girls mulling around the bar. Not all of them are sharks, only two of the main ones, the others are the weaker hangers on " girlfriends " and future bridesmaids, that always seem to congregate together like that. I looked at them and smiled to myself. Because, they're acting like they're so hot shit, but they're alone or not with any men. All the rest of the bar was populated with couples and a few pairs of guys or " buddies ". Being older and wiser I recognized them for who and what they are. A couple of the sharks kept eyeing me. Yeah, I know how that goes. First it starts with eye contact and then it ends with me being locked out of my own house and a restraining order! When she looked at me again I felt like saying to her " Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin "! Then the band came out and they were loading their equipment. I approached the guitarist and started talking to him. For me, this was like Nirvana! As soon as I started talking shop to him about the songs, he understood perfectly what I meant. For me, it was so wonderful to finally meet someone who could converse on my level and know exactly what I was talking about. He gave me some interesting insight to the songs and now I have a fresh perspective. We exchanged website information and then they had to leave. Just when I thought the evening couldn't get any better, the conversation I had with the guitarist topped it off. Oh, when I was talking to him, you knew that I was the real deal or on his level because I could tell by how he responded to me. That was really nice to get that kind of recognition from someone like that. So my buddy finally showed up, don't ask why he was late, you know the excuses already, and I headed home! That was my wonderful evening out with the Who!   
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