SHARING THE SHOWS
The last time I had the opportunity to see The Who, it was the night before the graduation ceremony at my old university, which just HAD to be held on Mother’s Day. I was an officer for the festivities, so I’d have to be wide awake and fully decked out in academic regalia at 8 a.m., and traveling from Hampton, VA up to Bristow and back would be a late night. So I sadly had to pass when Maggie and Mark invited me. When I saw their tour dates this time, I knew I had to cross it off the bucket list. I was planning to be in New York anyway during May, and I thought it would be a cool outing with my brother, Jeremy, a fellow classic rock fan. After some back-and-forth regarding choice of venue (MSG or Bethel Woods), we decided on Bethel, a place I’d never been to (and the site of the original Woodstock, the perfect forum for a Who show. I spent the night before at Jeremy’s new house in Wanaque, NJ, where I helped him organize his book collection after we viewed that iconic Simpsons episode where The Who come to Springfield (here’s a clip for your viewing pleasure, and another from the episode Freaks and Geeks, where the freaks go to a Who show). Anywho, we also went to Station 1 Books and Vinyl, a used book and record store in Pompton Lakes, just down the street from him. In addition to adding to my ever-growing book and DVD collection, I saw a section of cassette tapes, and was brought back to my adolescence, long before Spotify and MP3s. I just had to pick up two, and after talking to another dude at the store who listens to them on an old-school Walkman, I may just buy one for the occasional listen. After some grub at the Lakeside Diner, the epitome of the type of classic New Jersey diner where I spent many late nights during my teens and 20s, Jeremy and I headed up to the venue. Wanaque is not what I think when I hear of New Jersey; it’s more like being in a Johnny Cash song, as the scenery resembles what I remember about upstate New York. Speaking of which, we passed through the Orange County, NY towns of Warwick, Florida, and Goshen. When we passed Pine Island, I thought of my old friend Paul and the many nights we spent gallivanting around Orange and Rockland County, drinking soda (LOL) and absorbing all that caffeine with late-night stops to the diners and to White Castle. Love you, brother! And here are some images from the trip up: Jeremy and I had a good repartee going up, as he told me about our cousin Neil’s sojourn up to the original Woodstock, where he had to abandon his car on either Route 17B and 55. Additionally, he informed me that Sullivan and Delaware Counties are big speed traps, and the cops apparently mark down when college kids go up to the schools in western New York (SUNY Binghamton and Buffalo, Syracuse University) so they can hide and nab them in hopes of helping their towns’ budgets. At around 7:30, we were about a mile out, and were in that line of cars. Fortunately, we were guided to a spot in a small, secluded area, from where we walked about a mile to get inside. On the way inside, we passed The Museum at Bethel Woods, a museum devoted to Woodstock, which would make a good trip for another day. The lawn was pretty much congested with chairs, so we ended up making our way to the back of the venue, which had a slightly obstructed view of the stage, but ample room for boogeying. The crowd was a nice mix of people who looked like they belonged to the middle-class, a few biker types, some hippie holdovers from ’69, and a lot of young people.
Unlike bands like Phish and the Dead, the Who has a standard setlist they play on most shows of the tour. I had checked the start and end times of the sets, and as a result, had seen some of the songs, but for the most part, opted to remain surprised. When the Who opened with “Overture,” “It’s a Boy,” “1921,” “Sparks,” and “Pinball Wizard,” Jeremy thought they were going to play the whole Tommy album. Having peeked ahead at some of the songs, I knew that wasn’t the case, but I just couldn’t spoil it for him. He concluded it was “an abridged Tommy” when they played the album’s final song, “We’re Not Gonna Take It”. The rest of the setlist can be found here. I was particularly happy to hear “Ball and Chain,” one off their last album, WHO, which I first heard at the beginning of the pandemic, along with my favorite of theirs, “The Relay.” The group of youngins next to us seemed to be enrolled in Rock Music 101. One person referred to “Baba O’Riley” as “Teenage Wasteland” and another asked, “What song is this” upon hearing the iconic opening keys to “Won’t Get Fooled Again.” Another thought one of their songs was played by Kansas. Jeremy was appalled at these missteps, but as a professor, I work with young people all the time, and in my view, they’re young enough to not have been exposed to this music, but at least they’re learning. It also makes me smile when I see teenagers rocking out to this music; fads like disco and those godawful “boy bands” come and go, but to quote AC/DC, rock and roll will never die! One of their group, apparently named Logan, looked to be passed out, and two young females appeared to be checking on me. I asked if he was okay, and they said, “Oh yeah, he just likes to sleep, but thank you so much for caring!” The way I see it, those of us at shows really oughta look out for each other. That’s what I learned going to all these Phish and Dead-related acts. The most important part was bonding with my brother. While we didn’t always see eye-to-eye growing up (what siblings do?), it’s nice to be able to enjoy common ground together. I love you, Jeremy!
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May 2024
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