The Next Best Thing

I think Pete Townshend is one of the great songwriters of this, or any, generation. A couple years ago I wrote a piece that went through a short history of his career and pretty much let my feelings on his abilities be known. I’ve never seen either Townshend, nor his band, “The Who” live before and it’s something I regret. I did, however, have the chance to see Roger Daltry, the lead singer of The Who, in concert last week and was really impressed.

He was at a local outdoor venue and was the opening act for Eric Clapton. Let me say this before I get beat up by all my friends who already think I’m crazy. Eric Clapton is a great guitar player. One of the best ever to pick up the instrument. He’s just not my cup of tea. Just as Mozart was an amazing composer yet I don’t see myself going to see a concert of his music. I’m just not into it. I was there to see Daltry and I was far from disappointed.

Opening with “I Can See For Miles” followed by “Can You See The Real Me”, I started to get a real feeling of what I was in for. Both songs, classics by any rock standard, sung by the very voice that gave them life, so many years ago. He followed these up with two songs, one by “Taj Mahal” and the other, a song written by him that sounded familiar. I’m not sure if I’d heard it before but it had that “Who” sound we’re all accustomed too. The crowd seemed to be enjoying themselves but appeared to be waiting to see what was next. Daltry has released eight albums outside of his work with The Who and he could have gone either way at this point. I think he chose the right path.

The rest of the show was, save for one song, a tribute to Pete Townshend’s songwriting. Though there were only six more songs, all were well known and highly appreciated by the crowd. To hear the song, “Behind Blue Eyes” almost had me in a trance. A song with such a beautiful melody, with lyrics of such pain and angst, written when Townshend was only 26, reminded me, once again, why I’m in such awe of his abilities to lay it all out there for all to appreciate.

“When my fist clenches, crack it open
Before I use it and lose my cool
When I smile, tell me some bad news
Before I laugh and act like a fool.”

Gets me every time.

You know, it would have been wonderful to see Townshend there too but this was surely the next best thing. Roger Daltry knows where the butter comes from for his bread and he’s not ashamed to admit it. I like that.