Check out this awesome write-up on the Rock Honors from the Associated Press... got this off msnbc.com:
"The Who wowed the packed audience with such tunes as "Teenage Wasteland," "The Seeker," "My Generation," "Two Thousand Years," "Batman" and "Who Are You." Townshend stopped the band in the middle of performing "Won't Get Fooled Again" because of an issue with his speaker and later started the song over from the beginning. Daltrey and Townshend closed the show with "Tea and Theatre."
Yup, "Teenage Wasteland" and "Batman" (!?!?!) were huge highlights for me too. Also, it was "you better you bet" that got re-started.
Baba O'Reilly?
www.RLMcDaniel.com
1996: Ft Lauderdale
1998: Birmingham
2000: Charlotte, Tampa
2003: Tampa, Atlanta, Phoenix
2004: Kissimmee
2008: West Palm Beach, Bonnaroo, Columbia
2010: MSG2
2012: Music Midtown
2014: Memphis
2016: Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, Jacksonville, JazzFest 2018: Wrigley 1, Fenway 1 2022: Nashville 2023: Ft. Worth II 2024: Baltimore
1996: Ft Lauderdale
1998: Birmingham
2000: Charlotte, Tampa
2003: Tampa, Atlanta, Phoenix
2004: Kissimmee
2008: West Palm Beach, Bonnaroo, Columbia
2010: MSG2
2012: Music Midtown
2014: Memphis
2016: Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, Jacksonville, JazzFest 2018: Wrigley 1, Fenway 1 2022: Nashville 2023: Ft. Worth II 2024: Baltimore
it was a fun show. My seats were kind of ass (balcony) and the people around us weren't really into it. It was enjoyable and i can't wait to actually "see" it on thursday :P
Once again I am blown away by the raw emotion and incredible vibes of PJ! A must for my Tevo back home. Thanks for the preparty thread. We came in from Maui to see the show and met so many cool folks because of that. Thanks Pearlgirl for starting it. PJ fans are the best. They gave us so much Aloha! Special thanks to BeeGirl59 and the cool guy from LA that gave her the ride (sorry bro I forgot your name), and Eric from New York who kept the cocktails coming. Great fun!!!! Call us anytime. You are always welcome!
Aloha and Mahalo,
Bill and Mary
That was me! Nice meeting you guys too! Thanks BeeGirl for the tickets again!
San Diego 10/25/00, Mountain View 6/1/03, Santa Barbara 10/28/03, Northwest School 3/18/05, San Diego 7/7/06, Los Angeles 7/9/06, 7/10/06, Honolulu (U2) 12/9/06, Santa Barbara (EV) 4/10/08, Los Angeles (EV) 4/12/08, Hartford 6/27/08, Mansfield 6/28/08, VH1 Rock Honors The Who 7/12/08, Seattle 9/21/09, Universal City 9/30/09, 10/1/09, 10/6/09, 10/7/09, San Diego 10/9/09, Los Angeles (EV) 7/8/11, Santa Barbara (EV) 7/9/11, Chicago 7/19/13, San Diego 11/21/13, Los Angeles 11/23/13, 11/24/13, Oakland 11/26/13, Chicago 8/22/16, Missoula 8/13/18, Boston 9/2/18, Los Angeles 2/25/22 (EV), San Diego 5/3/22, Los Angeles 5/6/22, 5/7/22, Imola 6/25/22, Los Angeles 5/21/24, [London 6/29/24], [Boston 9/15/24]
Sean Penn was comparing The Who to Pearl Jam positively. If Sean Penn said The Who never sold out, not unlike this next band, it means the next band never sold out either. If he said The Who never sold out, unlike this next band, it would mean the next band sold out. The use of multiple negatives in his introduction makes it confusing.
No. He said "Unlike certain music stations." It will probably be edited out though.
San Diego 10/25/00, Mountain View 6/1/03, Santa Barbara 10/28/03, Northwest School 3/18/05, San Diego 7/7/06, Los Angeles 7/9/06, 7/10/06, Honolulu (U2) 12/9/06, Santa Barbara (EV) 4/10/08, Los Angeles (EV) 4/12/08, Hartford 6/27/08, Mansfield 6/28/08, VH1 Rock Honors The Who 7/12/08, Seattle 9/21/09, Universal City 9/30/09, 10/1/09, 10/6/09, 10/7/09, San Diego 10/9/09, Los Angeles (EV) 7/8/11, Santa Barbara (EV) 7/9/11, Chicago 7/19/13, San Diego 11/21/13, Los Angeles 11/23/13, 11/24/13, Oakland 11/26/13, Chicago 8/22/16, Missoula 8/13/18, Boston 9/2/18, Los Angeles 2/25/22 (EV), San Diego 5/3/22, Los Angeles 5/6/22, 5/7/22, Imola 6/25/22, Los Angeles 5/21/24, [London 6/29/24], [Boston 9/15/24]
Check out this awesome write-up on the Rock Honors from the Associated Press... got this off msnbc.com:
"The Who wowed the packed audience with such tunes as "Teenage Wasteland," "The Seeker," "My Generation," "Two Thousand Years," "Batman" and "Who Are You." Townshend stopped the band in the middle of performing "Won't Get Fooled Again" because of an issue with his speaker and later started the song over from the beginning. Daltrey and Townshend closed the show with "Tea and Theatre."
Yup, "Teenage Wasteland" and "Batman" (!?!?!) were huge highlights for me too. Also, it was "you better you bet" that got re-started.
It was actually "You Better, You Bet" where the speakers cut out. Pete didn't seem too happy. He started yelling at the sound guys about that and then came to the mic and said something along the lines of "and turn this one down, it's making me deaf." Roger Daltry came over and said "Shit Happens...we'll just start again if that works for everyone?"
I'm damn glad I went down, although i'm beat right now! Met an awesome couple of Pearl Jam fans there. Don't know if anyone's on the board though...I had a blast
11/3/00 Boise 5/28/03 Missoula 6/15/03 Fargo 8/29/05 Missoula 9/4/05 Calgary 7/22/06 Gorge 7/23/06 The Gorge 7/18/08 9/21/09 Seattle 9/22/09 Seattle 5/3/10 Kansas City 9/3/11 Alpine Valley 9/4/11 Alpine Valley 9/30/12 Missoula
This must have been the most awesome show. Especially with Matt Cameron and Taylor Hawkins in the same room, let alone Jeff playing The Real Me!!!!!! I can't even imagine how good he must have sounded. And then Pete and Roger to finish. I am so jealous.....
Jeff killed the Real Me.
Paid some massive homage by laying out some of his own thunder fingers.
I didn;t know Jeff could rip and shread like that.
San Diego, July 07, 2006
Los Angeles, July 10, 2006
Bridge School Benefit, October 21, 2006
Bridge School Benefit, October 22, 2006
Lollapalooza, August 5th, 2007
eV., Los Angeles April 12, 2008
eV., San Diego April 15, 2008
Given to Fly___..
It was actually "You Better, You Bet" where the speakers cut out. Pete didn't seem too happy. He started yelling at the sound guys about that and then came to the mic and said something along the lines of "and turn this one down, it's making me deaf." Roger Daltry came over and said "Shit Happens...we'll just start again if that works for everyone?"
I'm damn glad I went down, although i'm beat right now! Met an awesome couple of Pearl Jam fans there. Don't know if anyone's on the board though...I had a blast
You know I was kind of upset Pete did this. But apparently he use to do it all the time and just fucking lay in to the sound guys.
Now, I appreciate it as a classic Who moment. It has been said Pete is a pain in the as to work with, because he is so meticulous about his work. RESPECT!!!
San Diego, July 07, 2006
Los Angeles, July 10, 2006
Bridge School Benefit, October 21, 2006
Bridge School Benefit, October 22, 2006
Lollapalooza, August 5th, 2007
eV., Los Angeles April 12, 2008
eV., San Diego April 15, 2008
Given to Fly___..
You know I was kind of upset Pete did this. But apparently he use to do it all the time and just fucking lay in to the sound guys.
Now, I appreciate it as a classic Who moment. It has been said Pete is a pain in the as to work with, because he is so meticulous about his work. RESPECT!!!
Yeah, if Pete is pissed off he'll be pretty insistent that the crew fix things but he's had the same guys working for him for so long that they know what he's like and what to expect. But this situation was unusual because it was a taping. I've seen the Who many times, starting back in 1976, and I know lots of fans who have seen them more times than I have but none of us had ever heard of them stopping a song in the middle and starting over. This was just something different because they were taping.
Also, any Who fan will tell you that Pete plays better when he's pissed off. I wouldn't go out of my way to make him mad but my friends and I were grinning at each other when they started up the song again because we knew it was going to sound better the second time.
Yeah, if Pete is pissed off he'll be pretty insistent that the crew fix things but he's had the same guys working for him for so long that they know what he's like and what to expect. But this situation was unusual because it was a taping. I've seen the Who many times, starting back in 1976, and I know lots of fans who have seen them more times than I have but none of us had ever heard of them stopping a song in the middle and starting over. This was just something different because they were taping.
Also, any Who fan will tell you that Pete plays better when he's pissed off. I wouldn't go out of my way to make him mad but my friends and I were grinning at each other when they started up the song again because we knew it was going to sound better the second time.
After the sound problems.... it seemed to me that the music was a lot louder and it was a little hard to hear Roger sing.
2000-10-28 San Bernardino
2003-06-02 Irvine
2003-10-26 Mountain View-Bridge School
2006-07-09 Los Angeles
2006-07-10 Los Angeles
2006-10-22 Mountain View- Bridge School
2008-07-19 UCLA-Who Rock Honors
2009-10-1 Los Angeles-2
2009-10-9 San Diego
My buddy went to the show (had a single) high up in section 313 or so. He's more of a Who fan and he was sitting behind two Pearl Jam fans (guy and a girl) with matching black reaper DC shirts. During Pearl Jam's set, he offered them his binoculars for a closer look. The guy was really gruff with him and a bit of a jerk about it. All he had to say was "thanks, but no thanks". However, the girl was much nicer and polite about it (she wanted to use them). Just goes to show you most people are suspicious of people trying to be nice.
SEA 9/20/92, SEA 12/7/93, SEA 12/31/94 (MS), SEA 11/5/00, SEA 11/6/00, SEA 12/8/02, SEA 12/9/02, BEN 10/22/03, GOR 9/1/05, SD 7/7/06, LA 7/10/06, LA 7/12/06, LA (EV) 4/12/08, LA (EV) 4/13/08, LA 7/12/08, LA 9/30/09, LA 10/7/09, SEA 12/6/13, SEA 8/8/18
Jeff is a far better bass player than I thought...
I was BLOWN AWAY!!!
Wierd crowd, show went fast....
Not worth the $$ for tix, but the day at the beach made the trip worth it.
I know, I was lucky to be there, but I drove 15 hours from Denver, got to LA at 10am that morning, spent a lot on tickets, gas, etc, for 2 Pearl Jam songs?
I really just need to go to Pearl Jam shows only, everything else is just a dissappointment!
My friend didn't talk for at least 2 hours after the show, he was PISSED off!!!
Jeff is a far better bass player than I thought...
I was BLOWN AWAY!!!
Wierd crowd, show went fast....
Not worth the $$ for tix, but the day at the beach made the trip worth it.
I know, I was lucky to be there, but I drove 15 hours from Denver, got to LA at 10am that morning, spent a lot on tickets, gas, etc, for 2 Pearl Jam songs?
I really just need to go to Pearl Jam shows only, everything else is just a dissappointment!
My friend didn't talk for at least 2 hours after the show, he was PISSED off!!!
It was so worth the money for me. I got to meet Ed, Mike and Kris Noveselic from Nirvana before the show!
Also Rainn Wilson from The Office sat next to me. I had a blast!
Intelligence is the key and she was locked out
Let's Just Pop a Few Yards of Bubble Wrap and Call It a Day!
Jeff is a far better bass player than I thought...
I was BLOWN AWAY!!!
Wierd crowd, show went fast....
Not worth the $$ for tix, but the day at the beach made the trip worth it.
I know, I was lucky to be there, but I drove 15 hours from Denver, got to LA at 10am that morning, spent a lot on tickets, gas, etc, for 2 Pearl Jam songs?
I really just need to go to Pearl Jam shows only, everything else is just a dissappointment!
My friend didn't talk for at least 2 hours after the show, he was PISSED off!!!
Damn that sucks. Yeah. There is a level where it is not worth it. You surpassed that about $1000.00 ago.
Cost me $65.00 and was totally worth it. But I would have been a bit dissapointed if I had paid $300.00 or more I think.
Damn that sucks. Yeah. There is a level where it is not worth it. You surpassed that about $1000.00 ago.
Cost me $65.00 and was totally worth it. But I would have been a bit dissapointed if I had paid $300.00 or more I think.
PJ Was Awesome though and you got to see it.
I brought the whole family wife and two kids... I figure that the boys will remember this for the rest of thier lives. The still talk about the Bridge School shows they have been too... So yeah its a fuckin shit load of money, but I think it was worth it. The only bummer is that they didn't have an all star sing along at the end...
2000-10-28 San Bernardino
2003-06-02 Irvine
2003-10-26 Mountain View-Bridge School
2006-07-09 Los Angeles
2006-07-10 Los Angeles
2006-10-22 Mountain View- Bridge School
2008-07-19 UCLA-Who Rock Honors
2009-10-1 Los Angeles-2
2009-10-9 San Diego
still can't believe i was there.....wait till you guys see pj's performance....it was weird to see strings on stage behind jeff and mike
jeff rocked the real me....he did ox proud
The strings were kind of weird but I just stopped thinking about it after a few seconds. But you're right about The Real Me. Man, it rocked, one of my favorite songs from Quad anyway and I hope PJ keeps playing it cuz it was unbelievable.
Jeff is a far better bass player than I thought...
I was BLOWN AWAY!!!
Wierd crowd, show went fast....
Not worth the $$ for tix, but the day at the beach made the trip worth it.
I know, I was lucky to be there, but I drove 15 hours from Denver, got to LA at 10am that morning, spent a lot on tickets, gas, etc, for 2 Pearl Jam songs?
I really just need to go to Pearl Jam shows only, everything else is just a dissappointment!
My friend didn't talk for at least 2 hours after the show, he was PISSED off!!!
This thing about the ticket prices just keeps making me crazy. It was a CHARITY event. That's why the prices were high.
I would have liked to have heard more than 2 Pearl Jam songs, especially since they sounded so fucking great, but I knew all along that I was going to a Who show! The Who were the headliners and based on the previous VH1 Honors shows the other acts were only going to play 1 or 2 songs. So I knew what I was going to.
I understand that you spent a lot of money traveling. I flew there from Texas so I did too. I didn't get to do everything I wanted to do but I still had a great time at the show and hanging out with my friends.
It was my first time seeing The Who, which was my primary motivation for going to the show. Getting to see a couple PJ covers was an added bonus.
Overall, the show up until The Who took the stage lacked consistency and momentum. This won't be a problem with TV, but they had to transition the stage for each band, taking 5-10 minutes to do so. They'd fill the time with video with commentary from other artists - strangely, none that were performing that night - from Billy Idol to Slash, and from The Who themselves. Folks would sit in between mini-sets or run off to the bathrooms. Each mini-set was pretty awesome. With only 2 songs, each band really threw a ton of energy into it.
PJ received the loudest reception during pre-show intros and their intro. Aside from The Who, I saw more PJ shirts than the other bands combined.
PJ rocked pretty damn hard. Compared to MSG, their performance of Love Reign O'er Me was even stronger, and the crowd was pretty wild about it, but lacked the overall energy of an all-PJ fan packed MSG, naturally. The Real Me was a great treat. I'm hoping they release a CD of the show, if just for this. (Though after seeing the orchestra come out, I thought they might do A Quick One While He's Away, and actually have a cello.)
I had floor seats, but generally had a hard time consistently seeing over the crowd. I'm usually 6'2", but tonight, decided to go 5'7". I was somewhat saved by the row of 5'4" and under folks in front of me. If only all shows could be like that. I felt bad for them, though, b/c the row in front of them were 'normal' height. Point being, it'll be great to really watch Thursday night and see what the cameras that were panning over my head actually shot.
One of the weirder/funnier moments was The Flaming Lips' singer getting into a big transparent ball and rolling over the front set of seats. It didn't seem to go all that smoothly, and he got out on the right side of the stage with the help of some stage crew.
Another funny moment was Dwight's (Rainn Wilson) intro for the Flaming Lips in lieu of Elton John. The outfit was just brilliant, and if they do a film bio of Elton John some day, Wilson can probably pull it off.
The highlight for me was probably the whole set by The Who. They rock pretty damn hard for some 'old guys.' Watching Townshend play is like watching Picasso paint, just a lot louder and about a thousand times more thrilling.
The lowpoint was the forced repeat of Mila Kunis's little monologue intro for of one the bands. She was at least half way done when her mike died, and since it's for TV, they had to re-do the whole thing. Lame.
Another comment that's been mentioned here that was a shame were the technical issues. Between the forced TV repeat stuff and the speaker issue that forced The Who to stop and repeat Won't Get Fooled Again, Townshend's guitar also malfunctioned (or something) during the do-over, but fortunately, he was handed a replacement and he just kept going.
The crowd was definitely eclectic. I saw some old-school rocker types to the women dressed like they were at any of the latest chic LA club, which made for a lot of eye candy for the guys. It probably detracted from the audience's energy; I definitely saw people sitting through sets seeming mostly disinterested.
Overall, well-worth the price of admission and the 24-hour trip to LA. I even managed to get to In-n-Out and Santa Monica.
"A compliment for us, is a compliment for you."
****
Vancouver '05, Denver I/II '06, Gorge I/II '06, MSG I/II '08, VH1 Rock Honors '08, Seattle I/II '09, Vancouver '11
EV: Portland '11, Seattle Benaroya I/II '11
Why do people keep saying they messed up Won't Get Fooled Again? That song was PERFECT! They did mess up quite a few others, and "You Better" was the one they had tech issues with and started again.
there were quite a few times when I was singing out loud, loudly, during the who's set and they TOTALLY went to the wrong verse... I was like, "Well, I know the lyrics, I wish they did too"
1st time seeing half "The Who" and was awesome. Hearing Daltrey's "Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" during Wont get fooled again was worth the money for me. Crowd seemed a bit lame. Lot of sitting on the sides. Pearl Jam was awesome of course and got a huge ovation. It was a once in a lifetime event and Im glad I went. Only disappointment was a finale, I was hoping to see PJ jamming with The Who but thats the breaks.
Comments
Tenacious D did indeed do Squeeze Box
"The Who wowed the packed audience with such tunes as "Teenage Wasteland," "The Seeker," "My Generation," "Two Thousand Years," "Batman" and "Who Are You." Townshend stopped the band in the middle of performing "Won't Get Fooled Again" because of an issue with his speaker and later started the song over from the beginning. Daltrey and Townshend closed the show with "Tea and Theatre."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25663326/
Yup, "Teenage Wasteland" and "Batman" (!?!?!) were huge highlights for me too. Also, it was "you better you bet" that got re-started.
Baba O'Reilly?
1996: Ft Lauderdale
1998: Birmingham
2000: Charlotte, Tampa
2003: Tampa, Atlanta, Phoenix
2004: Kissimmee
2008: West Palm Beach, Bonnaroo, Columbia
2010: MSG2
2012: Music Midtown
2014: Memphis
2018: Wrigley 1, Fenway 1
2022: Nashville
2023: Ft. Worth II
2024: Baltimore
Upcoming: 2025 Hollywood, FL Night 2
No Rainn Wilson introduced The Flaming Lips
1996: Ft Lauderdale
1998: Birmingham
2000: Charlotte, Tampa
2003: Tampa, Atlanta, Phoenix
2004: Kissimmee
2008: West Palm Beach, Bonnaroo, Columbia
2010: MSG2
2012: Music Midtown
2014: Memphis
2018: Wrigley 1, Fenway 1
2022: Nashville
2023: Ft. Worth II
2024: Baltimore
Upcoming: 2025 Hollywood, FL Night 2
Yeah I know what he meant, point being that this writer had no idea what he was talking about...
That was me! Nice meeting you guys too! Thanks BeeGirl for the tickets again!
No. He said "Unlike certain music stations." It will probably be edited out though.
lifewasted.net
It was actually "You Better, You Bet" where the speakers cut out. Pete didn't seem too happy. He started yelling at the sound guys about that and then came to the mic and said something along the lines of "and turn this one down, it's making me deaf." Roger Daltry came over and said "Shit Happens...we'll just start again if that works for everyone?"
I'm damn glad I went down, although i'm beat right now! Met an awesome couple of Pearl Jam fans there. Don't know if anyone's on the board though...I had a blast
Jeff killed the Real Me.
Paid some massive homage by laying out some of his own thunder fingers.
I didn;t know Jeff could rip and shread like that.
Los Angeles, July 10, 2006
Bridge School Benefit, October 21, 2006
Bridge School Benefit, October 22, 2006
Lollapalooza, August 5th, 2007
eV., Los Angeles April 12, 2008
eV., San Diego April 15, 2008
Given to Fly___..
You know I was kind of upset Pete did this. But apparently he use to do it all the time and just fucking lay in to the sound guys.
Now, I appreciate it as a classic Who moment. It has been said Pete is a pain in the as to work with, because he is so meticulous about his work. RESPECT!!!
Los Angeles, July 10, 2006
Bridge School Benefit, October 21, 2006
Bridge School Benefit, October 22, 2006
Lollapalooza, August 5th, 2007
eV., Los Angeles April 12, 2008
eV., San Diego April 15, 2008
Given to Fly___..
Also, any Who fan will tell you that Pete plays better when he's pissed off. I wouldn't go out of my way to make him mad but my friends and I were grinning at each other when they started up the song again because we knew it was going to sound better the second time.
appears to be a "no go" huh?
EV intro to Chloe Dancer / Crown of Thorns
10/25/13 Hartford
i CAN'T WAIT to hear this!
i love, love, love this tune, love the bassline...and HELL YES jeff can do that, and more!
i love when my husband - also a bass player - rips thru it.....soooooo looking forward to hearing pearl jam!
i'm sure it was an AMAZING night!
Let's just breathe...
I am myself like you somehow
After the sound problems.... it seemed to me that the music was a lot louder and it was a little hard to hear Roger sing.
2003-06-02 Irvine
2003-10-26 Mountain View-Bridge School
2006-07-09 Los Angeles
2006-07-10 Los Angeles
2006-10-22 Mountain View- Bridge School
2008-07-19 UCLA-Who Rock Honors
2009-10-1 Los Angeles-2
2009-10-9 San Diego
sure was...roger was drowned out essentially.....hopefully it won't be bad on tv
still can't believe i was there.....wait till you guys see pj's performance....it was weird to see strings on stage behind jeff and mike
jeff rocked the real me....he did ox proud
I was BLOWN AWAY!!!
Wierd crowd, show went fast....
Not worth the $$ for tix, but the day at the beach made the trip worth it.
I know, I was lucky to be there, but I drove 15 hours from Denver, got to LA at 10am that morning, spent a lot on tickets, gas, etc, for 2 Pearl Jam songs?
I really just need to go to Pearl Jam shows only, everything else is just a dissappointment!
My friend didn't talk for at least 2 hours after the show, he was PISSED off!!!
It was so worth the money for me. I got to meet Ed, Mike and Kris Noveselic from Nirvana before the show!
Also Rainn Wilson from The Office sat next to me. I had a blast!
Let's Just Pop a Few Yards of Bubble Wrap and Call It a Day!
Don't Die Wondering
Damn that sucks. Yeah. There is a level where it is not worth it. You surpassed that about $1000.00 ago.
Cost me $65.00 and was totally worth it. But I would have been a bit dissapointed if I had paid $300.00 or more I think.
PJ Was Awesome though and you got to see it.
I brought the whole family wife and two kids... I figure that the boys will remember this for the rest of thier lives. The still talk about the Bridge School shows they have been too... So yeah its a fuckin shit load of money, but I think it was worth it. The only bummer is that they didn't have an all star sing along at the end...
2003-06-02 Irvine
2003-10-26 Mountain View-Bridge School
2006-07-09 Los Angeles
2006-07-10 Los Angeles
2006-10-22 Mountain View- Bridge School
2008-07-19 UCLA-Who Rock Honors
2009-10-1 Los Angeles-2
2009-10-9 San Diego
I would have liked to have heard more than 2 Pearl Jam songs, especially since they sounded so fucking great, but I knew all along that I was going to a Who show! The Who were the headliners and based on the previous VH1 Honors shows the other acts were only going to play 1 or 2 songs. So I knew what I was going to.
I understand that you spent a lot of money traveling. I flew there from Texas so I did too. I didn't get to do everything I wanted to do but I still had a great time at the show and hanging out with my friends.
It was a LOUD welcome when PJ came on!
Two things I wish had happened:
1) The bands saying a few words about The Who (or anything for that matter). They came out, sang and that was it;
2) An encore with ALL THE BANDS!!
Oh well.
Glad I got to go.
Where I'm not ugly and you're lookin' at me
Overall, the show up until The Who took the stage lacked consistency and momentum. This won't be a problem with TV, but they had to transition the stage for each band, taking 5-10 minutes to do so. They'd fill the time with video with commentary from other artists - strangely, none that were performing that night - from Billy Idol to Slash, and from The Who themselves. Folks would sit in between mini-sets or run off to the bathrooms. Each mini-set was pretty awesome. With only 2 songs, each band really threw a ton of energy into it.
PJ received the loudest reception during pre-show intros and their intro. Aside from The Who, I saw more PJ shirts than the other bands combined.
PJ rocked pretty damn hard. Compared to MSG, their performance of Love Reign O'er Me was even stronger, and the crowd was pretty wild about it, but lacked the overall energy of an all-PJ fan packed MSG, naturally. The Real Me was a great treat. I'm hoping they release a CD of the show, if just for this. (Though after seeing the orchestra come out, I thought they might do A Quick One While He's Away, and actually have a cello.)
I had floor seats, but generally had a hard time consistently seeing over the crowd. I'm usually 6'2", but tonight, decided to go 5'7". I was somewhat saved by the row of 5'4" and under folks in front of me. If only all shows could be like that. I felt bad for them, though, b/c the row in front of them were 'normal' height. Point being, it'll be great to really watch Thursday night and see what the cameras that were panning over my head actually shot.
One of the weirder/funnier moments was The Flaming Lips' singer getting into a big transparent ball and rolling over the front set of seats. It didn't seem to go all that smoothly, and he got out on the right side of the stage with the help of some stage crew.
Another funny moment was Dwight's (Rainn Wilson) intro for the Flaming Lips in lieu of Elton John. The outfit was just brilliant, and if they do a film bio of Elton John some day, Wilson can probably pull it off.
The highlight for me was probably the whole set by The Who. They rock pretty damn hard for some 'old guys.' Watching Townshend play is like watching Picasso paint, just a lot louder and about a thousand times more thrilling.
The lowpoint was the forced repeat of Mila Kunis's little monologue intro for of one the bands. She was at least half way done when her mike died, and since it's for TV, they had to re-do the whole thing. Lame.
Another comment that's been mentioned here that was a shame were the technical issues. Between the forced TV repeat stuff and the speaker issue that forced The Who to stop and repeat Won't Get Fooled Again, Townshend's guitar also malfunctioned (or something) during the do-over, but fortunately, he was handed a replacement and he just kept going.
The crowd was definitely eclectic. I saw some old-school rocker types to the women dressed like they were at any of the latest chic LA club, which made for a lot of eye candy for the guys. It probably detracted from the audience's energy; I definitely saw people sitting through sets seeming mostly disinterested.
Overall, well-worth the price of admission and the 24-hour trip to LA. I even managed to get to In-n-Out and Santa Monica.
****
Vancouver '05, Denver I/II '06, Gorge I/II '06, MSG I/II '08, VH1 Rock Honors '08, Seattle I/II '09, Vancouver '11
EV: Portland '11, Seattle Benaroya I/II '11
there were quite a few times when I was singing out loud, loudly, during the who's set and they TOTALLY went to the wrong verse... I was like, "Well, I know the lyrics, I wish they did too"