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I Saw the Same Band Twice in 40 Years. Some Might Call This a Meaningful Experience in a Once-Lived Life
plus, Pete Townshend still has it at age 76
“The Who is my favorite band,” I told my friend April. “When we were young, we usually had to listen to our boyfriends’ music, but I always liked The Who on my own.”
“Screw that,” April said. “I always listened to my own music.”
She’s a bit younger than me so it’ll be a few years before she gets the opportunity to see the same band twice in a 40-year timeframe.
Forty years ago, I finagled a backstage press pass to The Who’s “Farewell” North American tour. Being backstage at the Los Angeles Coliseum for that show was one of the formative, most memorable experiences of my life.
Last night, I saw them again. If you’re younger than 40, it might be hard to get the perspective of seeing the two remaining members of The Who, a massive orchestra, Simon Townshend, and Zak Starkey, Ringo Starr’s son, play to a mid-sized arena in Tampa.
You would think it would be easy for me to write up this concert. It’s not.
My feelings are volcanic, churning, wildly fluctuating. Because this is my band and this is my time and these two concerts are like bookends in my…
