Word: quadrophenia
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Dates: during 1973-1973
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...Each of Quadrophenia's successes points back to the real people and locations under discussion. Its scope is limited, then; it has little to say thematically. Only one of the four themes (Peter Townshend's, in fact) is explicitly moral, and the weakest, lyrically and musically, ending the opera with a piece of simplistic fluff called "Love, Reign O'er Me." In the main though, aside from Quadrophenia's socio-historical-contextual significance (which is nothing to dismiss), whatever statement it makes is one of "stance...
This is the core of Quadrophenia--punk arrogance, hostility, basic lower class frustration. Which is why these songs perform so well in concert. Because their autobiographical nature, really a secondary feature of the album, becomes dominant. The two-thirds of the opera that are performed is a strong two-thirds, even though two of the four themes are eliminated. Townshend programmed some sound effects for the stage and added two small banks of PA amps to the back of the hall, a real stroke of genius, because filling Boston Garden with sound is no picnic. They filled...
...catchword for the show is chaos. The Who tumble up the stairs and onto the stage--unlit, save for a blinking reproduction of a Civil Defense fallout shelter sign. No ceremony, no circumstance, no introduction. There are four songs to warm up, Quadrophenia, then three more songs. The warm-ups are a smattering of history. And they are run off like copies--"Can't Explain," "Summertime Blues," "My Wife," and "My Generation." Their essence is a fifteen second repetition of those windmill chords Townshend has made famous. They succeed like calisthenics--Daltry twirls his mike, Townshend does his splits, Moon...
...show doesn't really start until after Quadrophenia. "Won't Get Fooled Again" is dedicated to the Montreal Police. It's a complete version with synthesizer pre-recorded onto a tape. This is the recognizable, post-Tommy Who that everyone obviously had been waiting for. It's not safe to underestimate this song's power as performed. With all the arrogance, frustration and simple sneering punk hostility The Who bring to the stage, coupled with the substantial amounts of same written into the song...well, there was an obvious emotional peak. "Pinball Wizard" initiated hysteria--as much because...
...campus and into Boston in 1968 to see Cream in a theater that is now middle income housing. And then it struck me. They were five years old in 1965, when the Who released the songs that justified their existence on that stage, that night, for me. Quadrophenia's success is contextual, and The Who in concert are still playing upon sentiments from that context. The kids in front of me couldn't have known that. But they knew what they liked. I think Rock and Roll is here to stay...