Townshend Fires off Sparks

Rock Veterans Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey led a talented and tight sextet through 2 hours of rousing, fiery rock on Saturday at the Shoreline Ampitheater in Mountain View, California. The 20,000 strong audience was blown away by the high volume piercing guitar attack, and dedication to the music. Townshend now has his younger brother Simon accompanying on guitar and 20+ year veterans of his solo efforts in Rabbit Bundrick on keyboards and the understatedly brilliant Pino Palladino on bass.

The Who have traversed ups and downs over the years, the loss in 2002 of original bassist John Entwistle seems to only have hardened the resolve of the band to move forward to new chapters. Notably, Townshend has continued to evolve his electrifying style of guitar. A top songwriter of British Rock's early days, Townshend has mainly concentrated on his playing in recent years, treating fans to squalls of feedback which amounted to brief stories in themselves. Then came nuances of tremolo, windmills, and punctuating notes beaten onto the face of the guitar, culminating in intense acrobatic manuevers. Just to his left in the TWHO, Roger Daltrey succeeded in finding a more adult voice for himself, while still screaming significantly more often than either you or I. The music demonstrated the energetic drive that build the legend for the masses.