Classic Albums Live: The Who: Who's Next

The Who
Few bands in the history of rock & roll were riddled with as many contradictions as the Who. All four members had wildly different personalities, as their notoriously intense live performances demonstrated....

Classic Albums Live
If the Phoenix Concert Theatre contained a hotel I would’ve reserved a room for the months of July and August To have been that much closer to the thing it houses called Classic Albums Live Unlike the words spoken above by the 1958 balding disc jockey Who simply couldn’t see past his thick black-rimmed nose Rock and roll is here to stay As was evidenced between the dark red walls of Toronto’s live music venue Every Friday night on Sherbourne St during the summer months of 2008 Rock and roll has only thrived since those words were spoken 50 years ago And there are too many involved with Classic Albums Live to thank For being part of the journey But from the opening Speak to Me scream of Leslea Keurvost’s Dark Side of the Moon To Terrance Gowan, Mike Daley and Joe Power singing This Boy To the thrilling ride that is Marty Morin’s chaotic Helter Skelter And Rob Phillips’ perfect playing and leadership on Meddle I think it’s safe for me to say that for most of us in attendance The applause that followed Each and every time producer Craig Martin made band introductions The applause bounced back with a boom From the parking machine across the street Straight up the covered ramp that leads to the Phoenix front door Right over the pre-show Elvis, James Brown and Jerry Lee Lewis big screen To the ladies room way down below the floorboards Loud and clear Cheers shot directly back with love to the black-clad musicians Otherwise known as the CAL alumni Standing up there on that stage in all their musical genious They deserved every one of those whoops and whistles As does the producer, his sister and his staff that organize it all For all the teens and twenty-somethings who were there They’ll certainly remember the party But for us mid-life rockers in crisis and silver-haired old timers It’s more than just a memory of a good time The effect Beatle music and the music of Pink Floyd had on many of us As it was re-created by these dedicated and multi-talented CAL musicians Had all of our eyes and ears pointed east Watching and listening intently For this band to nail each nuance and every sound That came out of the spinning black vinyl grooves Of the original 45 and 33 rpm recordings Sounds so ingrained beneath our foreheads That every time they got nailed we got goosebumped The effect cannot be minimalized As many of us even got excited over the fade outs To the songs that were the soundtrack to our coming of age This music will never die Because unlike the KWK radio quote implies Rock and roll will never leave Because for those of us who jumped on the bus Classic Albums Live is home For this kind of rock and roll to live For many generations to come.