Reinhard Wulf
The audience in the Halle Münsterland waited impatiently for half an hour. But then suddenly they are on stage, are simple and start in an insane speed: The Who, Rock'n Roll band from England, whose members Pete Townshend (lead guitar and vocal), Roger Daltrey (vocals) John Entwistle (bass and vocals), and Keith Moon (drums) have played together for six years. They played old songs and new songs and a lot of material from their rock opera Tommy.
In purple, green, and orange spotlights Pete Townshend performs one split after the other, plays chords with his circling right arm, Roger Daltrey swings his microphone like a lasso, and Keith Moon rolls his drumsticks through the air. Part of The Who's performance is, like the hard music which they play perfectly, the show. In Pete Townshend's measured out movements you can find the adequate correspondance to his style of playing. He once said that Rock repeated itself every ten seconds, but music every ten years. You can see and hear that at the same time. With clothing and gestures singer Roger Daltrey tries to make an erotic impression on the female teenagers: tight blue trousers, shirt on bare skin, his way of grasping the microphone hysterically and stamping his right foot on the ground.
Bass player John Entwistle on the other side seems to be calmless itself, in a skeleton costume, yawning provokingly from time to time. Especially in these contrasts the tension of their performance is maintained.
None of them is an outstanding solo artist, they only become great in their harmony and cooperation. Soli and improvisations are rare and short and can mainly be found in Pete Townshend's play.
Part of a good live performance is the audience's involvement. The Who started with unbelievable power, nevertheless they never managed to electrify the audience: they sat on their seats quielty and listened, until the ecstasy on stage had to give the impression of being artificial, unreal. Somehow you felt empty and lost. Even before the show the bouncer's unfriendliness didn't encourage a good mood, and the architecure of the hall added to the atmosphere: All seats had only seats to the front, which made nothing but consumption possible. You had to sit and keep seated, and that prevented the audience from communicating and takeing the music in physically.
Such a tense atmosphere had to get back to the band after all. The interpretations of their hits "Shaking All Over" and "My Generation" seemed flat and lifeless in the end. After less than two hours The Who left the stage without an encore, the audience went home, tired and disappointed. They had experienced once more that a good concert requires more than a good band.
