Suzanne Sanders, Correspondent
In a week filled with unnecessary shows by musicians who made their mark years ago, Pete Townshend provides a classy alternative. He'll play a benefit show for Maryville Academy on Sunday night at the House of Blues, 329 N. Dearborn St. Tickets are $175  and all gone.
Townshend, of course, is the windmilling guitarist for The Who. He's almost as famous for his sometimes badly channeled energy than for his deft and always innovative songwriting and furious guitar playing.
It was Townshend who always pushed bandmates Roger Daltrey, John Entwhistle and Keith Moon into new territory. Townshend and Entwhistle were London high school classmates who played in a Dixieland band, with Townshend on banjo, which we assume he kept intact.
He didn't smash his first guitar until The Who had formed in 1964; he was frustrated with the sound system at London's Marquee Club.
Though he hasn't released any new solo material recently, Townshend has toured with the surviving members of The Who and received accolades for the stage production of »Tommy.« Reportedly, he's still considering more stage ventures.
