The Who - Quadrophenia

Some time ago I wrote a piece on my thoughts on aging rockers still touring and trying to maintain relevance while they're eligible to be a part of AARP.  So many great bands have ceased being cool due to the fact that they just can't give it up.  They don't know when to say when, or they've put themselves in a financial position to make it necessary to continue to tour.  And now some bands are coming out of hibernation to put on show's that should be cool and just fall short.  The Stones continual touring and recording irritates me, and don't get me started on Steven Tyler and his very public fall from coolness.  I went to see The Who at Mohegan Sun for the Quadrophenia tour recently, and had mixed feelings about it.  I thought Townshend was amazing, and I will always hold him up on a pedestal as one of the greatest rock and roll icons of all time, but I think he also is what i find redeeming in an aging rock legend.  He knows that he's aged and has conducted himself in the appropriate manner.  Not just that, but he has expanded, and evolved to remain relevant and avoided the pitfalls of his moment in time.  It was good to see the Who live at least once in my lifetime, although it would have been nice to see them in the 70's with Keith and John, but it was fun to see them.  I thought that Roger, at close to 70 years old, should have kept his shirt on, but it was fun.  Another disappointing aspect of the show was the crowd, who seemed to know little about the record that was being performed, and only got excited when they broke out Teenage Wasteland and Pinball Wizard at the encore.  One of the major problems with aging rock stars shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone.  There is an inherent flaw in what they do, especially bands like The Who, The Rolling Stones and to a lesser extent Aerosmith, whose best work was done being the voice of a generation that was changing the world.  They were teenagers writing songs about teenage angst, and that came through in the music and the vibe, but when you're middle aged and older, singing about teenage problems and ideas just seems sad.



I've never been much of a gambler.  Casino's to me have always been very large and very loud bars that serve free drinks.