My good friend Jeff Christian, a high school buddy and school radio show co-hort has been extolling the virtues of The Who and the VH1 honors show for weeks. He emailed me his thoughts this morning so I thought we would make him Guest Blogger for the day.
From Jeff:
A few random thoughts on the VH1 show…
1. Dave Grohl is the coolest mofo on the freakin’ planet! “Young Man Blues” was absolutely searing. I only wish they hadn’t let that douchey little guy in the fedora come out to do vocals on “Bargain.”
2. Incubus gave “I Can See for Miles” just the right psychedelic edge, but missed the mark on “I Can’t Explain.”. I was craving Moonie’s machine-gun fills and Pete’s jangly Rickenbacker lead.
3. The Flaming Lips are totally insane…in a good way. And I want to crowd surf in a hamster ball before I die.
4. I loves me some Jack Black, but does he need to appear on every awards and tribute show?!? At least Mike Myers stayed home.
5. Eddie Vedder’s vocal cords must have looked like ground beef after “Love Reign O’er Me,” but it was worth every burst capillary. I think he’s the most powerful vocalist of his era.
6. The introductions were fawning and generally unnecessary. When I think “rock gods,” David Duchovny does not leap to mind. A little more Who history would have been appropriate.
7. I’d like to shake the hand of the VH1 salesperson that convinced Garnier Fructis that women15-24 are huge fans of The Who!!
8. Roger and Pete still have that amazing sound and interplay. But the banter was forced and Townshend’s windmilling is beginniing to look unbecoming and self-parodic at his age. If they (as Daltrey foreshadowed) choose to do this into their nineties, I hope they won’t keep smashing instruments.
9. My 4-year old was inconsolable when the show started because when I told her we were going to be hearing The Who, she assumed it would be Dr. Seuss.
Long live rock!!!
