Park West
March 14, 1996
From gsu0013@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu
Even a blind man knows when the bass is played! If ever you could feel the music, The Rock show was it. The following story is my experience going to see Entwistle & touring band @ Park West in Chicago on 3-14-96.
The day at worked lagged on and on with tasks that should have taken minutes stretching into hours. I was supposed to leave at 3:00pm to go party with some friends at a bar down the block from the club where the band was playing. It always happens that when you gotta get out of work early to go to something you really want to see, more stuff gets added to your pile of stuff that has to be done today before you leave. That was my day, a nighmare. Ironically, I leave for the bar at 5:15pm. I get there at 6:30pm and wait on my buddy who has the tickets and is meeting somebody else to give them their tix too! I see this guy sitting alone and I ask if he's waiting for my buddy too and he says no but he's waiting for another guy that has his tix as well. Anywho, we get to drinking and our buddies eventually come on in, and all is well. We go to the show and the one other guy with us tips the hostess a tenner and we get a booth. The other guys that we had just met in the bar were told this and they tipped her $30. They got a booth way up close, which didn't matter since we all just walked up to the stage when John came out anyway. Seems like it was money for nothin'. Now the opening band came out and they were rockin'. The singer was this punky guy with a low hair cut, overside white v-neck t-shirt, baggies and funky dance that made me think of punk rockers on acid for some strange reason. I don't really know why but that was the thought that ran through my mind several times. The guitarist was very good in many types of tunes. I really enjoy watching this dude, even though he seemed to play with a seriousness all his own. The bass player bops big time. A fine prelude to who was to come. Drums were tight. The band was playing well, though the crowd was asleep. These guys were all over the place, playing a wide and varied assortment of tunes. A good gig, get there early, you'll want to see em.
So then Entwistle and comes out and opens up with Heaven and Hell.
One of my faves for openers, after listening to old Who boots. John
tried to make light of the feedback by saying that one wistle on stage
is enough! Seemed to me that there were troubles the whole night with
John's ability to hear himself and a couple time asked for the
monitors to be turned up a bit. It sounded great to me from the back
or the front. Sometimes he would walk over to turn it up and you
could hear feel the difference in the air as the waves hit you. They
mostly play Who tunes with a few of the songs from the new album every
few songs. They played boris of course, success stroy, the real me,
my wife... and many others... I didn't write down the set list, and
recall them all, but the show was great despite the troubles...
During My Wife, John stopped singing but the diehards kept it going
and the guitarist, Godfrey Townsend (no relation, no H) picked it up
again right on cue. It was a cool thing. After the show, we waited
for autographs, and I thanked him for all the great tunes that I grew
up on, and told him not to worry about forgetting the words... and he
said, "It wasn't the words, I forgot the fuckin key" I'll always
remember that and that I shook the guys hands whose fingers fly faster
than light. More to come when I wake up! Thanks again John and the
rest of the guys for great night. Long live Rock!
From PEGSHANTZ@aol.com
I just saw John at the Park West in Chitown last Thursday!! Great show...except the sound.
Maybe I'm getting old but it was TOO loud and distorted..could barely here the vocals. I really looved the set and wish the sound board guy was better.
I even requested them to "fix" it after the Quadrophenia song "Can You See the Real Me?" but to no avail.
I've seen numerous artists at the Park West and don't remember such a problem with the sound. I was told that people left because it was so obnoxious!!(but then so were my friends).
Too bad, I reallly love THE WHO and was pleasantly surprised at the set John played but I couldn't even enjoy his new stuff because I couldn't hear the vocals. In any case, thanks for coming and trying to play a great set at a lousy place in Chicago!!! Come back at a better theater!!
Love Peg Shantz "I luv The Who"
From: CNMX58A@prodigy.com ( JOHN J SUTTER III)
The first minute or two of My Wife was strictly instrumental, as John seemingly wasn't "up" to the higher notes.
In between songs, the fans up front were yelling things, suggestions, etc. As with Milwaukee, John and the band really seem to enjoy this interaction, whether it was by laughing, responding, etc. Godfrey was even shaking fan's hands in between songs. I think a band thrives on fan reaction, and enjoys it.
Contrasting that behavior is the insults the opening band has to put up with. I know it goes with the territory, but it must be discouraging for a band when the audience applauds them only when they state the next song will be their last.
I wish the best of luck to Joni's Butterfly.
The autograph line was held up significantly when a couple, who were wearing tags that said "Guests of the John Entwistle Band," got to the front of the line and had nothing to be signed. Brilliant move.
I wonder if the tour book will be different for the Canadian shows, as the cover of the tour book has a map of the United States on it.
John's concert was a WCKG show. WCKG is the classic rock station in Chicago. A WCKG disk jockey, Joe Thomas, spoke about 3 minutes before the band came on, and stated there would be plenty of surprises. I can't really say I knew what he meant, as the only deviation from previous shows, or from the WCKG Entwistle concert in West Chicago from about a month earlier, for that matter, was the addition of two songs, Under A Raging Moon, and You.
I'm not going to say that Joe Thomas is a weiner-head, but, I would like to know what he meant.
John
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