Random Observations on The Who World Tour - Madison Square Garden 09/18/2006

Spotted: entire "Who families," i.e. Mom, Dad, and kids all sporting brand-new Who World Tour T-shirts (which went for $35 a pop). Whose generation?

The guy doing continuous Townshend-esque air guitar windmills as he traipsed along the walkway on the 300 section.

The Wayne and Garth guys slightly behind and to our left. These rabid fans stood and sang along to almost every song with a passionate gusto that nearly had me weeping with admiration (and hilarity). The way they punctuated each line with either a pumped fist or authoritative index finger point was its own mini-show. Bravo, boys!

The band backing up Townshend and Daltrey was incredibly solid throughout, yet was introduced in a fairly rushed manner - twice. I found this quite odd, but then again it must be hard to look at the band and have to acknowledge that two founding members are no longer present - or living. Pino Paladino wisely chose not to replicate John Entwistle's bass solo on "My Generation," but still acquitted himself well on the tune. Zak Starkey is a fine drummer, but I wonder why Kenney Jones is no longer with the band, after being named a full member in the 1980s. The vocal harmonies, I suspect courtesy of Pete's brother Simon Tonwshend (who also played guitar), were outstanding.