I thought that seeing the Who Monday night, 1 July, 2002, was going to be pretty bad. I reluctantly went, expecting something really sad and similar to dirges and a wake.

But instead...it was...wow. It was like a religious experience or something similar to one. to start off my evening, I get to hang with a guy who runs a Who fanzine (I'm starting my own), and that was pretty damn fun. And because of this wonderful person, I have press passes. Anyway, I didn't think in a million and a half years that I would get close enough to interview them, or even for pictures. And even if I did, I wasn't going to interview them at such a time as this. The don't want some amateur asking them questions when a friend of theirs has just passed away.

So I arrive at the bowl at a little before 5:00 PM. It's blistering hot, and as I'm led to a post, freaking Adam Duritz (of the Counting Crows) passes me. So that was like, whoa. And the second thing I notice is that, holy shit, Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey are on stage! They weren't playing at that second, but Roger had his back to the house, and Pete was facing him, discussing something. This image, for one reason or another, was stuck with me for a long time. Maybe it was because Roger had his shirt off...

The next moments were really blurry. I was biting my nails, holding a pass, a notepad, and my purse in one hand. A guy checked my pass and was like, looking at me real funny, it was probably because I'm so young. I looked around for any sight of my idol for a good 10 minutes, but then I had to remember what I was there for. I was given this opportunity and I had to take it or leave it.

I was supposed to have a little chat with John "Rabbit" Bundrick, their keyboardist, as an opening for my Fanzine (yeah, I'm a geek) I am starting up, along with a friend. God was totally watching me, because as I turn around to head to find Matt (the wonderful man giving me this opportunity) and ask him where I needed to find Rabbit and get out of here; who's standing there?
Pete Townshend. Yes. Pete Townshend.

It was totally freaking awkward, his back was toward me, but I knew it was him. He was wearing all black. "Don't talk to him, he doesn't want to talk to anyone." I was thinking to myself. I don't know what it was, but some force made me walk straight up to him and tap him on the shoulder. His head and then body turned around. He was fastening something over an amp or something.

"Hi." At this point, I knew my knees were knocking, and I knew he could see me shaking.
"Hello." He said.

He talked to me. I thought I was going to faint! I had to keep reminding myself, in my head, that he was only human. Two million and a half things were running through my head. I had planned out for years what to say to him on the event that this would happen, and I was totally blank. I introduced myself, and held out my hand. He took it and shook it. Very firmly, but soft. My Lord, I was touching the hand that played so many of my favourite songs, the hand that wrote the words to them, the hand that invented the windmill. What was I supposed to say now? "I'm actually supposed to be talking to Rabbit," I said (WHAT!? What did I just say?) "But I was just wondering if I could maybe speak to you for just one moment. I hate to disturb you, but..." I sort of paused, and he just explained to me that it was ok.

How was this happening to me? What should I say? Should I talk about John?

"Totally off the record, Pete," I said, looking up at him. He was wearing sunglasses, and I wish he would have taken them off, because I wanted to see his eyes. I wanted to know if they were really that blue. He was also a lot taller that I expected, but then again, I'm really short.

"I just wanted to tell you," I explained "How much your music really means to me. There's not enough words out there, I don't think...to really say it." (what?) "I...you just see," I kept going, "Just feel like every song you've written, especially the...Quadrophenia and the whole Lifehouse project...I just feel like I'm the only one in the whole world who can hear it...and that they were written specifically for me...even though I was stardust when they were even released."
He smiled at me. OH MY GOD he smiled at me.
"How old are you?" he asked.
"Seventeen." I responded. Thinking in my head that this would be the end of our conversation.
"Wow, you're...hahaha. And where'r you from?"
"Birkenhead." He detected my accent, I guess.
"Eh, Scouser!" he said coyly.
"Oh....My Holy Lord...please don't make this end" I thought.
At this point I looked down and started being really shy. "Yeah..." I said. "I know. I just...somehow wanted you to fathom what you and your music (I said YOU? WTF?) mean to me."
"It's great to know that your generation will still listen to my teenage babbling, Layla." We both laughed. I didn't want to drag it on any more, because I might have fainted if I did, and on top of that, I know he had a lot of better things to do than talk to me. and then I said I would be honoured if he signed something for me, and he did.

Then he hugged me. HE hugged ME. I was almost in tears. "It was an honour meeting you." I said, shaking his hand again. I glanced at him as he walked away, and I thought I was going to burst into tears. In my mission to find Rabbit, I did! I am so in love with him, it's retarded. I had to find a bathroom and fix myself before asking a stagehand or something where I could find Rabbit.

When I finally did, Rabbit was really cool and answered all my questions good. I had 10 originally, but shortened it to 5, because I'm sure he didn't want to be having an interview when his friend died. But they were just questions like "what is it like working with legends" and blah blah blah...that went really quickly. So did the meeting with Pete, but at the moment, it seemed like it was taking forever and a day. Whilst "interviewing" Rabbit, I explained to him that I was a little out of it because I had just met Pete. Then you know what he said? He said "Well, Towser can do that to a girl." oh..my...lord. This had to be the best day of my life. I stared at him for a second, acting like I wasn't attracted to Pete at all (ha...ha...ha...) and then laughed. I then quickly finished asking him the last question, which was "What is your favourite Who song and why?" He answered "'Getting In Tune', but we barely ever play it." I almost fainted, because that was mine, too. I told him they should add it to the setlist (like he would listen to me or something) and he laughed. He explained a different interpretation to me, but I kept my mouth shut. The songs belong to all of us.

The "interview" (I'd call it more of a "I grabbed Rabbit and he answered my questions...") went good, he seemed to not be too annoyed by me ;). The show was amazing, although not the same as with John. I could feel him there though. I will always feel him there.

The Counting Crows was the opening act, and they rushed through their set, for some obvious reasons. I enjoyed that, I really like "A Long December."

Pete made some weird joke about the stage being a "big white vagina" and a "testicle factory" which was like...alright...but the afterparty was really fun...I got drunk..the band wasn't there, of course, but apparently I missed meeting Terry Gilliam because I was in the BATHROOM!

Pete took the mic sometime during the show, because some woman near me (apparently his friend) left, looking upset. Pete said something to the extent of "This is gonna be hard on our fans. We understand. We're not pretending that nothing's happened." Which was very appropriate. It wasn't specifically mentioned what happened, but it's like, do we need words from you? John is here. Keith is here. You don't need to speak for them. The music does that for you.

The songs:

I Can't Explain
Fun! Took me back to the sixties! Wait, I wasn't there... but still! It was great and fun. A great opener. Although, you could tell, right from the very start, that it was very different. Pete and Zak (the drummer) were giving there all as musicians. We were all dancing, it was very fun for them to start out with early songs. Roger was wearing clothes now ;). He was dressed in a long black shirt and jeans, and Pete was dressed the same, except the glasses were off. Pete was playing a light cream-ish coloured Fender Stratocaster. Sometime later, I don't remember the exact moment, he switched to a red one.
Substitute
Another early song, it was fun...but the whole subject matter was sort of weird, being that Pino Palladino, their "new" bassist, was a "substitute" for John.
Anyway Anyhow Anywhere
It's the mod song! Roger was great, he sounded like James Brown, hahah! It cheered me up from my pondering during "Substitute"
Who Are You
Roger played a blue Fender Strat during this, and although this isn't my particulary favourite Who tune, it was still really fun! Zac was great on the drums, and the whole crowd was singing the echoing chorus. Windmills and a jump at the end!
Another Tricky Day
Yes, 80s Who does rock you.
Relay
Totally unexpected! I loved it, jumped around and had a lot of fun.
Bargain
Hah, I'm a loser, because I cried when Pete started to sing. I was expecting this one to be played, but when I heard the light synthesizer entrance, I just howled! It's my second favourite Who song, and I love the song and the words and everything about it. A great jam at the end, too. The breakdown of the song ("I sit looking round/I look at my face in the mirror...") was wonderful, I sang along loudly with Pete, and he sounded as if he was going to cry. And I did then, because it was what I was telling him about before. It seemed like he was singing just to me, and that I was the only one who could hear it. And the whole thing is, that's what the song is about! Communication!
Baba O'Riley
WOW. The Who's staple, Roger swung his microphone around a lot, and perfectly caught it at the very moment Pete began to sing the lines "Don't cry, don't raise your eye, it's only teenage wasteland" (but I did cry!) and held the mic out to the audience. It was wonderful hearing it live, it sent shivers down my spine. The whole audience was absolutley freaking out over it.
Eminence Front
Yeah, not the Who's better songs, but Pete sings it, and it made me happy :). Pete still sounds really good, all around. Roger smokes, so his voice isn't what it used to be, but for a 58 year old guy, it's astounding. This happened at the next show, too: Pete was saying that this song was about how people felt when they used cocaine. After the song, he said he didn't "discourage cocaine use," and said "people can use it as much as they want!" And then Roger said "Yeah, just don't give any to him!"
Sea and Sand
One of my faves from Quadrophenia, I loved the intro and the whole song. "Thank God I ain't old" was kind of a weird line for Roger to sing though...
5:15
This was good, but no bass solo, which was the right thing to do, I think. Still really cool, I laughed when Roger and Pete said "sexually knowing." for some reason or another.
Love Reign O'er Me
The rip-roaring ending to Quadrophenia, this was great. Roger's voice was superb, and a few windmills from Pete were in there as well. Great synthesizer work from Rabbit as well.
Behind Blue Eyes
The whole bowl was singing along with this one. I cried for the second time during this. I thought I would a lot more, but this just really hit me for some reason. Maybe it was the fact we were all singing it. But I just cried. This is my song, and hearing it sung live was amazing.
You Better You Bet
This song cracks me up. It's like, not the Who's best song. But it's fun, and it just makes me laugh because it's so sexual and things. I sang along, especially to the line "I look pretty crappy, sometimes!" Me and Olivia laughed. She seemed really down most of the time. Her birthday was Friday. Her favourite was John, and he died the day before her birthday. We went to a Who film festival Sunday night, and the word from many people was that John was supposed to be there, which tore her up even more.
The Kids Are Alright
This was very fun! A really great early Who song, I was glad they did some more early ones. I danced around a whole bunch with Olivia to this one. Even though this happened at the show after this one, I must say:
Pete started talking about how he used to demo his songs on mono tape recorders. Then he said "This is when I discovered how beautiful my voice was." And everyone started to laugh and clap, especially me ;) Then he said "the more my voice was overdubbed from tape to tape in the mixing process, the better and better I sounded until I finally just...came. The goal of tonight...is to try to make everyone here come." Then some guy yells "What, again!?" Which was funny. Then he started saying how Simon Townshend, his younger brother, was to take over John's harmonies, even though Simon couldn't reach as high as he needed to. He also said he write the high harmonies for Keith, because Keith loved the Beach Boys so much. Then everyone started cheering and applauding.
My Generation
I was sorta gritting my teeth at this point, one because of the line "I hope I die before I get old", and also because of the bass solo. Pino handled it good, but not as good as John of course. It was just that, even with my eyes closed or open, something was missing. I kept expecting to look over and see John, or hear his bass, but I didn't. However, Pino is very very talented, and everyone cheered for his solo. He is really a Godsend to the band.
Won't Get Fooled Again
GREAT! Roger's trademark howl was wonderful, no doubt he was letting out some stress. Pete windmilled a lot during this, making me pretty happy, and there was a big jump as the last chord was played. Great. Trademark Who. Zak Starkey (yes, Ringo Starr's son) was absolutely amazing. He has got to be the most talented drummer alive. I mean, he learned from Keith Moon!
Pinball Wizard
It was good, bearing in mind that there was two guitarists handling it, and not a guitarist and a bassist. This began the encore, and it led into...
Amazing Journey / Sparks
Sparks took me away. I've always loved Amazing Journey because it just sets out the whole story of Tommy. It was apparent now that the encore was a Tommy medley. Both these songs were truly wonderful. Just not as loud. Not to put down Pino, not to put down anyone, just, no one could play as LOUD as The Ox! He was just amazing, the basis for the Who's energy and sound, even though he was the calmest of them all!
See Me Feel Me
Absolutley beautiful. I wept. The part that means so much to me now ("Listening to you/ I get the music...") was played. It was the encore, the climax to it all. Everyone was standing up, belting out every word. The last line was sung, the lights dimmed, and Pete and Roger hugged. As he walked off, Pete said "Live every moment of your lives."

They put pictures of Keith Moon and then John Entwistle up on the large screens, and that was just like, wow. That is IT. I always listen to this and get tingles, and just hearing the blending of the voices, the guitar, the drums, the bass...even though two members were missing-it took me to some other plane, some other world. I had NO drugs that night, yet left the place feeling high.

listening to you,
I get the music
gazing at you,
I get the heat
following you,
I climb the mountain
I get excitement at your feet
right behind you,
I see the millions
on you
I see the glory
from you
I get opinions
from you
I get the story...