The Who - WHO - November 22, 2019

Keith is such a weird drummer, all his crazy movements never seems to match what you hear. Speaking of which, does he have early synth drums/triggers in that video? What are the blue things to his left?

Yep, I believe those are Syndrums. From what was probably the last in-depth interview he did (which is also very sad; right up to the end, he was dreaming up new ideas and approaches, but was pretty much physically incapable of sustained attempts at said approaches):

https://www.thewho.net/bibliography/articles/keith2.html

Is there anything new in drums which interests you?

Yeah, the new synthesized drums. There's a company called Syndrum who make a set which comes with a sort of small computer. You can get bird calls and all different sorts of sounds. It's very good. Obviously, it's not like the real thing but the effects are quite startling if you use it set up next to a straight drum kit. It's great to go from one to the other, playing the same pattern, because the way it's reproduced through the Syndrum gives it a really different dimension.

Have you used them on record?

Yes, only experimentally, really. On the new album, they're in there somewhere. They're quite easy to control. When you set them up, you've got a chart which you work from. You set the decay and the rest and it's basically like a small Moog but connected to the drums instead of a keyboard. It can be a bit of a hassle if you're playing as it can be difficult to turn around and readjust the controls. They're still experimental, for onstage use at least.

I don't really see a full synthesized kit. But they're great to add colour and that's important. I've got 16 drums in my kit and on every song I use a different set of four or five so eventually I've used all 16 drums. Sometimes I use the timpani, sometimes the timbale, sometimes I do runs that'll go right around eight drums and sometimes I'll just use bass drum, snare drum and hi-hat. I've got everything I need there. I can cover from a roar with the timpani right up to the smallest timbale which is about 6". That's why I have so many drums onstage because, with The Who, there's Pete who plays a lot of chords and John who plays very intricate bass figures that I work with and we have this empathy between us.

I like All This Music Must Fade.

The latest HD video upload/upgrade is a welcome one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJv2-_--EY4

I saw them on this year’s tour. My only regret was the nosebleed stadium seats.

Ditto.

This is quite the interview.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/who-new-album-new-tour-townshend-daltrey-913902/

Pete's "thank god they're gone" is making for quite a few clickbait pieces.

Has there ever been a band whose members have all held such disdain, contempt and animosity for one another for so long?

Some members of Duke Ellington's Famous Orchestra went years without speaking to one another, or to Duke. But I doubt it was the same non-speaking members for 50 years.

Townshend’s pomposity hasn’t dimmed anyway; I don’t know how hardcore Who fans stick him.

He’s the kind of interviewee who’s never heard a previous interview played back to him

Oh, the Ramones! Johnny and Joey haaaaaated each other and didn't speak for decades.

XTC and The Police also come to mind

Townshend’s pomposity hasn’t dimmed anyway; I don’t know how hardcore Who fans stick him.

Because we've read enough interviews to be able to take his schtick with a grain of salt. We know that he knows he wouldn't have been able to pull of a fraction of what he's realized without the rest of the Who.

He’s the kind of interviewee who’s never heard a previous interview played back to him

― Master of Treacle, Tuesday, November 26, 2019 4:18 PM (one minute ago) bookmarkflaglink

Worse; he has heard previous interviews played back to him. Probably most of them.

*pull off

xpost The Police, fwiw, didn't even make it 10 years. XTC ... did they all hate each other, or just the principals? Because the Who, afaict, all hated each other almost from the start. Keith and John hated Pete, Pete hated everyone, Roger hated Pete, etc.

not as long as The Who, but Gordon Gano and Brian Ritchie from Violent Femmes hate each other so much that lifelong fan Brian Viglione only lasted a few dozen shows spread across 2-3 years this decade as their drummer: he couldn’t bear being in a band & playing music that he loved with its creators, when they wouldn’t speak to or be in the same room as each other.

Pete on fb:

My interview with Rolling Stone. Headline: 'Pete Townshend says “thanks God” Moon, John Entwistle are dead; they were fucking difficult to play with”’.

This was said as part of an interview in response to a series of questions about Who history, the early days and how it is today.

PETE! FOR FUCK’S SAKE PUT A LID ON IT!

No one can ever know how much I miss Keith and John, as people, as friends and as musicians. The alchemy we used to share in the studio is missing from the new album, and it always feels wrong to try to summon it up without them, but I suppose we will always be tempted to try. To this day I am angry at Keith and John for dying. Sometimes it shows. It’s selfish, but it’s how I feel.

But I am sincerely grateful to have had these second and third incarnations as a member of what we still dare to call The Who – once after Keith passed, then again after John passed. I do thank God for this, but I was being ironic in my own English way by suggesting it is something I am glad about. I can be grateful to be free as a player and writer, but sad about losing old friends. It does feel ironic, and it also makes me angry. Towards the end of my mother Betty’s life she drove me barmy, and there was a huge sense of relief when she finally passed, but I miss her very much. Love has so many facets.

I understand that a lot of long-time Who fans will be hurt by the way it comes across as a headline. I only hope that they know me well enough that I tell the truth as much as I can, but I also tell both sides and the upside is missing in the headlines.

Writing for Roger, and performing with him, is easier than the early days with the old four-piece band. Many of you will have heard me say that working with Roger these days can be tricky, and challenging, but that ultimately I find it “easy”. John and Keith were so eccentric and individual as musicians. They literally did take up so much musical and sonic space. As a guitar player I never learned to shred because there was never any space for it. On Live At Leeds and bootlegs from that time you can often hear me stop the music to noodle around, partly so I could think!

The upside with Keith and John was that on tour and in the studio we had so much fun. Playing with them was hard, but both Roger and I spent a lot of time doubled up in joy and laughter even though we could have benefitted from a quieter life sometimes. It was a riot.

To those family members of Keith and John, especially Chris Entwistle and Mandy Moon, I apologise for the headlines – and for carelessly providing the words that were used – but in the past three months I have done so many interviews I am losing focus and patience. I forgive myself. I hope they can forgive me too. I loved their dads and still do.

Roger lost his rag at a press conference at Wembley about Brexit. I found it worrying, but I understood. We may be rock stars but we are also human. Roger and I have not changed very much over the years, but we do love and like each other these days. It’s really poignantly painful to imagine how things would have turned out had John and Keith had also been allowed to become older, kinder and wiser. The Who might have grown musically, or possibly just gone around in circles, but I assure you we would have deepened our love for each other as human beings and colleagues.

As musicians? Who knows?