Life after The Who never really happened for Pete Townshend likely the way he had intended. If the clock could be dialed back to the first few years after the group’s 1982 farewell tour, it would find the guitarist in the middle of an active solo career as it does on the DVD/CD set Face the Face. Borrowing the title from a hit song on Townshend’s 1985 concept album White City: A Novel, this collection shows Pete as soul man. With his extended Deep End band of 17 musicians, including a 5-piece horn section, five background singers, Simon Phillips on drums, and Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour on guitar, Townshend seems liberated leading the troupe through a big band brassy redux of Who classics like “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” “Behind Blue Eyes,” and “Pinball Wizard.” He also dips into the finest of his solo catalog- “Slit Skirts” and “Rough Boys”- and that of his old Who mate Roger Daltrey (“After the Fire”), while giving Gilmour a song of his own (“Blue Light”), as well. The DVD was filmed as part of the well-known German TV series Rockpalast, and is mixed and shot nicely for the era. There are the expected visual clues that date this 1986 show- the horn section in sunglasses and suits without ties is one dead giveaway- and the arrangements, while enriched in Townshend’s songwriting, at times lean into the synth sound of the decade despite the musicians onstage. Sticking often to his acoustic, as he would for much of The Who’s ’89 reunion, Townshend cedes to Gilmour to pull the heavy duty guitar chores. It’s a pleasure to hear Gilmour and his distinctive tone crossover to this material, joining the history of two of rock’s bigger stars. 30 years later, Face the Face ends up as the pause between Pete Townshend’s stints with The Who, with a little regret that this band and this creative period couldn’t have lasted a little longer.
News
Archive- Gwen Stefani, blink-182 to Headline Inaugural South Star Festival
- Woodsist Festival Unveils 2024 Artist Lineup: Yo La Tengo, Real Estate, Jessica Pratt, Woods and More
- Dogfish Head Brewery Details Record Fair at New York’s Brooklyn Bowl
- David Gilmour Outlines ‘Luck and Strange,’ First Full-Length Drop in Nearly a Decade, Shares Video Preview
- Listen: John Oates Covers John Prine’s “Long Monday” with Sierra Hull for Upcoming Album ‘Reunion’
- Latest Installment of Jerry Garcia Live Series, ‘February 13th, 1976 Keystone Berkeley’ Receives Release Date
- Borderland Festival Plots 2024 Return with The Black Crowes, CAAMP, Marcus King, Dark Star Orchestra and More
- Dr. Dog Preview First New LP in Six Years with Feel-Good Single “Talk Is Cheap” and Official Music Video
Most Popular
- Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band Announce Fall 2024 Tour Dates
- Warren Haynes, Bill Kreutzmann, Devon Allman and More Share Tributes to Dickey Betts
- Duane Betts Responds to Outpouring of Support Following Father Dickey Betts’ Passing, Shares Tour Update
- Lettuce Expand 2024 Tour Schedule: John Scofield, Ziggy Marley, BISCOLAND and More
- Phish Dive Deep for Night Two at Las Vegas’ Sphere
- Phish Change Forms for Final Sphere Performance
- Phil Lesh & Friends to Perform at San Francisco’s The Warfield in May
- Brooklyn Bowl to Host Benefit for Bad Brains’ HR, with Members of Bad Brains, Fishbone, Living Colour and More
No Comments comments associated with this post