The PA system at the United Center in Chicago blared “Baba O’Riley” at a crucial juncture of the fourth quarter of the Bulls-Cavaliers game yesterday.
The moment was reason #3,129 I can no longer listen to the Who for pleasure. That’s why I was relieved when The Who's appearance at the Sprint Center was canceled last week a day before the concert.
I knew I wouldn’t be working the show, but I felt obligated to show up and buy a ticket. As a self-centered 17-year-old twit, I completed internalized Quadrophenia.
A lot’s happened since then.
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I reviewed Primus’ return to the Uptown Theater.
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I reviewed Mary Chapin Carpenter’s collaboration with the Kansas City Symphony.
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I contributed a Local Listen segment about Julian Vaughn to KCUR.
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Johnny Gimble has died. I saw the fiddler accompany country stars a few times and I took in a few sets he led in Winfield, Kansas.
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Guy Carawan has died.
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Jerome Cooper, the drummer of the Revolutionary Ensemble, has died.
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Errol Brown of Hot Chocolate has died.
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Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear were featured on CBS Sunday Morning.
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Only when forced at proverbial gunpoint did I reluctantly listen to the Alabama Shakes’ Sound & Color. Holy smokes! RIYL: Some Girls, career artists, My Morning Jacket. Here’s the title track.
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Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Much of Kamasi Washington’s The Epic struck me as merely “good” during my first pass at the three-hour album. From the choirs to the running time, it’s just too much. RIYL: Pharoah Sanders, hype, Joshua Redman.
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Never Were the Way She Was is the first Colin Stetson album that completely resonates with me. RIYL: chamber music, Hauschka, not a trace of jazz.
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Reason #3,130 I can’t listen to the Who for pleasure- Quadrophenia has become an actual opera.
(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)
