With the strains of Cake's "Rock'n'Roll Lifestyle" in the background, I am back from seeing two concerts the last couple of days. The Pretenders at the Agora on Sunday, followed by The Who at Greg Oden's Place in Columbus.

The Pretenders, Agora

S. and I went to the Pretenders show at the Agora and that's a place I haven't been to in years. Of course, the Corridor Project has rendered their parking lot a bloody mess. Lots of mud. And we learned they have an interesting smoking policy, at least for now. Let people smoke before the show starts, then take the ashtrays away. WTF? I guess they are going to plead confusion over the law, but they better figure it out, as the arrests and/or complaints will start soon. The Agora has tables and chairs on the downstairs terraces, which are probably immediately claimed after the doors open. So, we headed to the pit, where we were about six rows back.

Where I think I may have suffered permanent hearing loss. How will I hear those kids playing on my lawn? It was because of the opening act, Living Stereo. Although the frontman was pretty funny, really spastic and such, the decibel level had to be about 130. Chest-pounding, ceiling tile-falling loudness. I liked them, but wished I could understand what the hell they were saying. At one point, I couldn't understand if the guy "worked at the Yellow Pages" or if he "was afraid of the undertaker". It was that muddied. Need to bring earplugs next time.

Then the Pretenders took the stage at a decibel level that accomodated by damaged hearing. The original drummer, Martin Chambers, is in the band, with a really young bass player, Nick Wilkinson, and a really good older dude, Adam Seymour on guitar. Chrissie Hynde is now 55 (gulp!), but puts on a really good show. And, let's face it, it's all about her. She mentioned they had been touring with The Who on part of their schedule. She said, "There were some old faces on that tour. Really old faces. They would come out and watch our set and learn some things." Hah!

She also mentioned the lack of vegetarian restaurants locally and since she moved back to Akron, there will be one open down there next year. By her, of course. I was curious that they didn't play that many new songs, so it had a greatest hits feel. And I think I have most of those listed here, in no particular order:

"The Wait"
"Message of Love" (my favorite done early in the set)
"Talk of the Town"
"Precious"
"Kid" (dedicated to Farndon and Scott)
"Tattooed Love Boys"
"Forever Young" (She mentioned there were many men in her life, but this one had been there since the start and had remained with her. Chrissie said he had recently written a book and now has a radio show. A girl behind us yelled, "Al Franken!". I thought that funny. Of course, it was Dylan.)
"Brass in Pocket"
"Back on the Chain Gang" (terrific solo by Seymour)
"Up the Neck"
"My City Was Gone"
"Middle of the Road"

All in all, a good show and Chrissie Hynde autographed my ticket after the show.

The Who, Value City Arena

Gale was working in Columbus, so I joined her for The Who at Value City Arena on Monday night. It may have been the most professional show, in terms of performing, I've ever seen. Oddly enough, still touring with The Who was...wait for it...The Pretenders! I give Chrissie Hynde credit. They were in a situation where no one wanted to see them, but she gave it a go and won the crowd over. Probably half the show from Sunday lengthwise. All the major hits.

I liked the part where she posed with a tambourine, wearing a top hat, and says, "Guess who I am?" On Sunday, people yelled "Tom Petty!" and I yelled, "Mick Jagger!". She says, "Stevie Nicks. I thought that obvious." Same routine Monday. I yelled, "Stevie Nicks!", and when she said it, this guy in front of me whipped his head around, and must have thought I was Kreskin. Better looking, of course.

The Arena: Can you tell this structure was built with strict governmental/university rules in mind? For example, not many men's bathrooms, so there were lines. Why? Well, besides serving beer, each men's room contained three urinals, two stalls, and a handicapped lounge. That's it. Oh, I longed for a trough. BTW, we parked for free at some OSU facility which they ignore. If that was in Cleveland, if they didn't charge for parking, you would have at least received a ticket, and maybe a tow. Also, I asked a guy at a stand where the mustard was, after I bought a pretzel. One guy who overheard me points, but the mensa I asked said, "Over by the condiments." Thanks, pal.

The Seats: We were in Section 123, the third section from the stage. Unfortunately, to cram in all of the seats, there is little leg room. It appears the Value City of design firms worked on this joint, and designed it for the 1920's type of body. But when standing, it's OK.

The Crowd: Chaperone Hat wasn't even packed. Wow, there were some old farts at this one. The hippy lettuce was smoked by some people in front of us. Also, in front of us, a guy who texted during much of the show. Has this replaced the "waving-hello-while-on-cellphone" during games? After the show, I was pleasantly surprised to see many people using public transportation after games. I understand it's college, OK, but there were lots of people waiting.

The Stage: It surprised me how sparse the staging was. Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey up front, the other four in a second row behind them. Huge video screen behind them, and three smaller ones, left, right, middle, up top.

The Band: Pete and Roger, of course, the last two. Pino Palladino, who has knocked around with them for a few years and late of the John Mayer Trio, on bass; Pete's brother, Simon, on guitar and vocals; Zak Starkey, Ringo Starr's son, on drums; the regular synth player had left the tour to tend to an ailing wife, so the keyboard tech filled in and did a great job.

The Music: This was the last show on this leg of the tour, before a long break. Unfortunately, Roger had a chest cold and his voice was subpar. I think if this happened in the middle of the tour, it probably would have been postponed. I said, "I don't wanna be here the day Roger killed his voice." But Roger fought on, telling us, after the fourth song, "It's not my throat, it's my chest. Whatever I got left, you'll get it tonight." I tell you, at times, it was a real chore, but he did a great job considering. There's no doubt, Pete just loves Roger singing his songs, because after the encore, he yelled, "You fuckin' made it!" and rubbed his neck and gave him a playful pat on the head a couple of times. I heart Pete.

Pete also cracked me up after "Baba O'Riley". He said, "The relationship between an artist or a band with the crowd is amazing. You are more responsible for our success than you know. We play that song and it gets such a great reaction and it brings the house down every night. But, sometimes, I wonder about it and think, people, it's a song about digging a hole in a field. Digging...Yay...(hands way up in the air). But we love playing the old songs and we got about an hour of them coming up." Then they went into "Eminence Front". He is still the craftsman on stage. Still has the windmills going, although not as many as in the past, for obvious reasons. He only had one side leap and one split kick in him, as well. Pete is great. And Roger clunked no one while whipping his mike around.

The songs: I'll try and remember as many as I can. Lots of hits.

"Can't Explain"
"The Seeker"
"Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere" (Great tune)
"CSI Song"
"Behind Blue Eyes" (Every time I hear this song, I think of Scotty Baldwin in "General Hospital". Remember, when he was in jail, they used to play this all of the time.)
Then they did a six-song suite from a new EP.
"Baba O'Riley"
"Eminence Front"
Some more new stuff.
"You Better You Bet"
"My Generation"
"Won't Get Fooled Again"

The encore:

"Pinball Wizard" and a suite right into "See Me, Feel Me" where we really felt bad for Roger.

Pete, on acoustic, and Roger closed with "Tea and Theatre".

Meal of Links

Another highlight in visiting Columbus is Tim Horton's. After the show, we had to go to two of them to get a correct food order, but I had my Butter Caramel Hot Smoothie. Then I got another for the ride home.

And, of course, with the hotel next to a Waffle House, guess where I had breakfast? There is nothing like an ex-con makin' you breakfast. And no, I did not eat lunch. Great atmosphere. A guy was selling DVDs for five dolla. New stuff like "Saw III". I'm sure it was theatre quality.

Back to reality, here is a site that's cool. Lots of video. TV shows, cartoons, etc. First thing I see is "24: Season 1" and it looks and sounds good. And all the "Dexter"s, as well.

Exercise Yard

Boy, the Knicks are a sorry lot.

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46 Across: The Riddler portrayer of 1960s TV (12 letters) Answer: Frank Gorshin