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Who’s Who what’s next at Cubby Bear North
Wayne Garmoni of Who's Who, a Who tribute band, does his best Roger Daltrey.
Who’s Who
With the Lizard Kings at Cubby Bear North 21661 N. Milwaukee Ave., Lincolnshire
9 p.m. July 14
$5
(847) 541-4700, www.cubbynorth.com
Article Extras
Updated: July 10, 2012 7:05PM
When John Hackett was 15 and saw Pete Townshend windmill through “My Generation” and then smash his guitar in “Monterey Pop,” the 1968 documentary about the music festival of the same name, he wanted to be The Who’s guitarist.
But, there’s only one Pete Townshend and there can only ever be one Who.
So, 35 years later, he’s doing the next best thing: Playing guitar for Who’s Who, a tribute band emulating The Who between the years 1971 and ’75.
Therefore, the bulk of the Who’s Who set when they play the Cubby Bear North on Saturday will consist of songs from the “Who’s Next” and “Quadrophenia” albums, such as “Baba O’Riley,” “Won’t Get Fooled Again” and “5:15.”
“It was when they were giving their most dynamic performances,” said Hackett, of Deerfield. “They were a band that not only played great music, they put on quite a show for the audience. They wouldn’t just stand there and play, but they were really enthused when they played.”
Wayne Garmoni, of Lake Villa, who fell in love with The Who while listening repeatedly to his older brother’s 8-track tape of “Who’s Next” when he was in fifth grade and became Who’s Who’s singer when the group formed in 2010, agrees.
Like the mike
“The way that Roger Daltrey spins his microphone ... very impressive,” he said.
Hackett said everyone
in Who’s Who has been in original bands, and he and Garmoni have written original material together since high school. (They both attended Libertyville High School with Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello). But, forming a Who tribute band, which Hackett said was Norridge bassist Jay Dwyer’s idea, was a vehicle to prove how good the musicians in Who’s Who are. The band also includes drummer Greg Kaye, of Westchester, and keyboard player Joe Swat, of Chicago.
Plus, they’d be filling a niche.
Complicated music
“It was his idea to try a Who band, and I think we all agreed that there’s nobody else in Chicago who is doing a Who tribute band,” Hackett said. “I think that’s because their music is complicated. It’s not like AC/DC or something, where it’s a three-chord rock progression. You have to have an outstanding bass player, an outstanding drummer, a great singer who can hit the high notes that Daltrey could hit, and then a guitar player who plays with really good energy. In addition, a keyboard player. That’s central, too, because a lot of The Who’s music, at least on their recordings, has a lot of keyboard parts. We thought it was something nobody else could do and we’d have a chance to get out there and prove what we could do as musicians.”
Their timing is good. With more people becoming frustrated with the economy and politics, it’s a good time to be performing Who music, which Hackett calls a precursor to punk.
Garmoni said “Baba O’Riley,” the first track on “Who’s Next,” never fails to get audiences energized.
“They’re still very popular on the radio, I think as much as any other band back in the older days,” he said. “People love to still hear it.”
