We got into a spirited disagreement on The Big Show on Monday.
Here’s the story in a nutshell: The Who performed in Hamilton. A man bought tickets for himself and his 7-year-old daughter. He put the kid on his shoulders and ran her up to the front of the stage so she could wave her sign at Pete Townshend that read, “Smash your guitar Pete!” Pete mouthed a profanity – the Dad says it was directed at the girl but I say, it was directed at the Dad.
But the real disagreement was this: I also say a 7-year-old has no place at a closed-venue rock-and-roll show. Blair’s response was that there’s no rule against it. No there isn’t. But that’s because everybody knows a rock show gets very loud and it’s geared toward adults. This child is 7! She also didn’t have any ear protection on while in the presence of the band that Guinness once named The Loudest Rock Band in the World.
As for the issue of the profanity, I cannot believe for a second that Pete Townshend meant to insult a little girl by swearing at her. She didn’t buy the ticket or make the sign or run up to the stage. Her Dad did all of those things and is, in my opinion, a complete idiot for taking her to that show. I think the swearing is a moot point because the child shouldn’t have even been there in the first place. The big deal is being made by her Dad, who put her in that situation. It’s rock and roll. Had it been an outdoor show or The Who and the Wiggles, Pete’s behavior would have been expected to be at a different level.
What say you?
The seven year old, has absolutely no idea what the Who represented or stood for back in the heydays, rebellion, anti-establishment youthful anger and showmanship. A practice which left after the Who broke through their first 4 albums I believe. This father, the idiot as he may be, was just trying to live vicariously through his child to recapture his long since lost youth completely void of of the reality of his actions, it was all about him!