Pete Townshend Live: A Benefit for Maryville Academy

Pete Townshend Live: A Benefit for Maryville Academy captures a charity concert Townshend gave at the Chicago House of Blues on August 16, 1998. It was the second in a series of annual concerts to raise money for the children's organization, and Townshend clearly relishes the event, if the quality of the performance is any indication. He pretty much concentrates on classics, from "Magic Bus" to "Let My Love Open the Door," but he gives spirited performances. The arrangements are slightly different and subdued -- "Won't Get Fooled Again" doesn't explode, it has a steady, even propulsion -- but that's a benefit, since not only does Townshend sound more comfortable with these subtle reworkings, the familiar tunes sound fresh. He throws a couple of curveballs, most notably by opening with Canned Heat's "On the Road Again" and throwing Psychoderelict's "Now and Then" plus the exquisite "North Country Girl" into the mix, but by and large this is an unassuming crowd-pleaser that does it's job with style. The initial pressings of the album contained a second disc with stripped-down versions of "Magic Bus" and "Heart to Hang Onto," performed as duets with Eddie Vedder. Like the music on the first disc, these two songs are simple, direct, unassuming and quite entertaining.