Who’s Done? Pete Townshend’s Ambivalent Farewell

Had America not interceded in World War II, Germany would have taken over the whole of Europe. I think the most important thing is that we remember that. But also remember that we don’t need to act until this shit comes to our door. When that happens, whether it comes to our door in a Charlie Hebdo scenario or in a 9/11 scenario, we need to keep calm and to honor our own sense of values and justice and law and the way that we want to live.

Are you able to understand why a young person in America or the U.K. would go join ISIS?
I’m not particularly politically well-grounded, but from 1967 to the mid-Seventies, I was following Meher Baba and also considering joining a Sufi order. It’s not exactly Islam, but it’s very close. I kind of understand what they mean when they talk about what jihad is, but I don’t see how it helps anybody. I don’t see how it helps the people in the countries in which they live. They’re getting to a point where the so-called caliphate will be run by a bunch of bullies, basically. But then, I’ve seen this before — in my lifetime, I grew up with bullies at school, I grew up with bullies in the Sea Scouts, I grew up with bullies in my band!

Back to the tour. You say that you enjoy the tour routine and being with old friends more than you enjoy playing onstage. Is that really true?
I always feel very sad when I say this because I think I’m unusual in this respect. People don’t really believe me. But I don’t enjoy performing. I don’t feel uplifted on the stage. I rarely have moments these days onstage when I go into what jazz musicians call “the zone.” I rarely lose myself on the stage. But I kind of grew up backstage with my dad’s band, and so that’s always felt familiar. Most of all, it’s felt safe to me. 

You said about 10 years ago that you do these tours as a favor to Roger Daltrey. Is that still a fair statement?
It’s probably the other way around now. When I went back to work with the Who regularly in the late 1990s, it was to help John Entwistle with money problems. Roger was the one who came to see me, and who said, “Listen, I can’t see any other way that John can get himself out of this hole he’s in. He spent too much money, he’s got no earning power outside of the Who. If you’re really the friend that you say you are — you always talk about how John’s your most important friend, that you were in a band together when you were in school — you should fucking help him.”