Homewood Arts Council describes itself as being dedicated to supporting and showcasing its community’s already deep passion for the visual, literary, musical and performing arts.
One way the 501(c)(3) volunteer-run community organization does this is by presenting events such as Who’s Birthday – A Tribute to Pete Townshend for ages 21 and older on May 10 at Homewood Izaak Walton Preserve’s Senior Hall.
“I’m friends with Chris Casteneda, who put this together. He knows me through a couple mutual friends and has seen me play,” said Phil Angotti, one of the event’s performers. “Besides writing original music I play a lot of ’60s things. I’m a huge fan. He knew that so he asked me to part of this show.”
Castaneda, president and director of the Homewood Arts Council — which he joined in 2021 after moving to the village from Chicago’s Mount Greenwood community, curated the celebration of Townshend’s 80th birthday with sets featuring the musician’s solo material and songs with The Who.
Who’s Birthday also includes Homewood resident and longtime Townshend fan Dolph Chaney; Northbrook native Rick Rizzo, a founding member of Chicago-based band Eleventh Dream Day; and Sam Vicari, a northwest Indiana native and Chicago resident who is lead singer and guitarist for The Feeders.
“It will be interesting to see what everybody is playing. We’re all such fans,” said Angotti, who will be making his Homewood Izaak Walton Preserve debut. “It’s going to be interesting to see what everyone brings. I’m looking forward to that.”
Born in 1961, Angotti will play acoustic guitar on and sing “Blue Red and Grey,” “However Much I Booze,” “Slit Skirts,” “Sea and Sand,” “The Acid Queen” and “I’m a Boy,” which were all written by Townshend.
Angotti, who has been the lead singer of Material Issue which is also known as Material Reissue since 2011, recalled being a teenager in his first band, The Fleas, when someone in high school gave him a copy of The Who double record featuring the 1967 albums “The Who Sell Out” and “Happy Jack.”
“Like everybody else I knew ‘Quadrophenia’ and I knew ‘Tommy,’ but I didn’t know their early stuff. I just went crazy over that stuff and went looking for every Who album I could find. When the movie ‘The Kids Are Alright’ came out, that was when I really turned into a monster Who fan,” Angotti said.
Written and directed by Jeff Stein, the 1979 documentary “The Kids Are Alright” starred The Who members Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle, Keith Moon and Townshend, who was born on May 19, 1945, along with Ringo Starr, drummer of The Beatles — another of Angotti’s favorite bands.
In addition to musical performances, Who’s Birthday includes soft drinks and pizza slices for purchase and mixed cocktails provided by Family Wine & Liquors, of Homewood.
“There’s so many great Pete songs,” said Angotti, who cites “Pure and Easy” from Townshend’s 1972 debut solo album “Who Came First” and The Who’s 1974 compilation “Odds & Sods” and “Keep Me Turning” from the 1977 solo album “Rough Mix” with Ronnie Lane as top Townshend compositions.
On March 28, Universal Music Recordings released “Pete Townshend: The Studio Albums,” an eight-CD set of his complete solo catalog of seven studio albums through 1993’s “Psychoderelict” with sleeve notes by Who archivist Matt Kent and an exclusive Townshend interview.
“Quadrophenia, a Mod Ballet,” which is written by Townshend, is in rehearsals for its world premiere and its United Kingdom tour begins May 28 at Theatre Royal Plymouth’s The Lyric. The dance production features his wife, Rachel Fuller’s orchestration of music from The Who’s 1973 album “Quadrophenia.”
Angotti called Townshend, the principal songwriter for The Who, “a musical genius.”
“He actually demoed all of those songs before The Who recorded them. His songs are his children,” he said.
“My Generation” from The Who’s 1965 debut album of the same name; “Pinball Wizard” from 1969’s rock opera “Tommy;” “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” “Baba O’Riley” and “Behind Blue Eyes” from 1971’s “Who’s Next;” and “Who Are You” from the 1978 album of the same name were written by Townshend.
“He always wrote about interesting subjects. That appealed to me as a young guy and his obvious talent of writing great melodies. It was a combination of those two things for me, and there’s his acoustic playing, which is super innovative and influential,” Angotti said.
After Phil Angotti & Friends were featured at Beatles Brunch with String Section on May 4 at FitzGerald’s in Berwyn, the man known as “THE Beatles guy” will return to the venue on June 1 for the monthly Beatles Brunch.
Angotti also is booked with original bassist Ted Ansani and original drummer Mike Zelenko for a Material Issue concert on Sept. 27 at Schubas Tavern in Chicago.
“I was a big fan of the band when they came out,” said Angotti about Material Issue, which Jim Ellison fronted until his 1996 death and was reformed as Material Reissue in 2011. “Mike ended up playing drums in my original band before he asked me to be the new lead singer of Reissue.”
Angotti plans to release his next solo acoustic album, “Notebook Head,” in late May or early June and the Phil Angotti Band album “Sentimental Hogwash,” which will feature his single “False Alarm,” in November or December.
Established in 2018, Homewood Arts Council welcomes people interested in joining its artist network, which includes visual artists, musicians, media artists and theaters.
“Our mission is to bring people together for powerful shared experiences and to enrich and inspire artists and audiences of all ages,” Homewood Arts Council states on its website.
The not-for-profit group, which also welcomes volunteers and donations, is collaborating with others to establish a performing arts center in the village along with exhibition and gallery spaces.
Who’s Birthday – A Tribute to Pete Townshend
When: 7 p.m. May 10
Where: Homewood Izaak Walton Preserve’s Senior Hall, 1100 W. Ridge Road, Homewood
Tickets: $20 in advance; $25 at door; ages 21 and older
Information: facebook.com/newhomewoodartscouncil
Jessi Virtusio is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
