I was getting ready for a musical treat this Wednesday when my current favorite band The Counting Crows would open for a former favorite band The Who at my favorite outdoor concert venue The Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View.

But earlier today John Entwistle bassist and founding member of The Who was found dead in his room at the Hard Rock hotel and casino in Las Vegas, victim of a heart attack. He was 57. The Who were to start their summer tour through the US tomorrow with the first concert at the Hard Rock hotel.

Entwistle, was known for his stoically self controlled presence on stage while his hyperkinetic bandmates wreaked havoc around him. Their stage antics were infamous: Townsend's had his frantic windmills and stage jumps, Moon's was a wild animal behind the drum kits, Daltrey spun the microphone and sprinted all over the stage, while the impassive Entwistle surveyed it all. At the end of a set, no instrument was safe. During a concert at Britain's Rikki Tik Club in 1966, Townshend whacked Entwistle in the head with his guitar; the following year, as the band ended a performance Moon detonated an explosive that destroyed his drum set, shocked the audience and detonated Townshend's eardrums.

Entwistle outranked Paul McCartney, Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones and Cream's Jack Bruce as Guitar Magazine's "Bassist of the Millennium."

So just for tonite let The Who rock on your stereo with Behind Blue Eyes, Babba O' Riley, and I Can See For Miles.