“It’s a cliché to say that a song changed your life,” Tom Branigan readily admits. For him, however, the cliché contains a nugget of truth and the song was The Who’s “The Kids are Alright.” Although he never really aspired to a musical career, Branigan pursued music nonetheless, in Oshkosh bands while growing up and continuing to play in Seattle, where he lived while grunge was ascendant.
After hearing that shiny D chord that opens “The Kids are Alright,” performed by Pete Townshend on a Rickenbacker guitar, “I knew I wanted to play,” Branigan continues. But fate put another instrument in his hands. No guitar was available in Branigan’s high school band, so the instructor gave him a bass. Rather than Townsend, The Who’s bassist, John Entwistle, became his model.
As founding member of The Substitutes, Branigan indulges his love for The Who by performing the repertoire of the band’s classic 1965-1978 lineup, plus a couple of hits recorded after the death of original drummer Keith Moon. When playing small clubs like Riverwest’s Circle-A Café, The Substitutes go obscure, mining Who albums for “Mary Ann with the Shaky Hands” and “A Quick One, While He’s Away.” On big stages at Summerfest or State Fair, they wax familiar on hits such as “Won’t Get Fooled Again” and “Baba O’Riley.” At their gig this weekend at medium-size Shank Hall, The Substitutes will likely cover the gamut.
The Substitutes formed in 2003 after Branigan placed an ad in the Shepherd Express featuring a graphic of a microphone being lassoed—just the way Who vocalist Roger Daltrey twirled his mike from a long cord. The resulting lineup includes Milwaukee musicians with long résumés in the local scene. Andy Pagel (drums), Andy Potocic (guitar) and Dave Stevens (vocals) played in bands such as Loblolly, Stall, Saint Bernard and The Western Box Turtles. “I was intent on not doing the band unless I had the right people. The Who had a sound and The Substitutes have to play enough like The Who to pull it off,” Branigan says.
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But rather than replicate The Who’s recordings, “we put a creative spin on them,” he insists. “We try to convey how they might have sounded live, jamming on them organically”—as The Who were wont to do. “Our audience is a great source of feedback for us, as far was what songs are working and not working.”
Once in a while, Potocic smashes his guitar in a windmilling Townshend fury. Mostly, they let the songs speak for themselves. “We’re all guys with day jobs,” Branigan says. “We’re just keeping the flame burning and have fun along the way.
The Substitutes perform Saturday, Feb. 6 at 8 p.m. at Shank Hall with The Gleasons opening the show.
