Hey Nonny honors Pete Townshend, The Who in May

Just 55 years ago, Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey and The Who played at a club in Arlington Heights. That event will be remembered all month at Arlington Heights' newest music venue, Hey Nonny, 10 S. Vail Ave.

There will be two shows on May 19 celebrating the 77th birthday of rock legend Pete Townshend.

"We held our first annual Pete Townshend Birthday shows last year," said Hey Nonny co-owner Chris Dungan. "Dag Juhlin and Jason Narducy were amazing, and we knew that we had to make it an annual event."

Juhlin and Narducy are longtime Chicago rock veterans. Among Juhlin's many musical adventures, he's been part of Poi Dog Pondering for more than 25 years, leads the raucous Expo and the inventive Sunshine Boys, and lends a hand on numerous other projects, such as Len Kasper's Sonic45.

In addition, he's a longtime cohort of radio legend Steve Dahl on Dahl's daily podcast.

Narducy's first band, Verboten, is credited as inspiring Dave Grohl to pursue music. Since then, Narducy has led his own band, Split Single, and teamed with an all-star list of legends across all genres, including jazz icon Patricia Barber, Hüsker Dü's Bob Mould, and Superchunk.

"Jason and Dag bring to the stage both Townshend's technical wizardry and his joyous creativity," said Dungan. "It is just so much fun to see them perform."

Townshend earned his place in rock history by founding The Who, which is known for hit songs such as "Baba O'Riley," "Won't Get Fooled Again," "My Generation" and "Pinball Wizard." Townshend wrote more than 100 songs and two rock operas, "Tommy" and "Quadrophenia."

To make the event more special, Hey Nonny is kicking off an exhibit of historical photographs of The Who taken by rock photographer Jim Summaria, who has been photographing Chicago rock shows for nearly 50 years. His work was published in 2019 in the book "Classic Rock: Photos from Yesterday and Today."

Hey Nonny will host a reception for the opening of Summaria's The Who show from 4-6 p.m. Tuesday, May 3. The Pete Townshend 77th Birthday shows, featuring Dag Juhlin and Jason Narducy, will take place at 7 and 9 p.m. May 19 at Hey Nonny.

To purchase tickets for the May 19 shows, visit https://www.heynonny.com/#shows.