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The Who Hits 50
Mar. 21st, 2016 07:30 pmA 50th anniversary tour. Wow. Those guys are old! The band itself is older than me. This was kind of a bittersweet show. The greatest rock and roll band ever (in my humble opinion). They still rock, and it's great to see them up there at their age. But their voices are not so hot anymore. It's a little sad to see that happen. There's hardly a singer of that age who can still hold it together - OK, there's hardly a singer of that age!
They opened with "Who Are You." It's one of their greatest songs, so it was good to get it out of the way early. Second song was "The Seeker," one of my personal favorites. After that were more early hits, "The Kids Are Alright", "I Can See for Miles" and "My Generation". Then was "The Real Me," Another one of my favorites. Then "Pictures of Lily", which was a welcome surprise. Roger's voice sounded good for that one. "Behind Blue Eyes" and "Bargain" sounded great. "Join Together" isn't one of my favorites, but it sounded good. Then three Quadrophenia tunes sandwiched between two eighties songs. Then four songs from Tommy, including "Sparks". They ended the show with "Baba O'Riley" and "Won't Get Fooled Again". I think it was two hours and ten minutes, with no encore.
The band: Roger Daltrey singing, and occasional backing guitar. Pete Townshend, songwriter, guitarist, backing vocalist and occasional lead vocalist. Pete's brother Simon Townshend on guitar and backing vocals (since 1996). Zak Starkey (Ringo Starr's son) on drums (since 1996). Pino Palladino on bass (since 2002). They had three keyboardists, John Corey, Loren Gold and Frank Simes, who was also music director (all three since 2012). The one with white hair had a nice little piano solo at the start of "Lover Reign O'er Me." Palladino hardly moved through the show. Even less noticeable than Entwistle was.
Zak Starkey can really play Keith Moon's parts. He's an awesome addition to the (touring) band. Moon was his godfather, and gave him his first set of drums, at the age of eight.
Simon sang backing vocals, and he really was backing up both Roger and Pete. He is fifteen years younger than Pete, but his voice sounds similar enough, that he was singing the same lines as Pete (when Pete was doing backing vocals) and it sounded like Pete.
Pete sang lead on two songs. The first one, "I Am One," he sounded like he had a frog in his throat. I had the urge to clear my throat. Very rough. He sounded like this performance from three years ago, only worse. I don't remember which was the second song (embarrassed!), but he didn't sound quite as bad. But for that one, he had a lot of trouble reaching the notes. He no longer has any range. But he could cover that up a bit when he belted it out. He had a cold, maybe?
Roger's voice was a bit more interesting. Sometimes he had it, sometimes he didn't. He sounded good on "Pictures of Lily", which has softer vocals. Sometimes he could hit the notes when he belted it out, sometimes he couldn't. He could even hit some of the high notes. He still hit that awesome scream in "Won't Get Fooled Again." For the most part, his voice had lost its range, but there didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason as to which songs he could hit and which he couldn't.
Our seats were great. Row U on the floor. The back row of the front section. I didn't know you could still get tickets that good. We were supposed to see this show in October, but Roger contracted viral meningitis, and they had to postpone about a dozen shows. Before the show, we were wondering if Roger was feeling any residual effects of the illness, but he looked pretty good. He certainly wasn't looking tired by the end of 140 minutes.
Roger just turned 72 and Pete is 70. Aside from the vocal issues, they didn't seem that old. They were moving around better than Mick or Keith were when we saw the Stones a couple of years ago. Pete even did a little scissor kick.
Overall, I loved it. It's The Who, and they rock.
I was a little surprised to see they had an opening act. Tal Wilkenfeld. I thought her voice was a bit weak, and didn't care for her vocal melodies. I liked the other parts of her songs, though. She's a bass player, which is cool. She's played with Jeff Beck, which is probably where I heard her name before, but if you play with Beck, you're pretty good.
( setlist )
They opened with "Who Are You." It's one of their greatest songs, so it was good to get it out of the way early. Second song was "The Seeker," one of my personal favorites. After that were more early hits, "The Kids Are Alright", "I Can See for Miles" and "My Generation". Then was "The Real Me," Another one of my favorites. Then "Pictures of Lily", which was a welcome surprise. Roger's voice sounded good for that one. "Behind Blue Eyes" and "Bargain" sounded great. "Join Together" isn't one of my favorites, but it sounded good. Then three Quadrophenia tunes sandwiched between two eighties songs. Then four songs from Tommy, including "Sparks". They ended the show with "Baba O'Riley" and "Won't Get Fooled Again". I think it was two hours and ten minutes, with no encore.
The band: Roger Daltrey singing, and occasional backing guitar. Pete Townshend, songwriter, guitarist, backing vocalist and occasional lead vocalist. Pete's brother Simon Townshend on guitar and backing vocals (since 1996). Zak Starkey (Ringo Starr's son) on drums (since 1996). Pino Palladino on bass (since 2002). They had three keyboardists, John Corey, Loren Gold and Frank Simes, who was also music director (all three since 2012). The one with white hair had a nice little piano solo at the start of "Lover Reign O'er Me." Palladino hardly moved through the show. Even less noticeable than Entwistle was.
Zak Starkey can really play Keith Moon's parts. He's an awesome addition to the (touring) band. Moon was his godfather, and gave him his first set of drums, at the age of eight.
Simon sang backing vocals, and he really was backing up both Roger and Pete. He is fifteen years younger than Pete, but his voice sounds similar enough, that he was singing the same lines as Pete (when Pete was doing backing vocals) and it sounded like Pete.
Pete sang lead on two songs. The first one, "I Am One," he sounded like he had a frog in his throat. I had the urge to clear my throat. Very rough. He sounded like this performance from three years ago, only worse. I don't remember which was the second song (embarrassed!), but he didn't sound quite as bad. But for that one, he had a lot of trouble reaching the notes. He no longer has any range. But he could cover that up a bit when he belted it out. He had a cold, maybe?
Roger's voice was a bit more interesting. Sometimes he had it, sometimes he didn't. He sounded good on "Pictures of Lily", which has softer vocals. Sometimes he could hit the notes when he belted it out, sometimes he couldn't. He could even hit some of the high notes. He still hit that awesome scream in "Won't Get Fooled Again." For the most part, his voice had lost its range, but there didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason as to which songs he could hit and which he couldn't.
Our seats were great. Row U on the floor. The back row of the front section. I didn't know you could still get tickets that good. We were supposed to see this show in October, but Roger contracted viral meningitis, and they had to postpone about a dozen shows. Before the show, we were wondering if Roger was feeling any residual effects of the illness, but he looked pretty good. He certainly wasn't looking tired by the end of 140 minutes.
Roger just turned 72 and Pete is 70. Aside from the vocal issues, they didn't seem that old. They were moving around better than Mick or Keith were when we saw the Stones a couple of years ago. Pete even did a little scissor kick.
Overall, I loved it. It's The Who, and they rock.
I was a little surprised to see they had an opening act. Tal Wilkenfeld. I thought her voice was a bit weak, and didn't care for her vocal melodies. I liked the other parts of her songs, though. She's a bass player, which is cool. She's played with Jeff Beck, which is probably where I heard her name before, but if you play with Beck, you're pretty good.
( setlist )
