The Who - Concert Review

So. The Who, live in concert. Sounds like a great prospect, right? Well, remember that there are only two original members left and that they’ve been playing for 40+ years. So, are they still any good?

Let’s face it, Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend are real pros and the answer is yes. True, it’s not the same incredibly dynamic band that created an awesome sound with four hugely talented individuals from 1964 until 1978 when Keith Moon passed on, followed by John Entwistle’s passing in 2002.

The band today, with the two surviving members, also contains great longtime sidekick John "Rabbit" Bundrick on keys, along with studio maestro Pino Palladino on bass, awesome talent Zak Starkey on drums, who has the ghost of Moon built in! He does the best fill-in job yet, since Moon's passing. Sorry, Kenney Jones, but it’s true! Pete Townsend’s brother, Simon handles backing vocals and guitar.

Yes, they were indeed good! Intriguing point, it was weird to hear the crowd chanting what came across as "Booooooo" but, of course, it wasn’t, it was indeed, "Whooooo!"

They hit the stage with "I Can’t Explain," running right into "The Seeker." Not wasting time, we then get "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere" and Daltrey and Townsend start some typical banter between themselves before introducing a new track, “Fragments” from their upcoming new album, Endless Wire.

Next up, "Who Are You" totally has the place jumping and, I believe, got possibly the best reception of the night. "Behind Blues Eyes" was next and sounded so fresh, so good!

Leading into the next song, Daltrey talked about how Elvis had influenced his life at such a young age – 11 – all the teenagers loved him then and no one over 20 did and it inspired him to write "Real Good Looking Boy."

Pete Townsend then gave us some introduction to the latest release, Wire and Glass, The Who’s new mini rock opera, explaining that, "this mini album set containd short songs, hope you like them." They all sounded good and the images that accompanied them were very interesting!

The classic "Baba O’Riley" (aka "Teenage Wasteland") was next and, yes, had the whole crowd with the band on this favorite!

I confess to not having known the next song, "Eminence Front" but was told by my wife and the folks around us that this was hugely popular on the radio over here in the US. Huge lava lights were portrayed on the screens behind the band, and to me it came across as Pink Floyd-like. The crowd loved it!

Another new one, "Man In A Purple Dress" was next, then they were starting to wrap things up with some more classics: "You Better You Bet" got great response, "My Generation" was awesome, then the set closed with "Won’t Get Fooled Again."

Great night, but so many other songs they could’ve played, what will the encores bring? "Pinball Wizard" -- killer stuff! Then they go into "Amazing Journey," "Sparks" and then "See Me Feel Me."

It was a great show indeed. I thought there were moments where Roger Daltrey seemed to have hints of straining, but at his age, good for him, right? And Mr. Townshend was in excellent “windmill form” with his arm swinging!

Sure would’ve liked to have heard so many other Who songs, but I heard plenty of good classic rock stuff and left feeling entertained!