So 2013 looks like it’s going to be a good year, in September I get to see Roger Waters perform The Wall and last night I witnessed “Quadrophenia and more”…both of which would make it into my top 10 all time albums.
There is a concern for anyone going to see The Who nowadays with half the band already succeeding in dying before they got old…but these fears were soon assuaged with Daltrey and Townsend backed by Townshend’s younger brother Simon on guitar and vocals, Pino Palladino on bass and Scott Devours on drums, replacing regular drummer Zak Starkey who had a tendon injury. And despite the younger replacements this is not a boy band…this is a yob band…this is men behaving badly…this is maximum R & B.
I’d never been to the O2 before and it’s not a great venue, our seats were up in the gods and as I was watching the support band I began questioning the ticket price…have to say though 4 tracks into the main act and no one was thinking they had been short changed. By the time Simon Townsend had belted out The Dirty Jobs I was thinking I had had my money’s worth. At the end of the evening with them having been on stage for close to 3 hours that view was even more reinforced.
Townsend apparently reinvents this show each time he does it and watching the video backdrop I was confused as to what the death of Elvis, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the death of Diana and 9/11 had to do with Jimmy’s story…I obviously wasn’t the only one confused – witness Roger Daltrey getting the words to Love reign o’er me wrong, slipping in an extra verse and having to be put back on track by the maestro…but we will let that pass…more important was the homage to both Entwistle and Moon, especially when you consider Quadrophenia’s theme and it’s inclusion of all band members.
To see Quadrophenia played in full would be enough for me…to have the bonus of a six set encore of classics was icing on the cake, although you have to smile at 20,000 40+ blokes joining in to a refrain of “Teenage Wasteland”.
All in all a fantastic night which has me re-evaluating my top 5 gigs.
Quadrophenia:
I Am the Sea
The Real Me
Quadrophenia
Cut My Hair
The Punk and the Godfather
I’m One
The Dirty Jobs
Helpless Dancer
Is It in My Head?
I’ve Had Enough
5:15
Sea and Sand
Drowned
Bell Boy
Doctor Jimmy
The Rock
Love, Reign O’er Me
Encore:
Who Are You
You better You bet
Pinball Wizard
Baba O’Riley
Won’t Get Fooled Again
Tea & Theatre
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