I am, of course, a massive fan of The Who. They, along with the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Kinks epitomise the best of British rock from the 1960s and going into the 1970s. Indeed, during the 1970s The Who were, without doubt one of the best rock bands in the world alongside the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin. I have seen The Who 20+ times since 1971 and they remain a major force as a live act.
Somehow, almost beyond my own hopes, Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey have managed to continue the life of The Who after the great losses of Keith Moon and John Entwistle, both seemingly irreplaceable. Yet the band continued, partly because of their strong fan base, the connection to mod culture and more importantly because of the tenacious nature and vision of Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey. So The Who lives on and I am very glad that this is the case.
Another opportunity to see them! I grab it with both hands each time. And this time it was local at Durham cricket ground. Unlike the Rod Stewart concert, the weather held out and Jan, my carer for the evening, and I were pleased that we were not drenched; there had been some rain but thankfully it subsided by the time we reached the wheelchair platform, which gives a good view of the proceedings. As we entered the cricket ground we could hear the sound of UB40 featuring Ali Campbell finishing their set with “Kingston Town” and “Can’t Help Falling in Love”. Sadly, we had just missed him singing “Red, Red Wine”. Nonetheless it was good to hear his voice again.
This time, The Who were accompanied by quite a large orchestra, similarly to the last time I saw them in Wembley Stadium a few years ago. The performance was in three parts: segments from Tommy with the orchestra, the band performing a “greatest hits” set and finally, the orchestra returned to join The Who in playing segments from Quadrophenia. The concert started at 8:15 PM prompt with the band and orchestra playing a short section from the Tommy overture, quickly moving into “1921” (“is going to be a good year”), then “Amazing Journey” (which is, by the way, still amazing!). We were then taken through further sections of Tommy Including, of course, the wonderful “Pinball Wizard” and closing with “We’re Not Gonna Take It”. The orchestra stayed to back the band for “Who Are You” and finally a track which is finally starting to grow on me; “Eminence Front” sung by Townsend.
The orchestra left the stage in order for The Who to play a set of great songs from the past. At this point I should mention the band which comprises a selection of great musicians including regulars Simon Townshend (Pete’s brother) and Zak Starkey (son of Ringo Starr). So we roll back to the 1960s and are treated to “The Kids Are All Right”, “Substitute”, “I Can’t Explain” and “My Generation” among others. All of these are classic songs and I can’t say which is my favourite. They all take me back. I recall when either “I Can’t Explain” (their first single, of course) or “Substitute” would open the set during the 1970s. Then they complete this short section with excellent versions of 1970s classics: “Won’t Get Fooled Again” and another great favourite of mine, the lovely ballad “Behind Blue Eyes”.
Now there was a time when I thought Roger was losing his vocal abilities, but these days his voice sounds as strong as ever. Pete Townshend looks well and still plays some mean guitar; no real arm twirling and certainly no smashing the guitar these days, but you can’t have everything and maybe smashing the guitar would be unseemly at his stage in life. Oh, but Roger still does some great mike swirling during “Won’t Get Fooled Again”.
Finally, we move into the last segment featuring songs from Quadrophenia including the speed fueled (“out of my head on the”) “5:15” which conjures up images of Phil Daniels as Jimmy on the train to Brighton. Magic. I have come to love Quadrophenia, which I once felt was nowhere near as good as Tommy, having seen The Who perform the opus in full on many occasions. I now understand why many people believe it is The Who’s best work and how it has become a mod classic. To close they perform another favourite “Baba O’Riley”. It is 10:30 PM and a prompt finish right on curfew time.
I bought a couple of programmes (one for me and one for my friend John in the USA, as I often do) and regret not purchasing a set of Zak Starkey drumsticks. However, I correct this omission of judgement by ordering a set online. Many thanks to Jan for taking the photographs. We meander our way out towards our taxi who is waiting for us. One thing I have just remembered.
During the concert, Pete Townshend reminisces about, when playing in the North-East, staying at a hotel in Gateshead and he can’t remember whether it was named the Three Bridges or the Five Bridges Hotel (I’m pretty sure it was the Five Bridges Hotel). He tells a nice story of how when driving up to Scotland he ran out of money and could not afford to put petrol in his car. He stopped at the hotel, they kindly lent him some cash and he was on his way again. Even though, he admitted, that was after some wild and pretty bad behaviour in the hotel during the 1960s.
Happy days.
Setlist: With Orchestra: Overture;1921; Amazing Journey; Sparks; The Acid Queen; Pinball Wizard; We’re Not Gonna Take It; Who Are You; Eminence Front
Band Only: The Kids Are Alright; You Better You Bet; Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere; Substitute; I Can’t Explain; My Generation; Cry If You Want; Won’t Get Fooled Again; Behind Blue Eyes
With Orchestra: The Real Me; I’m One; 5:15;The Rock; Love, Reign O’er Me; Baba O’Riley
Thank you everyone for your kind comments about my blog. Please keep commenting away. I love to hear others experience of The Who or comments (and even corrections :-)) on my blog entries. Thank you today to Pete Walker for sending me some great pictures from the concert taken by his brother-in-law Jacky Hope. I have included two of the images here. Thanks again Pete and Jacky. Peter
PS you obviously had better seats and a better view than I did on the wheelchair platform!
Vintagerock's Weblog. 
Posted by bob on July 23, 2023 at 5:45 pm
I went to see The Who at Derby last Friday.I saw them at Charlton in ’74 when i went in my Cortina,parked in the street and paid £2 on the gate(i think).There were times on Friday when i thought is this all worth the trouble/expense.But when “the lads”came on it lit a fire in me and reminded of all the times i had seen them before.I loved it.Regards Bob
Posted by vintagerock on July 24, 2023 at 10:13 am
Thanks Bob yes The Who are still class! Happy days Peter
Posted by kevin on July 23, 2023 at 7:28 pm
behind blue eyes is in and out of my top ten all-time greatest tracks ever heard by me.
Posted by vintagerock on July 24, 2023 at 10:00 am
I can’t argue with that Kevin! Happy days Peter
Posted by kevin on July 24, 2023 at 3:35 pm
along with “behind blue eyes” being one of the songs I’ve ever heard, live at Leeds is, in my opinion, the best live album ever made, it really sums the who up at a time when they ruled the world, my brother bought it the day of its release and I played the grooves off it, listening through some great rotel headphones, every word and note became ingrained in my brain, part of my DNA so to speak, he lived 10 miles away (round trip) and I would cycle to his house just to listen to it and get paid for washing his Ford Zodiak for my pocket money which went on 10 No6 & a book of matches, times have changed, he would just send me it as a file over the internet now but then it was all of Saturday morning taken up, I seen the who at the city hall when Moon had just passed away and Kenny Jones of the faces stood in for him, a great drummer but no showman, enjoy your gig going and keep posting,
Posted by vintagerock on July 24, 2023 at 4:44 pm
You take me back Kevin my friend. Live at Leeds is one of my all-time favourite albums which I used to play and play. The Who were at the top of their game at the time. And Leeds refractory is a wonderful venue. I saw Sparks there on their first UK tour, the Runaways there also on their first UK tour and finally the great Bob Marley at the same venue. My friend had a Ford Zodiac. Was that the car with one long seat in the front and gearchange on the dashboard? Or was that the Zephyr? And No. 6. Now you are talking. When I was younger I would smoke No. 6 and sometimes buy one cigarette and one match when I was a kid. I would also smoke Marlboro menthol cigarettes, Woodbines, Capstan Full Strength (just to show off) and Gitanes (just to be cool). Sadly I no longer smoke and my condition means I am unable to do so any more. Happy days. The things you do when you are young 🙂 Peter
Posted by Badfinger (Max) on July 24, 2023 at 1:11 am
Sounds like a great time… I’m truly jealous…you saw The Who with Keith Moon…for my money the best rock drummer. The first time I got to see them was in 1989.
Posted by vintagerock on July 24, 2023 at 9:37 am
Hi Max yes Keith was a great drummer as well as a fun showman. The Who, however, are still great live. Happy days Peter
Posted by Andrew Barker on July 27, 2023 at 1:15 pm
Hi Bob
How can I contact you.
Posted by bob on July 27, 2023 at 3:20 pm
bobwoodcock@btinternet.com
Posted by bob on July 27, 2023 at 3:23 pm
contact via e mail bobwoodcock@btinternet.com
Posted by ciarant1step on August 10, 2023 at 4:05 pm
Like you I am a big fan of the The Who. In Autumn 1971 I convinced my parents to buy a record player, and I managed to buy a single, which was Rod Stewart’s Maggie May and then an LP, which was Who’s Next. The Who had such an exciting sound, and so many great songs., From your blog it looks like they played three songs from Who’s Next. Brilliant stuff.
But there are so many other songs. The orchestral section for Tommy sounds great. Roger Daltrey just seems so well suited to these singing and dramatic roles. You couldn’t imagine Tommy without him, or at least not being nearly as good.
That’s true of Quadrophenia too. I think you’re right about Quadrophenia, so many great songs that all seem to hang together. These songs seem to work so well together and the combination of Townshend and Daltrey just works. And ‘Baba O’Reilly’ – fantastic encore. Wish I had been there.
Posted by vintagerock on August 10, 2023 at 6:10 pm
Many thanks for sharing Ciaran
Yes I am a massive fan of The Who. Daltrey was on fine form with great vocals and Townsend’s guitar playing is as good as ever! Happy days Peter