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!
This tour was entitled Who Was I? It was announced as: “A special evening of Who classics, rarities, solo hits and fan Q&A. One of the UK’s greatest singers and legendary frontman of The Who is striking out across the UK this November, a return to performing that cannot come soon enough for The Who legend.
Chieftains. On this tour I want to take the audience on a musical journey through my career as a singer, with a show of songs and sounds that explores and surprises. I look forward to having closer contact with my audience than festivals and arenas allow. Leaving time to chat. The show, which will comprise a unique mix of music and conversation, is built around Roger’s musical journey and encompasses nearly every style imaginable – including blues, rock, country, soul and metal. [Not sure I agree with you about the metal music, Roger].
During the evening he will dig into his incredible back catalogue pulling from his nine solo albums, his album with Wilko Johnson, and even reinterpreting a few Who classics and rarities. This is a show for real music fans and will give a unique insight into how all these great songs came about; what the influences were and where the sounds originated. As with everything Roger does, it will be totally real and authentic and lots of it – a plethora of songs with some questions answered and rock n roll stories along the way – nothing phoned in!”
I wasn’t sure what time 
Roger’s band for the UK tour was: Simon Townshend on guitar and vocals (Simon is of course well-known as a member of The Who’s wider touring band, Pete’s brother and a long-term member of Roger’s band); Doug Boyle on guitar; Geraint Watkins on keyboards; John Hogg on bass; Jody Linscott, who was simply outstanding on percussion; Billy Nicholls providing backing vocals; Steve Weston on harmonica; Ben Townshend (Simon’s son) on drums; and Katie Jacoby on electric violin. So, although this was Roger’s gig, the links to Pete Townshend and The Who were very clear! Excellent. Simon has, for me, become almost a Pete “stand-in” which is probably grossly unfair to his talents and his motives for being out there with Roger playing. Having said that it does seem that when Pete doesn’t want to tour, Roger will go out on his own and Simon will join him for the ride.
Now there was a time when I felt Roger’s voice was going and I feared we might be getting close to the end for The Who. But somehow, almost miraculously, he has rebuilt the strength and power in his voice and at 78 years old he is doing amazingly both vocally and physically. The man is a legend, as is, of course his partner in crime in The Who, Pete Townshend. And as the man says above “Use It or Lose It” which seems to be true, and also seems to work! Good man Roger!
The set consisted of a mixture of Roger solo songs, some taken from the films he has starred in such as Mcvicar (a career criminal who was in Durham jail for a period) and quite a few from his collaboration with Wilco Johnson. Highlights for me are the classic Who songs “Tattoo” (“Welcome to my life, tattoo I’m a man now, thanks to you”), “Who Are You”,” Baba O’Riley” and the great Leo Sayer song “Giving It All Away”. Roger covered a lot of early Leo Sayer songs and was one of the people who helped him make it big. Leo Sayer is now seen as a bit of a joke in some circles but if you look back at his first album Silverbird it is really great with some classic tracks such as “The Dancer”. Listen to it if you get a chance. Very underrated as a songwriter and artist. Roger closes with “Young Man Blues” which takes me back to saying the whole in the 1970s: “Well A Young Man Ain’t Got Nothing in the World Today…… He Got Sweet F**k All!” Pure class. The guy still has it!
Setlist: Let My Love Open the Door (Pete Townshend song); Freedom Ride (Taj Mahal song); Squeeze Box (The Who); Waiting for a Friend; Another Tricky Day (The Who); Who Are You (The Who); Giving It All Away (Leo Sayer song); The Kids Are Alright (The Who); Tattoo (The Who); After the Fire; Days of Light; The Way It Is (Simon Townshend song); Going Back Home (Wilko Johnson & Roger Daltrey song); Some Kind of Hero (Wilko Johnson & Roger Daltrey song); As Long as I Have You; I Keep It To Myself (Wilko Johnson & Roger Daltrey song); Baba O’Riley (The Who); Without Your Love; Young Man Blues (Mose Allison song covered by the Who)
I have taken some time to write this account of my trip to see 
Some nifty manoeuvres around a tight corner take me to my seat accompanied by my entourage of carers. A small bottle of red, a bacon sandwich and I am set up for the journey direct from Sunderland to King’s Cross station, courtesy of Grand Central trains. Then onward to the tubes and we are on our way to Wembley. Now what I never realised, until I was in a wheelchair myself, is that not every tube station is wheelchair accessible so you have to choose a route that enables you to change tubes at a station which is accessible. Luckily the line from King’s Cross to Wembley Park is completely accessible, so all sorted. Then we check into our Premier Inn, which is only a few minutes walk from Wembley Stadium me in my accessible room, and my carers situated only a room or two a way.
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