The Who Newcastle Arena 9th Dec 2014
Support from local heroes Maximo Park
What can I say! The Who returned to Newcastle as part of “The Who Hits 50 tour!” with a set jam-packed with classic songs drawn from across their amazing entire catalogue. I went along with my mate Norm to see the rock legends, and we were both really looking forward to the gig. They didn’t let us down, and then some. This was the 19th occasion on which I have seen the Who in concert, the first being at Newcastle Odeon in 1971. I knew that the concert would be good, but was surprised just how excellent the band were last night. Support came from local band Maximo Park who warmed the crowd up with a short set. The arena was pretty full, although not sold out. The Who started their set shortly after 8.30pm, sauntering on to the stage, Roger holding his cup of tea. “Go For It Pete” a voice from the front shouted. Townshend explained that these days his actions are limited to windmill arm swinging, a little jigging (he demonstrated both) and insulting the front row (which he admitted to gaining great enjoyment from). Then the familiar chords of “I Can’t Explain” rang through the arena and The Who were off, in full swing, taking us right back to where it all started. This was followed swiftly by “Substitute”; two classic slabs of 60s pop/rock, which they always opened their set with during the 70s. Roger’s voice was strong and solid, and the mike saw lots of twirling throughout the evening. Next up was “The Seeker”, not often played live, followed by “Who Are You” and “The Kids Are Alright”, with Roger on acoustic guitar; those great harmonies always get me. Pete explained how he wrote great pop songs like “The Kids Are Alright” (also mentioning “Legal Matter” in the same context) in his small attic studio in London in the 60s, usually in connection with stories about his latest girlfriend. He went on to tell us how he then moved into “artrock”, as way of introducing “I Can See for Miles”. Classic. One of their best songs, and a pure gem from the 60s. Pete was very animated throughout the concert and talked to the crowd a lot. He joked about “Pictures of Lily” and explained that “Cry If You Want” (can’t say I remember that one) was covered by the Merseys (and Bowie? I think). Next was “Behind Blue Eyes” with Roger in fine voice, followed by “You Better You Bet”. Then, with one of the band on mouth harp and another on jaw’s harp, we were in the 70s and “Join Together”. Roger made reference to their last tour, which was “Quadrophenia”, as and introduction to a short segment from that album: “I’m One”; “5:15”; “Bell Boy” (with video footage of Keith Moon playing the bellboy part, his grinning face staring at us from giant screens behind the band) and “Love, Reign O’er Me”. John Entwistle also featured, in a great close-up video of an extended bass solo, the screen showing his fingers speeding up and down the neck of his guitar. 
The crowd gave the videos of the late great Moon and Entwistle massive cheers. Townshend was really on fire by now, thumping his guitar, and windwill arm twirling, again and again and again. His temper also flared at one point; something obviously wasn’t right with his guitar so he threw, slamming it flat face down onto the floor. He continued to sing without a guitar, until a guy quickly arrived with a replacement. “Eminence Front” from “It’s Hard” brought us into the 80s. Then Pete introduced “A Quick One (While He’s Away)”, explaining that his first mini opera was written quickly to fill up space on an album, and was his initial attempt at a long themed piece of music. He went on to tell us that it features in the Stones Rock’n’Roll circus film, and that we should watch it if we haven’t yet seen it. I’ve always liked this track, and enjoyed seeing them play it live, I don’t think they have played it on tour since 1970 or so. A “Tommy’ segment followed: “Amazing Journey”; “Sparks”; “Pinball Wizard”. Pete’s hand was bleeding badly by now, his twirling and chord smashing had resulted in him cutting a finger; there was blood all over the scratch plate of his Fender Strat. The set closed with “See Me, Feel Me”; “Baba O’Riley”; and the anthemic “Won’t Get Fooled Again”. For the encore, they played “Magic Bus”, finishing at 11pm. A 2 and a half hour set from classic rock band who were simply on fire; it was one of the best performances I have seen from them in many years. A long set, but never boring; it went over so quickly. Pure class.
Archive for the ‘The Who’ Category
10 Dec
The Who Newcastle Arena 9th Dec 2014
25 May
Live Aid Wembley Stadium 13th July 1985
Live Aid Wembley Stadium 13th July 1985
I went with a couple of mates. We missed out on tickets when they went on sale and the only way we could get there was to buy tickets for a coach trip from Middlesbrough. So we were up at 4am, drove to Middlesbrough and joined a coach which left at 5am for London. We arrived well before noon, had a couple of drinks and entered the stadium, which was of course completely packed so we found a spot in the stands right at the back. A few minutes later Status Quo took to the stage with “Rockin’ All Over The World” and the day started. This was Quo reunited one year after the split, with Alan flying over from Oz to join Francis and Rick. Their short set also featured Caroline” and “Don’t Waste My Time”. A fitting start to the day. I have so many great memories of that day.
Queen’s performance is, of course, often rated as the greatest live performance by any band. Freddie certainly commanded the crowd the day and it propelled them to super stardom. Their well planned set was a medley with short sections of their anthems: “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “Radio Ga Ga”, “Hammer To Fall”, “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”, “We Will Rock You” and “We Are The Champions”. They had apparently been rehearsing their short set for days, to ensure perfection, and it showed, and worked. U2 weren’t far behind them, though, in terms of performance, with Bono showing how great a front man he was. U2 played two songs: “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and a lengthy version of “Bad” during which Bono dragged a girl from the rush down front to dance with him on stage, and which also included snippets from Lou Reed’s “Satellite of love” and “Walk On The Wild Side”, and The Stones’ “Ruby Tuesday” and “Sympathy for the Devil”. Electric.
For me, however. the highlights were The Who and David Bowie, as I was, and remain, a big fan of both acts. Bowie started with “TVC15” (a strange and poor choice I felt, and remember being disappointed on the day), “Rebel Rebel” (great, good choice), “Modern Love” (well, ok) and then “Heroes” (we all sag along and it was pure magic). I still feel that with a better choice of songs Bowie could have eclipsed Queen and U2.
The Who performed “My Generation”, “Pinball Wizard”, “Love Reign O’er Me” (another strange song choice given the magnitude of the event) and a blistering “Won’t Get Fooled Again” with much mike swinging by Daltrey and lots of arm twirling by Townshend.
Other memories: Elton and Kiki sang “Don’t go Breaking my Heart” (great!). Paul McCartney suffered from sound problems and we couldn’t hear him at all for much of “Let It Be” although I gather it was fine on TV. Geldof drew massive cheers every time he set foot on stage, and he deserved every one of them. The scheduling worked amazingly, with very few hitches. Seeing the cameras pick out Charles and Diana over in their enclosure. The amazingly camp Bowie and Jagger video. The awful, sad and moving video of starving children played to the Cars’ “Drive”. Phil Collins playing Wembley and JFK courtesy of Concorde (show off).
But the truly unforgettable moment came at the end, and will stay in my mind for ever. That was the finale, with the entire stadium singing along to “Do They Know It’s Christmas ?” with Bob Geldof leading us, and everyone else on stage. I’ve never seen, felt, or heard anything like it before or since. We walked out of that stadium to the coach park, all of us still singing…..”Feed The World”…..
Then it was a long coach ride back to Middlesbrough. We arrived back around 5 or 6am, then drove home. 24 hours with hardly any sleep, just an hour or so caught on the bus, but a day I will remember forever.
Line-up: Status Quo; The Style Council; The Boomtown Rats; Adam Ant; Ultravox; Spandau Ballet; Elvis Costello; Nik Kershaw; Sade; Sting; Phil Collins; Howard Jones; Bryan Ferry (with David Gilmour on guitar); Paul Young/Alison Moyet; U2; Dire Straits/Sting; Queen; Video “Dancing in the Streets” by David Bowie/Mick Jagger; David Bowie; The Who; Elton John (Kiki Dee and George Michael join Elton); Mercury and May; Paul McCartney; Finale
21 Jun
The Who Quadrophenia and More Newcastle Arena 20 June 2013
The Who play Quadrophenia and More Newcastle Arena 20 June 2013
Support from Vintage Trouble
This is the fourth time I’ve seen The Who perform Quadrophenia, including the original 1973, in Hyde Park with a cast of thousands in the 90s, and at the Albert Hall three years ago. I was never a massive fan of the album, but I’ve grown to like and respect it as a piece of work over the years. This time I’d been lucky enough to score a front row seat, towards the left side of the stage in front of Simon Townshend. Pete and Roger were towards the opposite end of the stage, but overall my view of the proceedings was great. The Who came on stage promptly at the advertised start time of 8.30pm and ran through the entire album. The arena was packed; it was pleasing to see the respect The Who carry, and that they can still draw big crowds, probably more so than last time they played Newcastle Arena.
The Who band line-up (Roger, Pete, Pino on bass, Simon on second guitar) is augmented by drums, keyboards, a string section, and a brass section for this tour. The production has changed since I last saw the show at the Albert Hall. Rather than showing the story of Jimmy and using clips from the Quadropehnia film, the screens above the stage displayed images of the band, including some great shots of Kieth Moon and John Entwistle. 
So we had a tremendous bass solo by John during 5.15, and Keith sang his own parts during Bell Boy. These segments were handled very well, and drew loud cheers from the crowd and a bow and a wink from Roger to his old mates. Quadrophenia was followed by a few Who “hits”, it was great to see the guys play Pinball Wizard and Won’t Get Fooled Again. This was a classic Who performance. Townshend was on fire, and in a pretty good mood (but no guitar smashing, which was a shame as I was hoping to catch it from my vantage point in the front ronw 🙂 ) and Roger’s voice was strong and solid, showing no signs of cracking as it sometimes has in recent years. The old guys are still the best for me.
Set list: 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. Who Are You?; You Better You Bet; Pinball Wizard; Baba O’Riley; Won’t Get Fooled Again; Tea & Theatre.
15 Oct
The Who play Quadrophenia with Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Alanis Morissette Hyde Park 29th June 1996
The Who play Quadrophenia with Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Alanis Morissette Hyde Park 29th June 1996
This was a great gig, with a very strong line-up. The concert was in support of the Princes Trust and was the first time that The Who had played in the UK for some years. I went with Marie, largely to see The Who; however the presence of Dylan and Clapton on the bill made the event all the more attractive, and the price of £8 seemed a bargain. We spent the weekend in London, staying at a Hotel close to Hyde Park Corner. Around 150,000 people were at this concert, and the weather wasn’t great; it was quite a cold day. I don’t remember much about Alanis Morissette, but do recall seeing Dylan who played a short set. His normal band was augmented by Ron Wood and Al Kooper; we were sitting on the grass somewhere in the middle of the park, and the sound was murky, blowing around in the breeze.
Bob Dylan’s setlist was: Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat; All Along the Watchtower; Positively 4th Street; Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues; Tangled Up in Blue; Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right; Silvio; Seven Days; Highway 61 Revisited 
Quadrophenia has grown on me over the years, and I’ve seen The Who perform it three times; once on the original tour, this show in Hyde Park, and more recently at the Albert Hall Teenage Cancer Trust gig. The Hyde Park show featured a cast of special guests playing the various parts of the rock opera: Phil Daniels (Narration), Trevor McDonald (Newscaster), Ade Edmundson (Bell Boy), Gary Glitter (Rocker), Stephen Fry (Hotel Manager), and Dave Gilmour (Guitar on Dirty Jobs, Love Reign O’er Me). The band was introduced by Jools Holland. It was a fun show, although I was a little disappointed that they didn’t pay any Who classics; I thought we might get one or two as an encore, instead we got a reprise of 5.15. The Who setlist was: I Am the Sea; The Real Me; Quadrophenia; Cut My Hair; The Punk and the Godfather; I’m One; The Dirty Jobs (with David Gilmour); 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 (with David Gilmour). Encore: 5:15. After The Who, we watched some of Clapton’s set, but left before the end. At the time I’d lost a little faith in Eric and was somewhat tired of seeing him play live. However my interest in him has become renewed in recent years, and I also feel that he has returned to form.
9 Jul
Roger Daltrey plays Tommy The Sage Gateshead 4 July 2011
Roger Daltrey plays Tommy The Sage Gateshead 4 July 2011
Tommy was one of the first albums I ever bought. I can picture myself in Binns record store looking through the album sleeves. I remember choosing between The Crazy World of Arthur Brown lp and Tommy, and taking the Who album home and playing on my uncles radiogram.
I wasn’t too sure how this was going to be. I’ve seen a couple of Who shows over the last few years where Roger’s voice hasn’t been too good, so I must admit I had doubts about how he would cope with a full Tommy show. I needn’t have worried. This was so much better that I hoped for. There were a few times when I wondered if Roger’s voice would hold out, but it seemed to get stronger as the night went on. Roger was clearly enjoying himself and has assembled an excellent band who truly do justice to the Who’s rock opera. Simon Townsend (Pete’s brother) is a great sideman for Roger, and at times sounds (and looks) like his elder brother.
This was a marathon two and a half hour show, with Roger going on to play some great Who tunes. Not sure when I last saw the Who play Pictures of Lilly or I Can See for Miles (my favourite Who song), but its certainly a long time ago and it was great to see and hear them played again. Simon took vocals for Going Mobile and did a great job of it. A great night. I could go and see him again tomorrow and wouldn’t be bored. Made me realise just how great the Who were, and how much they still mean to me. Hope Pete returns and I get to see The Who again one day.
Set list (Tommy): Overture; It’s a Boy; 1921; Amazing Journey; Sparks; Eyesight to the Blind; Christmas; Cousin Kevin; The Acid Queen; Underture; Do You Think It’s Alright; Fiddle About; Pinball Wizard; There’s A Doctor; Go to The Mirror; Tommy Can You Hear Me; Smash The Mirror; Sensation; Miracle Cure; Sally Simpson; I’m Free; Welcome; Tommy’s Holiday Camp; We’re Not Gonna Take It
Who classics and others: Who Are You; Pictures of Lily; Tattoo; I Can See for Miles; Behind Blue Eyes; Real Good Looking Boy; Days Of Light; Going Mobile; Young Man Blues; Baba O’Riley; Red Blue Grey
ticket
28 Mar
The Who Quadrophenia Albert Hall London 30 March 2010
The Who play Quadrophenia The Royal Albert Hall London 30 March 2010
I’m sitting on the early train north coming home after seeing The Who perform Quadrophenia in its entirity at the Royal Albert Hall last night. I’ll try and review the show as honestly as I can below.
I suppose I didn’t want to raise my hopes too much for this one. Although I’ve seen The Who perform Quadrophenia before on the 73 tour and in Hyde Park in the 90s, I am not a massive fan of the album. Also I’ve seen The Who a few times recently where Roger has had some problems with his voice. Still I went along with an open mind last night.
In fact it couldn’t have been better. For me this was the best Who show I have seen for many many years. And it was more of a performance than a straight Who concert. The band played Qaudrophenia straight through with no other songs and no encore. And it was everything Quadrophenia should be: interesting, challenging, sad, rocking and a celebration for all of us of a great band and a great rock opera. The standard Who line-up (Roger, Pete, Rabbit on keyboards, Zak on drums, Pino on bass, Simon on second guitar) was augmented by a string section, brass section and guests. The sound was big and powerful and gave justice to the album tracks. A screen above the stage showed us the story of Jimmy with clips from the film and from the past, Brighton, mods and rockers etc. Eddie Vedder took the part of the Godfather (doesn’t he look like Jim Morrission?) and Tom from Kasabian gave a great performance as the Ace Face (great suit and cute Bellboy uniform!). Roger’s voice was pretty strong mostly; but he did seem to be suffering towards the end. Pete played great, and towards the end was really bashing away at his guitar. Some excellent acoustic guitar and vocals from Pete on the quieter songs. I was on the floor towards the left of the stage six rows back from the front. Everyone around me was up on their feet from the start and stayed like that throughout. Lots of fists in the air, everyone seemed to know every word of every song. There were obviously Who fans from all over the world there. An awesome, faultless performance. I thought the crowd wouldn’t leave the hall and I guess many were disappointed that they didn’t come back and play some classics. But you know what, for me it didn’t matter. The show was just perfect as it was. There were cameras around me; it looks like this will appear as a DVD; which would be great. Some fans on the message board have been gossipping that this could be the last Who show. Somehow I doubt it; I suspect however it could be the last time we see Quadrophenia performed in its entirity like this. Pleased I went, last night I saw glimpses of the old classic Who; the greatest rock band in the world.
set list:
I Am the Sea
The Real Me
Quadrophenia
Cut My Hair
The Punk and the Godfather” (with Eddie Vedder)
I’m One
The Dirty Jobs
Helpless Dancer
Is It in My Head?
I’ve Had Enough (with Eddie Vedder and Tom Meighan)
5:15
Sea and Sand (with Eddie Vedder and Tom Meighan)
Drowned
Bell Boy (with Tom Meighan)
Doctor Jimmy
The Rock
Love, Reign O’er Me
ticket
programme
19 Jul
Quadrophenia Sunderland Empire July 9 2009
Quadrophenia Sunderland Empire July 9 2009
So Jimmy goes to Brighton on the 5.15 and Laura reviews the show below.
Having never heard of the show and with a somewhat sketchy knowledge of “The Who”, it was totally on dad’s recommendation that I attended this one.
It made a welcome change to only have to travel five minutes down the road to the Sunderland Empire. I hadn’t been there since seeing Morrissey a year or two ago and it was nice to be back in the theatre. It brought back memories of seeing pantomimes when I was young, watching musicals after the stage was extended and chatting with Russell Brand after a comedy gig.
For an opening performance however (particularly one with the promise of two tickets for the price of one) the auditorium wasn’t so full. From what I could hear, a lot of the people around us were big “Who” fans or else fans of the film. Not knowing what to expect I settled back in my seat and awaited the show’s beginning.
After a series of odd sounds and snatches of conversation coming over the sound system (I don’t think they were part of the show) the curtain rose. I can only apologise as what followed still remains a complete mystery to me. The show was very difficult to follow owing partly to the show’s lack of content and largely to the performer’s poor delivery. It was near impossible to decipher what they were singing and their vocals in general weren’t as good as I’d hoped.
During the interval dad explained the story to me, (the little story there was that is) and he too commented on the poor performances. The second half was little better. The rest of the musical was presented through a series of unteligable musical numbers far too frequently interspersed with heavy rain sound effects which wouldn’t have been out of place in a low budget children’s television programme.
All in all dad and I were quite disappointed with this one. Perhaps it is a little harsh to fully blame the cast; I think the poor sound quality and the weak plot also didn’t help matters. Dad says he’d advise anybody interested to just buy the album rather than going to see the show.
ticket
flyer
29 Dec
The Who O2 Indigo December 14th 2008
The Who O2 Indigo December 14th 2008
The O2 Indigo is a small, 2000 capacity, venue within the O2 complex. The Who were playing three Christmas shows at the venue; the first two for fan club members only, and the third show for the public. I joined the fanclub specially to get tickets for the show, it seemed a great chance to see the band up close in a small venue.
I’d been suffering all week with a terrible dose of flu, and almost didn’t go to the gig. But I figured that I would regret it later if I missed it so I wrapped myself up well and took the long train journey down to London on the Sunday afternoon. As it turned out I am glad that I did make the effort. I arrived into London around 4pm, went to my Travelodge room in Kings Cross and than headed across to the O2 around 7pm. The queue for entry to the Indigo was outside curling around the block. The security for getting into the show was quite tight courtesy of Harvey Goldsmith; I had to take along my passport, credit card and booking reference to gain entry.
Got into the gig without any problem after around an hour wait in the cold, and the support act Kinkade were already on stage. They seemed pretty good, obviously influenced by the Kinks, Who, Small Faces. The Indigo is a nice little night-club like venue, and wasn’t too full so I took a place in the crowd near the front at the right of the stage, where Townshend stands.
After a short break, the Who take the stage without any introductions and launch straight into I Can’t Explain. The set is a mixture of old classics, and includes a couple of surprises: Tattoo for one; don’t think I’ve seen them play that for some time. The Who are on great form tonight, lots of windmill arm twirling from Pete, lots of mike swinging from Roger. Roger’s voice is very strong; sounds much better than the last couple of times I have seen them, and Pete is playing great, really bashing at his guitar. Pete is in a cheeky mood tonight; lots of chat with the crowd; quite a bit of swearing. The guy in front of me is shouting for A Quick One all night; Pete says he could play that on his own! Someone shouts for Bellboy; Pete replies “Keith is F***ing dead; we can’t play that; do you want us to bring him back; wish we could”. They finish with Won’t get fooled again and My Generation. The encores are Pinball Wizard and a Tommy selection, finishing with Tea and Theatre from the recent album.
After the show I cram on to a crowded tube full of Coldplay fans (they were playing in the main O2 arena at the same time: mental note to myself : I must not go to see Coldplay again) and make my way back to Kings Cross. Then up at 6.30 to catch the 7.30 train back home. Was it worth it? Definitely; great to see them again; one of the best times I’ve seen them recently although not the same as seeing them in the 70s. Guess it never will be the same, but its still the Who and they can still rock like no-one else on a good night.
Setlist:
I Can’t Explain
The Seeker
Anyway Anyhow Anywhere
Fragments
Who Are You
Tattoo
Sister Disco
Behind Blue Eyes
Baba O’Reilly
Eminence Front
5:15
Love Reign O’er Me
Won’t Get Fooled Again
My Generation/Cry If You Want
Naked Eye
Encores:
Pinball Wizard
Amazing Journey
Sparks
See Me Feel Me
Tea & Theatre
website: http://www.thewho.com
ticket for the gig
programme
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