This was a warm-up gig for The Who's forthcoming appearance at the Royal Albert Hall in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust, hence the relatively small (for The Who) venue.
Support came from The Black Velvets who were a pretty faceless generic rock band. They were an adequate live band certainly, but not particularly memorable.
The Who took the stage to the strains of Roger Daltrey singing "Maybe It's Because I'm A Londoner". Hmmmmm.... Luckily we didn't have to endure this for long as the band kicked into a very enthusiastic version of "Who Are You". A bit of a departure this as whenever I've seen them since the early 1980s they've tended to start with either "I Can't Explain" or "Substitute". Still, it was no matter as those two stalwarts followed immediately afterwards, together with "Anyway Anyhow Anywhere". There was then another departure from the norm when "Another Tricky Day" was hauled out of retirement. This was from their poorly received "Face Dances" album of 1981, and I'm pretty sure that it hasn't been played live since the early 1980s. It received a fairly muted response tonight, which reflects its standing in The Who's canon. It's by no means a bad song, it's just not a particularly good Who song.
Townshend's guitar playing throughout is astonishingly good. Fans may hanker for the glory days when The Who were recognised as the loudest band on the planet by the Guinness Book of World Records no less, but there is more in the way of light and shade in Townshend's playing than there was in days of yore. Sure he can still make your ears melt when he wants to with the loud bits, but when he turns the volume down there are some marvellous moments of delicacy.
"Who's Next" gets a good seeing-to by way of a very raw "Bargain", "Baba O'Riley" and "Behind Blue Eyes". Likewise "Quadrophenia" is revisited with "5.15", "Sea And Sand" and "Love Reign O'er Me" being dusted off. This was the first time I had seen The Who since John Entwistle's sad passing, and I was delighted at how well Pino Palladino's playing fitted in with the rest of the band. However, there were moments when the power of Entwistle's attack was very sorely missed. A key example was the introduction to "Baba O'Riley". When the bass and piano came in it sounded terribly weedy. This is only a minor quibble however.
The early 1980s were revisited again as we got "Eminence Front" from "It's Hard" and "You Better You Bet" from "Face Dances". These two songs are probably the only ones from this part of The Who's career which really stand up. It probably doesn't hurt that "You Better You Bet" was their last hit single, reaching the lofty position of no.9 in 1981.
Then something very unexpected happens. The Who play a new song. There is much confusion and head-scratching in the audience. Probably. Townshend explains that "Real Good Looking Boy" is their new single, and that their record company have transferred the band from the part of the label which is "for dead people" to the part which is for active artists. Hooray! The song itself is a little underwhelming, starting with an intro which quotes "Can't Help Falling In Love With You". However, it's still very exciting to hear new Who material. In the event the single doesn't get a full release. It simply gets added to the new singles box set. A pity.
"The Kids Are Alright" and "My Generation" follow in quick succession and then it happens again: another new song! This is "Old Red Wine" which is Townshend's tribute to John Entwistle. Entwistle apparently collected very old, expensive and pretty much undrinkable red wine, hence the title. It's a fairly slow ballad. However, the coda is far more interesting: a stinging guitar riff displaying all the hallmarks of classic Who material. A hopeful sign for the future!
That coda leads into a vicious version of "Won't Get Fooled Again" which ends the main set. The band put a skimming stone through "Tommy" ("Pinball Wizard", "Amazing Journey", "Sparks" and "See Me Feel Me / Listening To You") for the encores and another Who gig ends.
Although there are now only two original members of the band left, the character of The Who is undiminished. With a Who gig you can never be sure of what is going to happen. There is always the impression that they are only just getting through by the skin of their teeth and the whole thing may fall apart at any moment. During this gig there were guitar errors, Daltrey forgot lyrics and there was absolutely no attempt to hide those errors, and the gig was all the better for it.There's a temptation to view The Who as sort of indestructible and tonight's gig only reinforced that temptation. Sure Townshend looked absolutely knackered at the end of the main set, but this was a robust performance and a thoroughly great gig.
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