Royal Albert Hall. Either last night or today??? The video is sideways then straightens out . . . Punk and the Godfather:

Ah, the power of technology ... I saw it live last night. Very good it was too.

Thanks for posting.

Wow! quite good! And Roger sounds very good! Very uplifting to hear.

EDDIE is the MAN !!! (where's the last part where he screams OK !?!??! - or is that a different 'umber?)

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whitem8
Wow! quite good! And Roger sounds very good! Very uplifting to hear.

Roger's voice was fine at the beginning, but started getting a little croaky towards the end. He had some trouble singing the "Is it me?" refrain. But he did deliver on "Love Reign O'er Me".

Great Nikolai, thanks for the first hand account! Very cool you were there! WOW! HE delivered on Love Reign O'er Me!??? Impressive! How were the instrumentals? And did Pete sing I'm One?

The Who can still make a wonderful racket! Not bad to pull of a double album for a one off charity event eh.....

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Nikolai
Ah, the power of technology ... I saw it live last night. Very good it was too.

Thanks for posting.

Did they play every song from Quadrophenia or a truncated version Nikolai? I went the night before to see The Specials and that was excellent. Very pissed off to have missed seeing Quadrophenia. I haven't missed many Who shows in London since 73 - when they played Quadrophenia at Sundown Edmonton. Did they do any other songs?

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ablett
The Who can still make a wonderful racket! Not bad to pull of a double album for a one off charity event eh.....

A wonderful racket indeed. It was great. I read an article a few days ago somewhere or other in which Daltrey said that this may well be (have been) the last time they perform Quadrophenia, he recognised that his voice was weakening and he was no longer able to pull some numbers off - or at least he was finding it increasingly difficult to do so. But he did then go on to say that the Who had no intention of hanging it up for good, it's just that they'd have to limit themselves to material that was in keeping with their slightly diminished abilities .... age age age age age !! Roger may well have been speaking for himself, but Pete remains as ferocious as ever on the guitar, an awesome force.

God bless the Who, long may they reign over us.

[ I want to shout, but I can hardly speak ]

[entertainment.timesonline.co.uk]

[ I want to shout, but I can hardly speak ]

Sounds like a great gig, as happens at the RAH a mate of mine bought a face value ticket on the day from the box office, must remember to do that myself next time! Looks like they will be venturing out again before long though so see ya then, Paul.

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Manofwealthandtaste
Sounds like a great gig, as happens at the RAH a mate of mine bought a face value ticket on the day from the box office, must remember to do that myself next time! Looks like they will be venturing out again before long though so see ya then, Paul.

Chris, the place was absolutely awash with touts as you can well imagine, and in parallel with these guys stomping about just outside the place plying their disgusting trade, a very distinguished female voice comes over the tannoy about every 10 minutes warning people NOT to buy tickets from touts, but to make enquiries at the box office. Didn't seem to have the slightest effect whatsoever though, the bastards were absolutely everywhere. I had fab seats in block H row 4 stalls, which I got off e-bay from a guy in Holland. When I picked them up from the box office, it turned out that they were these "VIP stalls package" seats, so we got to have food and wine in the west arena foyer thingy down at the arena level. They were expensive tix, but in fact what I paid was "face value" ... I guess the idea after all was to raise money for the charity, so I ain't complainin' ! Good on the guy that sold 'em to me, he didn't mark up the price. Wish there were more people like him out there.

Anyway, see ya soon, and most definitely .... at the NEXT Who show (geddit geddit ? NEXT ????????)

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooo are you ?????????????????

[ I want to shout, but I can hardly speak ]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-03-31 14:18 by paulywaul.

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Silver Dagger

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Nikolai
Ah, the power of technology ... I saw it live last night. Very good it was too.

Thanks for posting.

Did they play every song from Quadrophenia or a truncated version Nikolai? I went the night before to see The Specials and that was excellent. Very pissed off to have missed seeing Quadrophenia. I haven't missed many Who shows in London since 73 - when they played Quadrophenia at Sundown Edmonton. Did they do any other songs?

Ah, you saw The Mighty Specials too? F-ing excellent weren't they? Terry Hall is hilarious. ("I know this isn't appropriate, but I really need a piss") What a band.

They played Quadrophenia in its entirety. Not much improv/riffing and, I thought, fairly subdued. The real star of the show was the bloke out of Kasabian, who played The Ace Face.

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paulywaul

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ablett
The Who can still make a wonderful racket! Not bad to pull of a double album for a one off charity event eh.....

A wonderful racket indeed. It was great. I read an article a few days ago somewhere or other in which Daltrey said that this may well be (have been) the last time they perform Quadrophenia, he recognised that his voice was weakening and he was no longer able to pull some numbers off - or at least he was finding it increasingly difficult to do so. But he did then go on to say that the Who had no intention of hanging it up for good, it's just that they'd have to limit themselves to material that was in keeping with their slightly diminished abilities .... age age age age age !! Roger may well have been speaking for himself, but Pete remains as ferocious as ever on the guitar, an awesome force.

God bless the Who, long may they reign over us.

There are rumours of a short autumn/fall US Quadrophenia tour, but Roger was struggling a bit on the "Is it me" moments, and his voice was cracking during Sea & Sand.

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whitem8
Great Nikolai, thanks for the first hand account! Very cool you were there! WOW! HE delivered on Love Reign O'er Me!??? Impressive! How were the instrumentals? And did Pete sing I'm One?

Pete sang I'm One, but it was a keyboard arrangement (which worked) and a bit slower than the album version, and previous live versions.

Instrumentals were CORKING. I got a whole new appreciation for their sheer intricacy last night. Yup - I've been listening to Quadrophenia for thirty odd years, saw them do it live three times between 1996-7, and I still heard new things in the music. Actually, that goes for the entire album, as performed last night. The songs are staggering.

Vocal duties were shared between Eddie Vedder, Tommy from Kasabian, Simon Townshend (a very spiky "Dirty Jobs"), which gave Roger a rest.

All in all, I'd say that Daltrey is 75-80% the singer he was. He's definitely deteriorated quite sharply in the last ten years, but that's probably down to The Who touring more frequently.

Know what the coolest thing was? They didn't play an encore. It was just the album and that was it.

And a couple more reviews ...

[www.thisislondon.co.uk]

[www.thesun.co.uk]

[ I want to shout, but I can hardly speak ]

Thanks Nikolai for the great information. I am very happy you were there! Great to have a fellow 'oo fan report back with care and passion. Yes, I agree about Roger, which is a bit sad, and also a bit strange, because he was always such a health nut, and it seems strange his pipes are loosing steam. But good on him for carrying on! Bollocks to those who say quit, your too old...
Piano version of I'm One! Hummm that is very unique and interesting.Also great they did only Quadro! I too saw them during the 96 north american tour and it was phenomenal! And Roger was still at the top of his game at that show. Thanks again!

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paulywaul
And a couple more reviews ...

[www.thisislondon.co.uk]

[www.thesun.co.uk]

cool, thanks for posting . . .

I really don't care much for Eddie Vedder. A bit of the american Bono in my opinion, in that he's too preachy with his causes and opinions for my taste.

Some pics from last night .... managed to get an SLR with a long focal length lense in and actually use it without getting grief.























[ I want to shout, but I can hardly speak ]

superb thanks

Hopefully Pete's new ear monitors provided him some good results so that the band's future is in better standing.

Always love it when Eddie Vedder can appear with his idols.

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Nikolai

Know what the coolest thing was? They didn't play an encore. It was just the album and that was it.

Not sure I agree that less music is ever a good thing, though I gotta admit, the encores from the 1996 Quad shows (including a pointless ACOUSTIC version of WGFA) didn't add much to what had gone before.

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Justin
Hopefully Pete's new ear monitors provided him some good results so that the band's future is in better standing.

QUITE !! I was horrified to read that Pete is on record as saying that if his tinnitus doesn't become manageable or else further worsens, the Who will not so much "delay" future planned shows, they will effectively be finished as a live act. They'd stop. So I really really hope that these monitors worked for him on this gig, because it would seem that there's a lot riding on it.

[ I want to shout, but I can hardly speak ]

great photos, Pauly - the Who's website are requested fan shots from the show - you should definitely send your's across.

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Adrian-L
great photos, Pauly - the Who's website are requested fan shots from the show - you should definitely send your's across.

Thanks, I'll look into that. Gotta say, I was a bit self conscious there in the front stalls brandishing an SLR with a 70-200 zoom, but none of the ushers in and around the stalls seemed to give a toss ... so there ya go. I wish all venues or individual acts were similarly laid back. Over the years I've seen (as indeed I'm sure we all have) some security people at gigs get into a right strop over people with cameras, even harmless little compacts or mobiles.

[ I want to shout, but I can hardly speak ]

For me this was my 17th Who show and the best I've seen for a long time, perhaps since the 70s. It worked becasue it was more of a performance than a straight Who concert. 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. Almost didn't go to this; but pleased I did, On Tuesday night I saw glimpses of the old classic Who; the atmosphere was wonderful, the Hall was filled with Who nuts from all over the world.

[vintagerock.wordpress.com]

Thanks for the great photos and the reviews Paul and all who saw the gig.As a mate sitting next to me at a Bruce Springsteen solo gig said.'This place is so civilized and user friendly' as he passed the recorder to me when he went to the loo !!!

Nice pictures, Paul - definitely sounds like one of those gigs I shouldn't have missed. How was Zak sounding?