I thought Zak played great at the RAH, but the drum sound was terrible. Muted and quiet. Level 42 were the warm up act, and their drums sounded so much more vital and kicked you in the guts.

Is it a simple difference of elec. v acoustic drum kits?

I love the Who dearly, and think Roger has an incredible voice, but I have increasingly come to the conclusion over the last couple of decades that he is a bit of a tw@t.

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peoplewitheyes
I thought Zak played great at the RAH, but the drum sound was terrible. Muted and quiet. Level 42 were the warm up act, and their drums sounded so much more vital and kicked you in the guts.

Is it a simple difference of elec. v acoustic drum kits?

I love the Who dearly, and think Roger has an incredible voice, but I have increasingly come to the conclusion over the last couple of decades that he is a bit of a tw@t.

Well, I've long being of the though that he's probably quite 'bull-headed' He's a working-class geezer from West London, isn't he?

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More Hot Rocks
I hope all of you know this is joke.

The statement issued by "a representative for the band" would suggest it's no joke:

“The band made a collective decision to part ways with Zak after this round of shows at the Royal Albert Hall. They have nothing but admiration for him and wish him the very best for his future.”

[www.theguardian.com]

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bye bye johnny

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More Hot Rocks
I hope all of you know this is joke.

The statement issued by "a representative for the band" would suggest it's no joke:

“The band made a collective decision to part ways with Zak after this round of shows at the Royal Albert Hall. They have nothing but admiration for him and wish him the very best for his future.”

[www.theguardian.com]

I'm talking about the instagram post. Looks like Zak doesn't give a crap.

Anyone figure out what Pete was playing during Pinball Wizard? Because it wasn't Pinball Wizard.

Zak Starkey Breaks Silence on Firing From the Who: ‘I’m Surprised and Saddened’

"After playing those songs with the band for so many decades, I’m surprised and saddened anyone would have an issue with my performance that night," writes the drummer, "but what can you do?"

By Andy Greene
April 16, 2025


Anna Kurth/AFP/Getty Images

[www.rollingstone.com]

They have nothing but admiration for him but fired him for overplaying. If Moon were still alive they probably would have fired him for the same thing as well.

Roger took over the band at some point and fired longtime keyboardist John 'Rabbit' Bundrick, and made all kinds of sound demands, while Pete just sits on the sidelines and shrugs and accepts it all.

It's really 'The Roger Daltrey Band featuring Pete Townshend' at this point.

Seems like Zak sobered up after his lively all-caps statement last night!

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bye bye johnny
Zak Starkey Breaks Silence on Firing From the Who: ‘I’m Surprised and Saddened’

"After playing those songs with the band for so many decades, I’m surprised and saddened anyone would have an issue with my performance that night," writes the drummer, "but what can you do?"

By Andy Greene
April 16, 2025


Anna Kurth/AFP/Getty Images

[www.rollingstone.com]

You nailed it, mosthigh

I've been reading some speculation that the firing was motivated by more personal problems

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mosthigh
They have nothing but admiration for him but fired him for overplaying. If Moon were still alive they probably would have fired him for the same thing as well.

Roger took over the band at some point and fired longtime keyboardist John 'Rabbit' Bundrick, and made all kinds of sound demands, while Pete just sits on the sidelines and shrugs and accepts it all.

It's really 'The Roger Daltrey Band featuring Pete Townshend' at this point.

Exactly. Once Roger did that solo tour in 2011, he found he didn’t need to do anything he didn’t want to ever again, because if “The Who” doesn’t want to cooperate, he can just go out on his own. And so The Who became what it is. In retrospect, the Endless Wire tour was the end of something important.

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bye bye johnny
Zak Starkey Breaks Silence on Firing From the Who: ‘I’m Surprised and Saddened’

"After playing those songs with the band for so many decades, I’m surprised and saddened anyone would have an issue with my performance that night," writes the drummer, "but what can you do?"

By Andy Greene
April 16, 2025


Anna Kurth/AFP/Getty Images

[www.rollingstone.com]

Can anyone post this without the paywall?

That's really sad to hear. Zak would be almost equal to me wanting to see Roger and Pete up there these days. Insane that this late in the game they'd be making any changes. They can only have so much time left anyway. Interesting that when Pete was asked a little while ago who would be in the band, he'd want Rabbit back and not even keep Zak. So curious who they get now.

After Keith Moon, can any Who drummer 'overplay'. I saw Roger's solo band last Summer. They were great and he was in good voice. Simon and other Who touring musicians were in the band but not Zak. But it was very obvious Roger was having issues keeping up at times. looking winded, trouble getting on and off a stool he was trying to sit on. Paid $32 US (all in) in a 5,000 seat theatre.

Maybe the end?

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RollingFreak
Can anyone post this without the paywall?

Hmm. No paywall on my phone or PC...

[www.msn.com]

All this fuss about a 60yr old drummer playing in/with a band that was formed before he was born.

Captain Corella

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CaptainCorella
All this fuss about a 60yr old drummer playing in/with a band that was formed before he was born.

59 years but that’s an accurate point you make…

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CaptainCorella
All this fuss about a 60yr old drummer playing in/with a band that was formed before he was born.

That’s what we do here.

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Munichhilton

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CaptainCorella
All this fuss about a 60yr old drummer playing in/with a band that was formed before he was born.

59 years but that’s an accurate point you make…

And I'd checked Zak's birth date beforehand and had intended to record it as "almost 60yr old".

Very much from memory, Zak was born in a hospital in London that I think was called Princess Charlotte that was (qv) on the Goldhawk Road in Hammersmith. Further along that same road was The Goldhawk Social Club where The Who played quite a few early gigs. I write 'was' as a search on Google maps no longer shows any sort of hospital where I'm pretty sure there was one - confirmed by a Wikipedia hunt. If you lived around there, then you had to become a Who fan!

At the time I lived in Chiswick and had a Saturday job at an aunt's shop in Askew Rd (big road off Goldhawk Rd) so I travelled in that area quite a lot. Simply going to The Rolling Stones Shepherds Bush gig brought back many memories of the area.

Edit: The area I'm talking about [maps.app.goo.gl]

Captain Corella



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2025-04-17 08:07 by CaptainCorella.

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CaptainCorella

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Munichhilton

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CaptainCorella
All this fuss about a 60yr old drummer playing in/with a band that was formed before he was born.

59 years but that’s an accurate point you make…

And I'd checked Zak's birth date beforehand and had intended to record it as "almost 60yr old".

Very much from memory, Zak was born in a hospital in London that I think was called Princess Charlotte that was (qv) on the Goldhawk Road in Hammersmith. Further along that same road was The Goldhawk Social Club where The Who played quite a few early gigs. I write 'was' as a search on Google maps no longer shows any sort of hospital where I'm pretty sure there was one - confirmed by a Wikipedia hunt. If you lived around there, then you had to become a Who fan!

At the time I lived in Chiswick and had a Saturday job at an aunt's shop in Askew Rd (big road off Goldhawk Rd) so I travelled in that area quite a lot. Simply going to The Rolling Stones Shepherds Bush gig brought back many memories of the area.

Edit: The area I'm talking about [maps.app.goo.gl]

Queen Charlottes & Chelsea Hospital used to be on Goldhawk Road. It’s now situated on Du Cane Road, White City, and is adjacent to the original Hammersmith Hospital. I know, as I can see it from my bedroom window.

I thought Zak Starkey was born at the original, Du Cane Road, Hammersmith Hospital. I also thought that’s where Roger Daltrey was born, and where Yoko Ono had a miscarriage. Perhaps I’m incorrect, and it was the old Goldhawk Road site of Queen Charlottes & Chelsea.

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mosthigh
They have nothing but admiration for him but fired him for overplaying. If Moon were still alive they probably would have fired him for the same thing as well.

Roger took over the band at some point and fired longtime keyboardist John 'Rabbit' Bundrick, and made all kinds of sound demands, while Pete just sits on the sidelines and shrugs and accepts it all.

It's really 'The Roger Daltrey Band featuring Pete Townshend' at this point.

You nailed it. It's not The Who. It hasn't been for a long time.

Big difference from how The Rolling Stones have evolved post-Wyman (or further but since 1994 it's been different... for about, "on paper", 30 years).

Having listened to what got Zak fired... WTF? Makes zero sense. Have not seen (heard) anything egregious in Zak's performance.

Cranky old men? Very likely.

I was there. I don’t believe for a second that it had anything to do with how he played. But things happen. People have their reasons, and this is the story they want to share with the public. Bands evolve though. Next chapter. The Who goes on. I personally loved the version of the band that played RAH a few years back (Rogers band), and would love to see them do a tour.

This has been going on for a long time. Things build up. No way one gig caused his firing. My opinion.

We should just rename them The Why. I last saw them at Desert Trip (amazing) and Outside Lands (meh). Not a $300 + /ticket band for me anymore and thats what the good seats cost the last time I considered going.

They are The Who. You can be The Why.

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GeirGG
I was there. I don’t believe for a second that it had anything to do with how he played. But things happen. People have their reasons, and this is the story they want to share with the public. Bands evolve though. Next chapter. The Who goes on. I personally loved the version of the band that played RAH a few years back (Rogers band), and would love to see them do a tour.

If they come back through here again I would see them, but the clips I've seen from Roger's most recent solo band sound pretty anemic to me.

This doesn't feel that long ago, but somehow it was 18 years ago - the power they still had here is amazing I think. I could listen to this version of the band jam for a really long time. [www.youtube.com]

That was the year I first saw them actually. Great. But we can’t move backwards. Just be happy for what is.

I saw them with Simon Phillips on drums and it was the second loudest show I can remember...Hellecasters being the loudest. They owe me an ALD

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tommycharles

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GeirGG
I was there. I don’t believe for a second that it had anything to do with how he played. But things happen. People have their reasons, and this is the story they want to share with the public. Bands evolve though. Next chapter. The Who goes on. I personally loved the version of the band that played RAH a few years back (Rogers band), and would love to see them do a tour.

If they come back through here again I would see them, but the clips I've seen from Roger's most recent solo band sound pretty anemic to me.

This doesn't feel that long ago, but somehow it was 18 years ago - the power they still had here is amazing I think. I could listen to this version of the band jam for a really long time. [www.youtube.com]

Thanks for posting. Sadly, the ferocity in Pete’s playing is mostly gone now.

Pete's playing is ridiculous.

Daltrey relies on studio recordings for particular aspects.

NOW Zak is too loud and "over playing"?

The Fake Who!!!


Time machine: Pete and Roger go to France in 1806 and Pete says, Let's call it Roger's Glaze.

Roger laughs and says, No, Pete's Daze!

Mayonnaise unbeknowingly becomes GlazeDaze.


[www.youtube.com]