The Who- North American Tour announced

I was at the show last night (Feb 14) in Tulsa....and OMG - this was AMAZING!!! What a show - the words I want to use don't even do justice to the ass they kicked last night.

I've been a casual to interested Who fan for years, but first time I've seen them live. UN-FUCKING-BELIEVABLE!! Don't miss this show if you have a chance to go!!

I also saw The Who for the first time tonite in Columbus. Awesome! Really amazing. I had 12th row center. People were actually sitting down at times. I was not used to that. Vintage Trouble was excellent! They are worth checking out. They did a meet & great afterwards & signed autographs - very nice guys. I would love to see them open for PJ sometime.

I was at the Louisville show Saturday, and really enjoyed it. I hadn't seen the Who since the 2006 tour, but had seen Roger solo a couple of times in 2009-10. His voice is definitely a bit rougher than it was on those solo tours, but not as bad as before he had surgery; the 2006 show, he was really struggling (and had a smoke allergy problem so bad he had to run backstage and let Pete sing "My Generation"). He did pretty well, though, considering, and while he laid off some of the tough parts, he still hit the "Enough of trying to loooooove!" to end "I've Had Enough," and saved up for the scream at the end of "Won't Get Fooled Again." I think the latter might have been sweetened a bit, to save him embarrassment, but it wouldn't bother me if it was. He had just had a couple minutes of technical difficulty with his in-ear monitors at that point--even skipping a couple of lines of the song while gesturing to his sound person--so hitting it on the right timing was impressive on its own.

Pete's voice seemed a bit rougher than I remember it from 2006, and he relied more on growls to cover what he couldn't croon, but on guitar he was still great. He even tried to do a leap at the end of "Baba O'Riley," but missed the timing so he didn't land on the final note. He joked about how it used to be much easier, and advised he'd really rip it up during WGFA. He didn't go too crazy, but he sounded great.

I liked the staging of Quadrophenia. I hadn't listened to it in quite some time, but it's so burned into me from listening during my college years (mid-nineties) that I still knew every word and could feel the flashbacks the music was bringing on. I think the 1996-97 Quad tour did a good job telling the story, but the video and narration between each song slowed it down and kiled momentum, and left less time for the hits portion of the evening after the album. So I liked this version, where aside from a couple of extended jams, it had the timing of the album, including the interstitial sound effects/newscasts/etc. between songs. And while the video wasn't great at storytelling, it did well setting the place for each song's spot in the story. And I really liked the history montages during "Quadrophenia" and "The Rock." The first one made more sense narratively, showing British and American culture from WWII to the early sixties, setting the stage for the plot of Quadrophenia. The second, from the mid-sixties to now, was less tied to the source material, but the combination of such a powerful song with such evocative images really, really worked for me. I think it's "The Rock" that I'm going to come away remembering the most. That, and the Entwistle bass solo with Zak Starkey playing live underneath it. I thought that worked well, too.

Never really clicked with The Who when I was developing my music taste in High School.

I had Who's Next in the collection -- eventually added their greatest hits CD. As a guitar affecinado, I've always liked Pete (even when he switched to Strats...) and saw him in '96 at the Bridge School Benefit -- so I had kinda notched him off of my "Must See Every Guitar God" quest.

And then the Dad of one my daughter's friends calls me up, "Hey, Wanna see this Quadrophenia Tour?" He's seen them a gazillion times, was his High School scene, so I figure, heck, it's like watching World Cup with a European!

We caught the Oakland Arena show, four days after having my mind blown by Muse! Vintage Trouble was a blast! They're making a big splash, seeing them listed at a lot of festivals and openers now. And they certainly got the crowd up and excited. Perfect opener.

And I knew nothing about Quadrophenia -- it's kinda like their Wall album, huh? Oh my, that was certainly a blast! The floor was standing for the entire show, we were 2 sections down on the sides and sat/stood throughout the middle of the show, but were on our feet for the finale and the encores. I had OF COURSE heard nearly all that album without really registering it. Love love loved it. Every moment...

The production was great, and Pete and Roger were certainly center stage -- Pete thanked Roger personally at the end, "For doing this whole thing for me..." Noticed he has a good growl going, every time he sang I would just think, "Man, I'm just more of a Pete fan..." and then Roger would sing again and I'd forget Pete!

At some point, Pete's glasses came flying off -- he put 'em back on and shook his head. In between songs someone ran out and handed him his sunglasses, poor guy!

I liked the Entwistle and Moon tributes, Roger and Pete turned around and watched 'em. But I mostly just watched Pete all night....

And then when Quad was done -- ohhh my. Anyone notice? IT GOT LOUDER. They cranked it up for those last five greatest hits songs as most of the supporting musicians exited and they stripped down to the smaller core rock band. Mighty impressive, thoroughly fun! And I really liked that Tea & Theatre at the very end -- nice to see Pete stills plays some kinda Gibson!

Spoony C wrote:

I think it's "The Rock" that I'm going to come away remembering the most.

A week after Denver, The Rock is still playing in my head.

Almost two weeks since the AZ show and like a perfect little glutton I want MOOORRRRE!!!
Great show!

A friend just gave me his extra ticket so I'm going tonight. Will be the 4th time in 4 months seeing them.

Hamilton was great!
Pete was mowing people down left and right.
Sound was awesome and Zak was no worse for wear.
Roger was,as usual,his tough self.
Enjoy the rest of the tour peoples.
Especially you lucky bastards going to the final show at the MSG theater.
This has been a special treat.
There is no one out there doing this right now.
LONG LIVE ROCK!

helplessdancer wrote:

i keep coming back to it being a gift

So true. Last night at the Nassau Coliseum was unbelievable once again. Honestly, I was a bit worried about Roger's voice at the very beginning as he seemed to skip a couple lines that I seem to remember he sang in the earlier shows I saw. But, by the middle of side 1, he was back in form and he was more than able to let go the primal scream in WGFA. So, maybe he was either saving himself, warming up or my memory is bad. I'm guessing 3.

Anyway, it was my 3rd Quad show, and 1st from a distance, and it gave a completely different persepective. I didn't really see most of the visuals in the prior 2, but as has been said, Roger did an outstanding job with that.

Each show was a bit different for me and not just because of where I was. I went to 1 show with one of my brothers, 1 show with my wife and last night with 3 of my sons. All were fantastic, and as you correctly put it, a gift. My 9 year old woke up this morning singing Who Are You? So glad I was able to share this with my boys. As we were leaving, the guy behind us said to me, "Good job." And I returned - "Had to bring them. They needed to experience this." I knew exactly what he meant - Just Passing it On (but in a good way). I just hope they're back around again in a few years, so my youngest gets a chance.

If you missed this tour, you really did miss out. Pete is a genius and maybe that is the ultimate gift. No other band has Quad. No other band has anthem after anthem to put the cherry on top. No other band knows how to put on a show like they do. They put together an all star band anchored by Pino, Zack and Simon (not to mention the awesome "guest appearances" by The Ox and Keith). Roger's voice is as powerful as ever (if not quite in the same range) and Pete can still shred with the best of them. Put that all together with the creative genius of Pete's writing and you get -

The... Greatest... Live... Band.....!!!!!!!!

Going next Thursday to the Cancer Trust Benefit at the Theater at MSG. I know they'll only play 75-90 minutes, but that's fine. It will be a nice way to bid them farewell from our side of the Atlantic after 4 (also had the gift of seeing them blow everyone away at 121212) fantastic shows.

If you're in South Jersey or New England - catch one of the last few shows of the tour (and if you're in Europe - catch them as many times as you can later this year). You won't see anything like it for a very long time. I had to break the news to my boys this morning that not all concerts are like that. There aren't many shows that can match the power of The Who and especially Quadrophenia.

Pete - "It's nice to be back in the neighborhood."

Gift indeed. Thank you Roger and Pete for keeping the music alive.

Edson, like you I really couldn't see the visuals that well at my first show (although I had a fantastic view of the stage). The visuals were more of a distraction than anything. At my 2nd show I was farther back and higher and had a better view of the whole stage area. I'm glad to have had both perspectives.

As ya'll keep saying, these shows were a gift.