By Jim Rowland
Midway through their 2023 European tour, The Who hit Derby for the first time in decades at the Incora County Ground, home to Derbyshire county cricket. At 79 and 78 respectively, Messrs Daltrey and Townshend have already put in a good innings, but can they still deliver a match winning performance?
For the best part of the day in Derby, it was a question of will rain stop play as it tipped down for hours prior to the show, but fortunately eased and eventually stopped in time for The Who’s appearance.
When they hit the stage, Pete Townshend announces that the set is a bit of a slow burner as they launch into a selection of the finest moments from ‘Tommy’ complete with orchestra backing. The format of the show follows similar lines to the last tour here four years ago, albeit with an altered set.
It says quite a lot about The Who that they can ‘warm up’ at the start of a set by knocking out classics like ‘Overture’ ‘1921’, ‘Sparks’, ‘The Acid Queen’, ‘Pinball Wizard’ and ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’.
Two of the finest moments from towards the end of The Who’s original tenure, ‘Who Are You’ and ‘Eminence Front’, complete the first orchestrated section of the show before the orchestra departs and leave the band to plough through some of their biggest hit singles. ‘The Kids Are Alright’, ‘I Can’t Explain’, ‘Substitute’, ‘Anyway Anyhow Anywhere’ and ‘My Generation’ all feature from their initial 60’s explosion, whilst it’s great to hear the much later ‘You Better You Bet’ nestled in there too.
By now, the sun has gone down from underneath the grey Derbyshire clouds and the immense light show really takes effect as the set enters a pretty stunning ‘business end’. Two of the finest ‘Who’s Next’ cuts, ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’ and ‘Behind Blue Eyes’, bring the band-only section to a finale, before the orchestra return for a stunning run through many of the finest moments from ‘Quadrophenia’, and it’s on those tracks that the addition of the orchestra particularly shines.
‘The Real Me’, ‘I’m One’ and ‘5.15’ are just superb, as is ‘The Rock’, which is accompanied by a captivating film montage of many significant historic moments that have occurred during the lifetime of The Who, from wars to famine to royalty to the passing of Moon and Entwistle. You can’t really close a set any better than ‘Love Reign O’er Me’ and ‘Baba O’Reilly’ either.
Just Pete and Rog remain at the end for a brief acoustic ‘Tea & Theatre’ to wrap it all up. Of course this is not The Who of old – how could it be? It may not have the fire, danger and explosive energy of the days of Moon and Entwistle, but what Daltrey and Townshend have crafted in more recent years is a Who show that is a pure celebration of the legacy of The Who and the vast catalogue of great songs that comes with it.
Roger Daltrey is still in fine voice at the grand old age of 79, and in fact has a voice that is still in much better shape than numerous rock vocalists of the ’70s that he inspired. He’s still incredibly spritely as well, as is Pete Townshend, even if the windmills don’t spin quite as fast as they used to, but he’s lost none of his unique skill on the guitar.
A great show and a great celebration of The Who – one of the greatest rock bands the world has ever seen.
- All content © Über Rock. Not to be reproduced in part or in whole without the express written permission of Über Rock.