The Who O2 Arena, London. March 23rd. 2015

I decided to see The Who live for what is likely to be their last ever tour. I went against two principles that I held for many years.
1. I don't normally want to see bands from the past that reform for a tour.
2. I don't go to large venues. (The London O2 arena has a capacity of 20000)
The reason I deviated from these principles is not important but I did.
Having seen the show convinced me even more that this was a complete waste of money.
Roger Daltrey still has a fantastic voice but no stage presence. Pete Townshend is still a great guitar player. As good as ever. A nice surprise was Zak Starkey who is a great and powerful drummer.
The problem was that the live experience was lost in the large venue and the band did not look capable of holding my attention for 2 hours. There were plenty of jokes between songs, mostly about getting old. There was no power. No energy. Just a greatest hits collection which I would have enjoyed better listening on record in the comfort of my home.
This seems to prove my two principles.
Am I right to have these principles or was I unlucky with this one?

 

Any surprises in the setlist?

 

For me the only surprises were Eminence Front which I did not hear before
The other surprise for me was So sad About Us and A Quick One.

 

Not sure what you were expecting. Your personal principles exist for a reason.

I've never seen or heard of anyone betraying his principles and then being glad of it.

 

I don't understand the issue of seeing a band that gets together for a tour. Sorry you didn't enjoy the show.

 

I'm skipping them this time as I did last time for sort of similar reasons:
I made a decision not to see artist when they get to 70ish. Esp. if they are going to play My Generation.
But the main reason I am not going to see half of my favorite band is that I don't want to ruin the memory of the best concert I have ever been to (sort of like your reason #1).

That said, if they came right to my city I might have a hard time staying away.
1. Tom Petty was good last year, but not as good as I remember from the 80's (may have been a sound issue - not loud enough).
2. I would not go to a stadium show. A 20K arena is not too big.

 

You sound like a grumpy old man who should stay at home.

 

LOL.

 

Let's see
Roger sounded good.
Pete sounded good.
Zak sounded good.

Maybe it is you.

 

instinct is there for a reason. it is based on your preferences, your experiences and your disappointments.
rarely, as stated above does your instinct lead you down the wrong path.
maybe you should have asked the question to the forum before you went.
by the time you sifted through the 16 or so pages of responses you would have missed the show and saved yourself the money and disappointment.
thanks for the review and observation for the fence sitters on that one though.

 

I go to gigs all the time - mostly by older, rock artists from 60s and 70s and 80s

I loved it - was a good atmosphere - my photos are here https://www.flickr.com/gp/raph_ph/H6V1s3/

I dunno what you were expecting from some ageing rockers??!!

But each to their own - I respect your views...

 

Complete tangent question - Is the O2 Arena used for sports? I assume no basketball or hockey.

 

The band with the singer with the fantastic voice, the great guitar player and the great and powerful drummer were not enough to hold your attention for two hours. Sounds like you have attention issues.

 

Dave Lewis of the Led Zeppelin fanzine "Tight But Loose" was there and this was his review posted on his facebook page...

DL thoughts on The Who last night...

Accept no substitute. The Who still reign o’er us..

The Who 02 Arena - Monday March 23rd, 2015.

Set list: I Can't Explain / Substitute / The Seeker / Who Are You / The Kids Are Alright / I Can See for Miles / Pictures of Lily /My Generation/Magic Bus/Behind Blue Eyes/Join Together/You Better You Bet/I’m One/Love, Reign O’er Me/Eminence Front/So Sad About Us / A Quick One (While He's Away) /. Amazing Journey / Sparks/ Pinball Wizard/ See Me, Feel Me/ Listening to You / Baba O'Riley/ Won't Get Fooled Again.

Now that is what I call a set list…

I’ve been lucky enough to have seen The Who a fair few times over the past few decades – stretching back to the Wembley Empire Pool show in October 1975 some 40 years back – up the last occasion which was the Quadrophenia show at the Royal Albert Hall in 2010. In between there have been some very memorable shows. The rain soaked thrilling set at Charlton 1976, Watford Town Hall in 2002 and of course the Shepperton appearance in 1978 that inspired my impromptu stage dive and mock fight with Roger Daltrey.

For me, outside of Led Zeppelin, The Who have constantly provided the highest of on stage highs.

Now with what we might term The Who Two celebrating 50 years of hits and hitting 50 years in existence, the opportunity that arose at quite short notice to attend their 02 Arena show on Monday was too good to miss - the TBL projects and other scenarios having to go on hold for a few hours. Boy am I glad I was lucky enough to attend.

Given all the circumstances –ie the passing of the years and physical well being of those involved, well there’s always the temptation that one’s golden memories might be tarnished by a less than 100% performance.
Noting that the combined age of the main players is a quite ridiculous 140, well the risk was there last night for sure. Indeed the two shows they played on Sunday and Monday had been postponed from just before Christmas when Roger succumbed to a throat infection.

I am more than happy to report that the advancing years have done nothing whatsoever to dent any past reputations. Put simply they delivered. And to use one of Pete’s much used on the night expletives - .****ing hell, did they ever…

The venue: This was actually the first time I’ve been back to the 02 Arena since that night of nights in 2007. It’s certainly moved on since then. The overall facilities are excellent and the arena sound was loud and clear.

The audience: A typical Who gathering – mainly male – a few mod elements on show. I always sense a slight aggressiveness amongst a Who crowd which matches the tension on stage. During the show the whole of the audience on the flat area was standing up. At the sides there were spasmodic leaps to get up and boogie (that’ll be me then!) and generally an atmosphere of united celebration. The merchandise areas were doing swift business and for once a programme justified the fee - £15 buying a lavish and informative The Who Hits 50 overview.

The performance:
Accept no substitute: They were right on it from the start – Roger was in amazingly good voice and Pete looking good in Harrington and trainers defined the years (as they both did) with a staggering energy that never let up. Pete was grumpily happy and was not short on expletives throughout his humorous banter with the crowd.
‘’What the **** are we doing here!’’ he laughed at one point while his wry comment ‘’I’ve just gobbed over my iPad’’ (which was on a stand in front of him) would not have been something he could have uttered at Woodstock.

I Can’t Explain and Substitute was the familiar initial two song pronged attack –from there the hits just kept on coming in a veritable Who jukebox onslaught. The Seeker was an early standout – it was so great to hear this 1970 stand alone single, The Kids Are Alright was accompanied by some stunning visuals from the Quadrophenia flim. In fact the backdrop screen was a revelation – it made great use of pop art collages, suitable mod images and pics from the glory days with poignant images of John Entwistle and Keith Moon very prevalent.

Back on stage ,a trio of 1960s hits - I Can See For Miles, Pictures Of Lily and an early anthemic My Generation hit the mark. As did a joyous Magic Bus and a dramatic Behind Blues Eyes. Join Together and You Better You Bet were yet more stand outs. There were also excerpts from various Who rock operas – the often underplayed A Quick One While He’s Away (before which Pete talked affectionately of it’s appearance in The Rolling Stones Rock’n’Roll Circus film) – Quadrophenia’s I’m One and Love Reign O’er me (Roger just outstanding on the latter – ‘’an extraordinary part of our career’’ –Pete ‘ ‘’you don’t know what that takes bit it’s spiritual’’ -Roger) and a Tommy segment that featured the brilliant Sparks and the rousing (can it be anything else?) Listening To You. Another surprise was a run through of So Sad About Us, written in 1966 for The Mersey’s and described by Pete as Paul Weller’s favourite song. It should be noted that behind them, Zak Starkey’s brand of percussive brilliance was entirely in keeping with the template Keith Moon laid down all those years ago.

Round off the evening with two of the greatest rock songs ever written - Baba O Riley and Won’t Get Fooled Again, and well - this is as good as it gets…

Refreshingly there was none of the pretention of an encore, they and the audience had more than had their fill. A lengthy two hour set that went by in a flash – never dragging or going off the boil.

‘’Thanks for the music Pete’’ said Roger to Pete before they departed the stage to rapturous applause. ‘’’Be healthy, be happy and be lucky’’ were Pete’s final words.

It was a mantra Tom and I took into the night as we walked with a definite spring in our step towards the station home.

Summary: On paper they have no right to be this good given the advancing years – but as I’ve discovered in the past, logic often goes out of the window when one is faced with the phenomenon that is The Who.

There has been talk from within that this may be their last tour and indeed they have to slow down somewhere. On the other hand, you really cannot fathom a time when the lead players will not want to occasionally bring out the juggernaut for another spin. Walking away from it all seems an unwise option now having survived this far.

Evidently on this showing, their catalogue of era defining music is still a crystal clear definition of what rock is all about – in short, this 02 Arena show was a testament to the lasting durability of The Who.
Long may they continue to reign o’er us …

Dave Lewis - March 24th, 2015.

 

Just curious-how much were they asking for tickets?

 

No,he sounds like a realist that should have stuck to his principles

 

I need to add that I'm a grumpy old man but, every once in a while I'm fun

 

The O2 Arena is a nice venue, but it has the problem of all modern era sports facilities - the use of luxury boxes means that the less expensive seats are really, really high up. Many people feel that the experience in the upper tier of the O2 is quite poor. So, that might be the reason.

 

It almost sounds as if you set yourself up for disappointment. Roger and Pete sounded good? The setlist looked better than usual? So the venue wasn't exceptional. That pretty much goes with big halls. I'm not too keen on big shows these days either, but I'm seeing The Who in September. I have no illusions that this is going to be an intimate show in a 20,000 seat arena. But if it's half as good as your show sounded, I'll be pleased.

 

Instead of focusing on the negative focus on the positive. I saw them in 1979 two shows after Cincinnati, and once again in 1982.
The latter show was better because it was not immediately after the tragedy of the former show. Now if someone would have told me in 1982 that I would still be able to see the Who almost thirty-five years later when I was in my 50s I would not have believed them.

Maybe I will go when they come to San Diego later this year. Maybe not....depends on my money situation and if I want to fight the traffic. But at least I have the chance here in 2015, and that makes me feel sort of good. I would like to hear Sister Disco in an arena again....its only been 36 years! For me anyway...I do not think they played it in '82 lol.

Sometimes I think many people go to these old timer shows just to see their heroes and show some respect to a favorite artist. Nothing wrong with that.

 

I was lucky to see (solo) Roger Daltry in concert in San Fransisco in around 2010 at an intimate solo show. Loved every minute of it, no Pete to be found.
He had a great band that possibly included Zac on drums? Anyone know who?

 

To each his own, YMMV, etc., but I feel like I've never seen The Who and I never will. Saw them in 1989 and while they performed well and it was a professional show, there were so many backup musicians and it felt quite produced and safe.

To me, The Who ended in 1982. Or, arguably, in 1978.

 

Yes, the O2 is used for sport.

There was an NBA game there this year and it has been used for the end-of-season ATP tennis tournament for the past few years.

I think it's a terrible venue for music...the sound is boomy and cavernous and godawful in the upper, cheaper seats.

I saw the Stones, Neil Young (and the Spice Girls!) there...I won't go again

PS: re the sound it's also not loud enough but it's the same at most gigs nowadays. I don't want to sound like one of those people who rant against health and safety but when I was a teenager in the 70s you'd go to a concert and the experience was physical given how high the volume was....I miss that although I know it wasn't good for me....

 

I saw the Who for the first time a few years ago when they played Glastonbury (with the same line up) and they met my expectations and more! Surprised and sorry you didn't feel the same.

 

I have a dream...a dream that one day we'll get through a whole 25 posts in a who thread where this line doesn't appear....