DCC Archive The WHO's latest DVD is GREAT!!!!!!!

I have been a fan of the WHO ever since I saw them perform on Shindig in the mid 60’s. Last night I saw the DVD of “The Who - Live at the Royal Albert Hall (2000)”. All I can say is that this DVD is fantastic. If you want to see Rock & Roll performed as it should be, this is the DVD for you. After you watch this DVD you’ll ask yourself, “ What ever happened to Rock & Roll?”

All 25 songs are perfectly executed (at least IMHO). The members of the band are enjoying themselves and the performance is full of energy. The band is tight and they seem to have the energy of 20 year olds. They were so tight that you’d think that they have been playing together for 30 years. Oh that’s right, they have. There is no sloppiness in Pete’s playing, he moves around the stage, smiles a lot and he does his well-known windmills. Pete plays a Fender Stratocaster plugged into two brown Fender Twin-reverbs. Roger’s voice is in amazingly great shape. It only runs out of gas on the final song. When he did his scream in “Won’t Get Fooled Again, the hair on the top of my head stood up! You won’t believe John’s bass solo in 5:15. They put a mini-camera on his bass so you can watch his fingers fly. Ringo’s son does a really good job on drums.

Some have criticized the sound, but I thought that it sounded the way a concert should sound. The video has too many quick cuts, but who cares, it is a great DVD of a great Rock and Roll band.

 

I won't argue with ya, this disc consumed most of the last weekend for me. What's most surprising was I really had no interest in it, it was a "kill an afternoon" purchase.

Several things in this performance seemed to energize the band, most notably:

1) Reducing the band down to the core members, drummer Starkey and long time stage cohort "Rabbit" Bundrick leads to a more focused sound.
2) Pete on electric, and really hittin' that thing. Seems he wasn't to concerned about additional hearing loss this night.
3) Zak Starkey. Comparisons to Moon, Jones and others that have backed them since '89 are pointless. What IS evident is that he has the chops and thunder to allow the music to flow LIKE IT USED TOO. This is evident in extended arrangemnts of several songs (Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere, The Kids are Alright, Relay, My Wife, 5:15) that allow the band to just go ahead and kick butt like they haven't done in several decades.

One quibble: Having the special guests sing Who songs when the real deal was right there seemed pointless. Bryan Adams singing "Behind Blue Eyes" was a waste. Kelly Jones whinny "Substitute" was no better. For some reason, I had no problems with Eddie Vedders "I'm One" or his verse trading duet with Roger on "Let's See Action", maybe I just have more tolerance for him. Kennedy's violin was rather impressive during Baba O' Riley as well.

 

I have not yet seen the DVD but was fortunate enough to see them during the US tour last year. They played and sounded better than any time since Moon's death.
It was a true concert with no guest's when I saw them. As most agree Moon's druming is what pushed them live and I believe Zak Starkey provided them with the same power.

 

I have seen The Who perform manny times. The best performance was at The Auditorium Theater in Chicago just after Won't Get Fooled Again was released. Moon was just amazing. He just pushed and pushed and pushed the band like a locomotive. You are correct, when you said that The Who are at their best when the drummer is pushing them. Their most lackluster performance was when Jones was the drummer. He just laid back and the rest of the band went to sleep.