Leppotone

Well, I gotta say, The Who really put on a great show. Both Pete and Roger seemed fit as fiddles, and Roger's voice was in fine form. A far better show than the last time I saw them. (1990-ish?) Sound was excellent, small band (Rhythm Guitar, Bass, Drums and sometimes a Keyboard player)

First three songs (Can't Explain, The Seeker, and Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere) knocked my socks off. Trademark windmills and spinning microphones, the crowd loved it, and my 16 year old Son was awestruck. Excellent lights and video effects, exactly what you'd want from a big stadium concert, and drummer Zak Starkey really was amazing.

All the new songs were good, (they played 6 of them, I think) and a couple were really great, especially the mini-opera. Bits of Cry If You Want were mixed into My Generation, and Eminence Front was one of the crowd's favorites. (The only song other than part of the mini opera that Pete sang lead on) There were a few stretches of good old-fashioned jamming that showed Pete still really liked to show off, and Roger let Pete go on as long as he wanted, smacking tambourines, twirling the microphone and really enjoying himself. It was obvious some of the endings were improvised, all waiting to see Pete cue the band. I liked that a lot, you need elements of uncertainty and the danger of mistakes in rock and roll, and that's the one thing that most big tours lack these days. It's way too common to have every step choreographed to ensure "perfection." They did the song "Real Good Looking Boy," which was one of 2 "new" songs, available only on one of the many hits compilations from 5 or so years ago. My Son and I love that song, so we were geeked that they did it.

They did 5 or 6 pieces from Tommy for an encore, (Sparks was AMAZING!) then the band left, and Pete played acoustic guitar while Roger sang a pretty song from the new album to close the show. I felt like goodbye, but they've been doing "last tours" for 20 years now.

The opening band was called Moe. I'd never heard of them, and don't care to ever hear them again. Kind of a southern rock "jam band."

The Pretenders are opening for them at Van Andel. That's almost enough to get me to shell out the money for another trip to Whoville.