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Videos
Who Are You
My Generation
Behind Blue Eyes
Baba O'Riley
Won't Get Fooled Again
Press
Soundcheck review by Horace Austin
Duration: 35 minutes.
20 fans in attendance. We stood 15 feet from the stage on the standing room floor.
All band present.
"I Can See For Miles"
"Who Are You"
"Slip Kid"
Roger testing out the harmonica mic
"Join Together"
Review by Matthew North
So last night I went to the same venue I saw The Who at last year. Support band were called Slydigs they were one of those bands whom every song they played you knew exactly what records they has been listening to when writing their tunes bit of a disappointment esp knowing the excellent Standard Lamps had opened for the Who earlier on the tour. After they had finished it was a very quick turnaround and The Who were soon on. The first 4 bars of ‘I cant Explain’ already for me beat everything about the Quadrophenia show. No disrespect to the stand ins, but with The Who now Pino and Zak are the perfect rhythm section for Pete and Roger. The augmentation of the band with extra keyboards and percussion really works well. A bit like the 89 tour except maybe not quite so over the top. The set was a great mixture, hearing the Seeker again was a high point as was songs like So Sad about us and Pictures of Lily, both tunes I have never heard live before myself. Join Together was one of those moments where the additional musicians came into their own. There was a few missed cues here and there. But that just added to the excitement of a band not playing the standard set list. I was disappointed at no Naked Eye, and I had a feeling that A quick one wouldn’t be in the set for long sadly. The Quadropheania section was probably more enjoyable than the whole gig was last time. The synch up of John with Zak doing the 5:15 solo was immense. Towards the end Roger announced that he has trouble with his voice due to a cold, so the audience sang along to Wont get Fooled again and Baba O’Riley before the band ended with Magic Bus. Again a song I never thought I’d hear played live. All in all a great Who show, great banter between Pete and Roger all night.
Review by Pat Stanton
Tonight's show was rough as Roger was ill and his voice deteriorated through the evening. The show itself was abbreviated, with the Tommy set cut plus Love Reign O'er Me as there was no way he could have sung it. The audience helped out and sang some of the songs, especially Baba O'Riley and WGFA, with Roger conducting us. It was still a fabulous show and Roger did his best, with Pete singing more than normal to help out. Fingers crossed for the O2 shows but my bet is they may be moved to June, given the state of his voice.
Review by Dante DiCarlo
After queuing for some hours outside the venue (this being the only general admission gig on the tour) and despite a somewhat silly entry system where there were two doors into the venue and boys and girls were split up in each line, I managed to get right to the front on the rail in front of Pete. Something told me this would be the best gig of the tour. And I really believe it was heading that way had it not been for the nasty throat infection that robbed Roger of his voice. Perhaps because of this though, Pete was simply on fire, I have not seen him so energised in a good few years and he seemed to put in extra effort to carry the show in the wake of Roger having a long hard night.
The show started with Roger joking about being in Swansea. Then I Can't Explain began, the chords blasted out with the right amount of power and distortion, Pete's solos biting and fluid sounding.
At points during the night Pete and Roger mock bickered like a married couple, Pete making fun of the fact that Roger had a cold because everyone did. By the end of the night though he was telling him he sounded awful and in a touching moment put his arm around him as he saw just how much pain he was going through.
Before the end we got classic Pete banter, talking about Pictures Of Lily which he then said was nothing compared to the tv show “The Inbetweeners” Who knew Pete watched that show? Perhaps he doesn't because he mentioned two incidents from the show I actually can't recall ever happening. He also offered to tell a story but then decided he couldn't be bothered “Not that I give a fuck what you think anyway!” he added. At one point an excited fan shouted something I couldn't make out. Neither could Pete as he laughed and remarked “I don't know what he said, but he said it with a tremendous vigour” He then went on to giving an impression of what it had sounded like, adding that it sounded like the guy was from Glasgow.
As the night went on Roger was having a hard time even talking. The Quadrophenia section proved the breaking point, Pete giving Roger a rest by playing “I'm One” (playing acoustic guitar instead of electric like on some earlier dates) and 5.15 was simply blistering as Pete windmilled and soloed like a man possessed. “Bell Boy” rounded things off as there was no way Roger could attempted “Love Reign O'er Me”. Not wanting to leave out a couple of big hits, Roger let the audience sing the whole of his vocals in “Baba O'Riley” This was followed by “Won't Get Fooled Again” which he began singing but soon was a combination of Pete and the crowd. “Magic Bus” was the encore and the band tried to drag things out of it to give the crowd their money's worth.
As a nice ending, at the end of the show Pete began blowing kisses to Pat Stanton, as he looked my way I blew back kisses in a theatrical manor which he seemed to find funny and carried on blowing kisses back for a while before finally leaving the stage. Then we all went home wondering if the London shows would be pulled. Of course the next day they were. A real shame, but still an amazing gig thanks to the band pulling together. The great thing about Pete and Roger is if one of them is struggling then the other will take the weight and work extra hard to carry the show through. Not only that but the rest of the band did a great job as well. I will be back in March to see the Who rock the O2.
Review by Andrew Rees
As a seasoned and somewhat grizzled Who fan of many, many years, last nights Who concert was a mixture of emotions. Firstly, probably the last time The Who will ever play Wales, (I will get to see them again in New York City next year however), secondly a night that for many hardcore Who fans will become known as the Karaoke Concert!! The show SHOULD of been cancelled, Roger Daltrey was in a bad way with a really bad cold, his voice was shot and it was quickly clear to those present that he was NOT going to make the course. These guys are 70 years old, and anyone who knows The Who will understand that it is a full on, balls to the wall show, a mean feat for a far younger man, let alone these old guys. Yet, Roger tried to battle on, with voice fading, it was soon down to an inaudible whisper, and the Cardiff crowd (who did Wales proud), took on vocal duties, most especially during Baba O'Riley and Won't Get Fooled Again. The concert was a good forty minutes short of previous shows, with many songs including the Tommy section being omitted. Pete (Townshend) God bless him, played guitar like a demon, savaging his guitar to extreme levels whilst playing louder than I have heard him for many years. I am a harsh critic of the band, and as much as I love these guys, they are NOT free from criticism. On a good night, even 50 years on and at the age of 70, Pete and Roger what we now refer to as The Who, can stake a claim to STILL being the Greatest Live Rock band, on a bad night as last night, they still can leave an audience gasping for more. Yes, I was gutted leaving the arena, my friends present with me stated it's brilliance. OH how I wish they could see this band when on top of it's game!! Still, nigh on two hours played of high octane 'Rock Theatre'. Emotional, exasperating and exciting, last nights show was a true rollercoaster ride of unmatched musical genius. This band have given me so much over the past 40 years, I am there for the long-run and will see out this great race to the bitter end! ROLL ON NEW YORK AND MADISON SQUARE GARDEN 2015.
