The Who at Anaheim - Honda Center

 

The Who Setlist Honda Center, Anaheim, CA, USA 2016, The Who Hits 50!

 

 

Videos

Who Are You
The Kids Are Alright
My Generation
Join Together
Eminence Front
Baba O'Riley

 

Press

L.A. Times
OC Weekly
Backstage Blog
Examiner
Daily News

 

Review by Tim Ballou

I’ve attended many Southern California Who performances since August, 1989.  Does Anaheim 5/22/2016 rank among the best of those?  Oh, probably not.  But look at where we are – in just a few months (November 30, 2016 to be exact) we’ll celebrate the 2nd anniversary of the launch of the 50th anniversary tour.   Or is it the 1st anniversary of the 51st anniversary tour?  Whatever you call it, at this point each show is one more celebration of physical existence.  Audience and band alike.  It’s one more punch in the face of viral meningitis, tinnitus, arthritis and all the other itises.

In that context, the 2-hour greatest hits setlist knocked it out of the park.  On stage we find about a century and a half of solid, three-dimensional rock star, hearts beating, fingers picking and pointing, and vocal chords vibrating.  Songs ingrained into the fiber of our being – and to the soundtracks of commercials and TV shows – played at a high volume before throngs of gray-hairs and their offspring.  And their offspring’s offspring. What’s not to like about that? For many of us – what’s not to LOVE about that.

 

Review by Pat Stanton

The show in Anaheim last night was excellent. It was energetic and enjoyable.

The printed set list is the same as Oakland but they added 5:15 I am very pleased to report. They were still able to chat with the audience, do an extended version of My Generation, and be off stage before 11.

Pete always thanks the audience at the end for coming and holding on to their tickets after they needed to cancel last year due to Roger's illness, saying that Roger was very sick. For the first time last night he added that he saw him in bed during his illness and that he looked dead. Roger nodded in agreement saying that he was.
 
The introduction of Zak often includes the story that his babysitter was Keith and that it is amazing that he survived it.

When Pete sings I'm One he says that it is a song of a 17 year old so he just transposes his age when be sings it and tries to act like a young man although he admitted that his acting skills are not great.

Roger's van story was back for Kids Are Alright, adding that he lived in that van a long time but it was better than the tiny walk up flat with his wife and baby and mother in law. Pete added that he probably did write it for him and all the other young men in the same situation at that time - an unexpected pregnancy leading to an unexpected and often unwanted marriage.

I think that Pete forgot that they dropped Lily as he joked that Roger has this thing about seeing Keith dressed up in a corset, to which Roger nodded and added he loves it.

Lots of smoking again last night, including a woman in the front row who had an e cigarette that she tried to sneak smoking. 4 off center in the first row and she is smoking! Security ejected her after lots of yelling on her part that she was being harassed.

Roger sounded wonderful all night again running all over and twirling the microphone with lots of energy and distance. The extra day of rest between shows was probably beneficial for him and the whole band.

Pete sounded fabulous in Acid Queen, both vocally and on guitar. He played long improvised segments on several songs, including My Generation and Bargain. I got a nice shot of Pino in his My Generation solo.