The Who at Vienna - Wiener Stadthalle

 

The Who Setlist Wiener Stadthalle, Vienna, Austria, Back to The Who Tour 2016

 

 

Videos

I Can See For Miles
My Generation
My Generation
Relay
You Better You Bet
The Kids Are Alright
Behind Blue Eyes
Join Together
5:15
I'm One
Love Reign O'er Me
Acid Queen
Baba O'Riley
Won't Get Fooled Again

 

Press

Kurier.at
Kronen Zeitung
Salzburger Nachrichten
derStandard.at
orf.at

 

Review by Pat Stanton

The concert in Vienna was very entertaining but the heat and lack of circulation in the venue negatively impacted the performance. Both Pete and Roger gave it their all but it was difficult for them.

By the end of the show, Pete looked completely drained and exhausted. He had a fan out in front of him mid show but it didn't seem to help much. The first show in a long time where he did not do his leap and I heard him comment to Roger that he just couldn't do it He mentioned that he felt like he was breathing in only carbon dioxide and sympathized with the audience as he knew we were also. It affected his performance as he lost his way in a couple of songs.

Roger didn't fare much better with his shirt completely drenched in sweat, with it dripping down his face. He asked the audience if we could even breathe?

Love Reign was a bit bumpy as there seemed to be an audio issue in the beginning with Roger's earpiece, annoying him. He even skipped a couple of lines as he went for water. Same thing happened in See Me Feel Me as he went for water while singing and tried to sing with water still in his mouth. Even so, he sang with passion and enthusiasm and sounded fabulous all night.

Pete performed his solo songs very well considering, especially I'm One. He commented during that song that he should be 16 to be out there doing the show. (not the usual play on numbers telling us to imagine that he is 17 not 71 while he sings that song that he routinely said during the NA tour).

Both spoke to the audience in Austrian several times. I assume it was Austrian and not German as I don't speak either language. The audience appreciated the effort.

Pete commented that they have been coming to Vienna for many years and that they love visiting and playing that city.

Again I was near Pete so lots of Pete shots. Lighting made it challenging but I am posting the best that I took.

 

Review by Paul Varey

An epic ten hour journey from Vienna to Bologna (taking a short cut through the Alps) is as good a time as any to The Who's gig in Vienna. Everyone looked refreshed from the summer break and, the two previous gigs in Germany meant that they weren't going on stage 'cold'.

The set list will be familiar to anyone who has seen them on this Who hits 50/51/52 tour. However we were graced with a version of Relay which was a nice surprise. Unfortunately this surprise was balanced by two other factors. The heat in the arena was oppressive, not quite as bad as Paris last year, but almost. In fact I'm sure that it was a combination of heat and sweat that caused Pete to mess up the intro to I'm One. Although the audience laughed Pete wasn't so pleased and said he wished he could laugh.

This was the start of grumpy Pete. Peters mood wasn't enhanced by the sound problems that beset the gig. Both Pete and Roger asked for the volume to be turned up and, there were instances of a strange stereo like echo at times. But when you lose someone as experienced as Bobby Pridden must be difficult when things go wrong. Pete was constantly swapping guitars out with the red number 4 giving way to the gold strat. Although we didn't see the Gibson gold top ( I'm beginning to think it's use in Germany was a marketing ploy to say he had played it), we did get to see what appeared to be a silver strat with mini humbuckers . I can't recall seeing that before, but then I'm old and forgetful.

Being in Vienna, Pete made a reference to Freud by stating that he wrote a lot of his music when he was sixteen and that he was letting his inner sixteen year old out to play it to us tonight.

On a side note it was nice to meet some of the travelling US contingent and, put names to faces. Onwards to Bologna and what could be an interesting night...