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Videos
Full show
I Can't Explain
I Can't Explain / Substitute
Substitute
Who Are You
I Can See For Miles
I Can See For Miles
Long Live Rock
Long Live Rock
Pinball Wizard / See Me Feel Me
Pinball Wizard
Another Tricky Day
Another Tricky Day
Behind Blue Eyes
Behind Blue Eyes
Eminence Front
Won't Get Fooled Again
The Song is Over
Tea & Theatre
Press
Review by Doug Brunk
If you had told me after I first saw the Who perform at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas in 1982 that I’d see them again some 43 years later in Las Vegas at the end of their touring career, I wouldn’t have believed you.
But that’s how life has played out.
This is more reflection than review but I must tip my hat to this music which has offered hope during life’s hard times and amplified joy when life’s been good. It’s truly been a guiding light, and I’m grateful for it.
Pete alluded to life’s hard times at this show, sharing that he’s coping with the recent loss of two close friends to cancer. But he powered through the grief, or maybe channeled it, delivering particularly strong versions of “I’m One” and “Eminence Front.”
When Pete and Roger began the closing number, “Tea & Theater,” you could hear a pin drop. Everyone seemed to be tuned in, savoring these last few minutes of song. After Roger sang, “we did it all, didn’t we?” some audience members responded with cheers. Others with tears.
Well done, Pete, Roger, fellow members of the current band, and everyone behind the scenes who works so hard to make these shows special. This may be a farewell to formal tours, but this music will live forever, “...playin’ so free like a breath rippling by.”
Review by Tim Ballou
It is now real. With no plans to attend the Palm Springs final North American show the “song is over” for me. I could not have chosen a better way to end it. My first Who show was Louisville on the 1982 tour. With me in Las Vegas were two lifelong friends, one who was also at Louisville and instrumental in teaching me to love this band like no other. To close the loop together in Las Vegas felt like fate.
Growing up in small town Kentucky, there wasn’t a lot to do besides drive the streets blasting WHO’S NEXT on cassette, air-guitaring windmills (“Pete strokes”) and banging out drum solos on the dashboard. If you’ve seen Wayne and Garth (WAYNE’S WORLD) enjoying BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY in a 1976 Pacer, that was us with a different soundtrack and a 79 Chevy Caprice. We took our rebellion seriously, keeping the windows open to make sure our community of country music fanatics was well aware of what real music sounded like.
We weren’t alone in our nostalgia. The MGM arena was packed with grown men like us—gray-haired or hair-deficient — whose aging prostates created restroom lines rivaling the women. They were feeling the same emotional punch in the gut we did. One would think there should be no crying at a Who concert. We could say there was not, that it was just nearby onion peeling, but we know the truth. This was the end of an era. A six decade era. Given that, maybe it’s ok for a grown man to cry if he wants.
We felt lucky to even have this goodbye at all. What else could you ask for? This concert was a memorable parting gift to old farts like us who carried them this far.
Review by Abraham Castro-Kreimerman
They were joking.
Isn’t it?
I refuse to think that The Song Is Over.
I cannot accept that my favourite band decided to stop playing.
Before the concert started I felt really sad, this is going to be the last time I’m going to attend to a live performance of the works of Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy.
As soon as Pete hit the Can’t Explain chords, the sadness turned into joy… and the CELEBRATION began.
Cause that was really the essence of this particularly “farewell tour”... the celebration of the Maestro Bouncy works, the powerful voice of Meaty, the thunderous sound of Big and the hilarious and spectacular madness of Beaty.
All the songs in this celebration were played with passion and power and confirmed, once again, my love for the band.
I Can See For Miles displayed a great fresh vocal arrangement; You Better You Bet was spectacular; WGFA and Baba O’Riley represented an epic closing with Katie Jacoby’s brutal violin playing making the band explode; Tommy’s segment was great and emotional although I was expecting more tunes like Amazing Journey, Sensation and Sparks, as well with the Quadrophenia section, some bites of Punk & Godfather and The Rock were deeply missed.
So happy to listen Long Live Rock, a perfect gem with great lyrics. The Song Is Over was simply soulful and touched my heart profoundly.
My personal favourite will always be The Real Me (the best song of my band is my #1 of music)... and they did an amazing performance, with all the energy and power of Roger’s voice and a precise rendition of John’s bass, played by Jon Button.
Everybody in the stage made important contributions to recreate the sound. Personally I love Scott Devours’ performance in WGFA doing the solo as close as it gets to Keith’s crazy drumming.
My Generation, Behind Blue Eyes, Substitute, Who Are You, Another Tricky Day... all the tracks made a real impact.
I cried.
I laughed.
I felt all the vibrations.
And I CELEBRATED my band’s legacy in a performance so hard to forget. My heart is forever touched by this particularly performance (as well as with the other 33+ shows I was blessed to attend, including the only performance in my country, in Mexico City).
As I said, I refused to think that The Song Is Over. This was not their Farewell Tour, this was the First Celebration of their Legacy... and I’m waiting for the dates of the Second and the Rest of Celebrations.
I always enjoy Pete’s and Roger’s dark humour... and calling the tour Farewell is another of their dark jokes. You got us.
Viva Rogelio.
Viva Pedro.
Viva Juan.
Viva Keith.
Vivan Los Quién.
Viva The Who.
Thanks for the first 60 years.
Abraham Castro-Kreimerman
The Mexican Wholigan
Review by Kevin Kennedy
I brought my wife Emperatriz, and 8 year old Son Paul, for his first and last Who Concert in Las Vegas. We arrived at the MGM Grand Garden Arena early and met up with other fans. Everyone was talking about how Great they were sounding on this Farewell Tour, and they were right.
From the opening song Can’t explain through all the Hits, it was a Flawless performance. The energy in the Grand Garden arena was Fantastic. The lighting and video they put together worked really well with the show, one of the best I’ve seen.
Pete sounded Fantastic on Eminence Front, his playing was perfect. Roger nailed Love Reign O’er me. Baba O’Riley got my Son to smile. You Better You Bet was a nice Surprise. Who Are You and Won’t Get Fooled Again, were perfect. Simon Townshend did a really Fantastic job on Goin Mobile.
Scott Devours Drumming was perfectly executed, between percussionist Jody Linscott’s wonderful playing. I will say Scott’s Drumming was perfect, and as a long time fan, I missed Zak, but Scott was unbelievable. I knew how good Scott was from seeing him on Rogers Solo Tours, and admire how he stepped up in his unique style and did it right.
When They played The Song is Over, I must admit it made me emotional almost instantaneously, the added Lyrics work so well. When they played Another Tricky Day, for me it summed up, it was Tricky getting Tickets, and Tricky traveling across the country to the last show, in Vegas. But it wasn’t another Tricky Night, it was an Amazing Incredible Fantastic Memorable night this Who Fan won’t forget, even if I live for a Thousand Years. Lol.
Review by Robin Rinehart
One the most fun parts of attending the sound check for a Who show (once you’ve gotten over the hit to your bank account) is the chance to talk with other fans while waiting in line. Everyone compares t-shirts from different tours, we admire the Union Jack outfits, and trade stories about when we first saw The Who, how many times we’ve seen them, or whether we’ve seen any of the band members’ solo shows.
At the Las Vegas show, there were people from all around the country and from the UK, most of us having planned our trips thinking it would be the last US stop on the tour. Some were fans with encyclopedic knowledge about all of Pete’s guitars and synthesizers; others (like me) could probably quote just about every Who lyric. There were Who fan families with two or even three generations, and excitement mixed with sadness knowing this was probably one of the last Who shows in the US.
Hearing Pete sing “I’m One” at the sound check was a special treat. There’s something about the vulnerability and defiance of that song that is quintessentially Who.
The show itself was everything you could hope for—a great mix of songs from their whole career to the closing “Tea and Theatre.”
Jon Button’s bass on “My Generation” came through in a way it hadn’t on the tours with the orchestra; Loren Gold’s intro to “Love Reign O’er Me” was beautiful as always; Scott Devours and Jody Linscott radiated happiness and energy on every song. Simon seems to have made “Going Mobile” his own. Pete encouraged us all to check out backing vocalist John Hogg’s music. And Katie Jacoby absolutely killed the violin solo on “Baba O’Riley.”
I don’t even have words for what it was like to listen to Roger and Pete—I didn’t want it to end. It’s a cliché but The Who’s music has been part of the soundtrack of my life and I am so grateful to have been able to see this show.