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Review by Pat Stanton
The Tahoe show was the last scheduled Who show in America and according to Pete at the end of the show, it may be just that, their last.
Harvey's is an outdoor arena with a very high stage. When I walked in it reminded me of the arena in Forest Hills. The main difference between the two is that it gets quite chilly in the mountains as the evening progresses, especially for the performers on the stage as they are so elevated. Pete commented just that - it gets chilly here - about midway through the show.
The set list was standard, with The Rock back, Relay gone and Naked Eye still in the My Generation jam. Bargain and The Seeker were also back with the opening ICE rather than WAY which was played later in the set.
Both Roger and Pete commented on how dry it was on the stage. Pete asked how can it be so dry when we are on a lake? Roger drank copious amounts of water - he sang with a bottle in his hand drinking between lyrics for a good portion of the show. Fortunately he did not end up with Vegas Throat like he did at the 6th Vegas show as he sounded magical all night.
At one point, Binky brought Roger a fresh cup of tea and Pete saw it and said, "Sailor, could I have a cup of tea", telling the audience that they are both sailors. Unusual for Pete to drink tea during a show.
The Tommy segment was one of the best that I have heard. Perhaps the chilly air energized them but both Roger and Pete were very animated especially during Sparks. Pete also was doing lots of little leaps with Roger's scream in WGFA.
They did not like the lighting on the stage, with a couple of very bright spotlights coming from the back of the arena while the stage itself was very dark. Pete acted like he was under interrogation at one point, saying he was guilty and voted both ways. He also complained that it was very dark on the stage and he was tripping on things, asking for more light on the stage (Roger agreeing) to no avail. A sarcastic fan yelled to him to take off his sunglasses, which got a glare in return.
Pete sarcastically told us that they were determined to get through the set list, even if it was rubbish, laughing. He also had issues with his guitars being out of tune, swapping frequently mid song and tuning it himself before songs started.
It was good to see Roger recovered from the tough last Vegas show. He sounded wonderful the entire night, with a brilliant Love Reign. The conditions were probably getting to him by the end as I heard him say just before WGFA. "only one more song".
Pete went on about how most of the songs were written before many on the audience were born. At one point another critic in the audience yelled that it was old people music to which Pete repeated it and smiled, looking over to Roger. As he introduced Miles, he told us that he thinks it is one of the best songs he ever wrote. At the beginning of My Generation, he commented that even though the songs were written and performed when they were young, they sometimes do them better today.
The intros at the end were typical until Pete commented that this was the last show in America and they were going home to rest before the South America shows but that there are no additional future shows scheduled so this may be the last one they do. Of course Pete is doing a few Classic Quad shows without Roger and the rest of the band and Roger are doing the 2 weekend shows in Mexico and the FL and Ontario shows with the band, minus Pete. But for now, the Tahoe show is the end of the Who shows in America. Hopefully after some rest, they will again need to get out in the light and not go out of their minds in retirement as the show last night showed that they can still deliver a powerful and entertaining show.
