The Who perform charity show at Royal Albert Hall

The Who performed a special acoustic charity concert at the Royal Albert Hall on March 25, to benefit Teenage Cancer Trust at their annual week long gala that is organized by Roger Daltrey. They were supported by The Wild Things, who have recently been working with Pete in his studio on their upcoming album.

Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey were backed by a stellar 7-piece band, featuring Simon Townshend (guitar), Phil Spalding (bass), Jody Linscott (percussion), Billy Nicholls (mandolin), Charlie Hart (fiddle), Andy Cutting (accordion), and Geraint Watkins (keyboards). This fantastic line-up of folk musicians provided interesting new arrangements of the classic rock hits, with wonderfully complex instrumentation and lovely vocal harmonies. Everyone sounded excellent! The Who should consider using this line-up for the next UK tour.

Pete and Roger were in jovial spirits all evening, and seemed to really enjoy performing to their home town audience in this new acoustic setting. Lots of really funny banter between them throughout the show, which is always a real highlight of their concerts. Pete thanked Roger for all his hard charity work over the years.

Pete was in his usual great form sticking with his trusty Gibson J200 acoustic guitar for the whole evening. A chair was brought out for him during Behind Blue Eyes, She Rocked My World, and Who Are You, which have very complex acoustic sequences that are easier to play seated. For some reason, Roger took all the lead vocals, including songs Pete usually sings, such as Eminence Front and Let My Love Open The Door. Roger’s vocals were in excellent shape, so he likely wanted to sing as much as possible after taking such a long break from performing live.

This was the first show The Who have performed since the acoustic shows in Kingston right before the pandemic hit in February 2020, so some of the songs were a bit rough around the edges, especially with the new format and very little time to learn them. At the start of the show, Pete told the audience, “We’ve done two hours of rehearsal so it’s absolute shite, but we’re so very pleased to see you!”

They opened with a spritely version of Substitute, which was a great way to warm up the audience. Squeeze Box was next, which featured an actual squeeze box accordion. Pete said it was an arrangement based on Taj Mahal and Keb Mo’s version of it that he loved and sent to Roger. There was some mix up with which key the song should be in, so they had to restart it as they tried to figure it out. Not super tight, but fun and interesting to watch, a bit like their soundchecks. Definitely not their usual concert! Pete joked “Roger and I are making music at different speeds these days, he’s getting faster and I’m getting what I like to call cooler. A little bit in the pocket. Laid-back like Charlie Watts, but still alive!”

The folk instrumentation was really lovely on the traditional Who hits, including stunning performances of Tattoo and Behind Blue Eyes, and really interesting arrangements of Eminence Front, Who Are You, and Baba O’Riley, where the early synth parts were creatively replaced with acoustic instruments.

Along with the usual Who hits, highlights of the show were when they mixed in a few rarities, such as Real Good Looking Boy and Pete’s solo hit Let My Love Open the Door. They even played three songs from their 2019 WHO album, including Simon’s song Break the News, which Roger wanted to play twice after messing up the first time, the smoky ballad She Rocked My World, and the Meher Baba influenced Beads On One String.

Pete gave an emotional introduction to the song Beads On One String, which was performed as a tribute to Ukraine with the stage lit up with their yellow and blue flag. Pete told the crowd, “A while ago, before all this shit went down on the planet, which I think has just thrown all of us back to exactly where we started. I think we are stronger because of what we went through with the pandemic and the lockdown. I think I’m stronger, but I think I look in the mirror and I know something has changed. I think what has happened recently out there, it’s been something in a weird way. When I was a kid, 12 or 13, as Michael Caine amusingly said, ‘We all lived in the shadow of the bomb’, in the swinging 60’s. And suddenly it’s real again. I wrote this song, it’s called Beads On One String, on the Who’s album. It’s meant to be a song about how all of us with different religions could come together if we believed in something. We can gather together and stand for one thing. But this latest thing seems to have nothing to do with anybody’s god.”

The final song of the show was a lovely rendition of Won’t Get Fooled Again, which Pete and Roger performed alone after the rest of the band left the stage. It was a wonderful close to a fun evening of entertainment! Right before Pete left the stage, he answered his phone and talked over the microphone to someone (presumably his wife Rachel) who was seated in one of the box seats in the audience. He joked "I'd really prefer it if you didn't call me at work!"

Here is the full setlist.

Substitute
Squeeze Box
The Kids Are Alright
Tattoo
Behind Blue Eyes
Real Good Looking Boy
Break the News
She Rocked My World
Beads on One String
Eminence Front
Pinball Wizard
Who Are You
Let My Love Open the Door
Baba O'Riley
Won't Get Fooled Again

Many thanks to everyone who contributed photos and videos of the show!

The Who @ Royal Albert Hall Photo credit: Gary and Melissa Hurley