{"id":4784,"date":"2025-04-06T12:00:57","date_gmt":"2025-04-06T12:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/reporters-notebook-the-who-not-too-old-to-rock\/"},"modified":"2025-04-06T12:00:57","modified_gmt":"2025-04-06T12:00:57","slug":"reporters-notebook-the-who-not-too-old-to-rock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/reporters-notebook-the-who-not-too-old-to-rock\/","title":{"rendered":"Reporter’s Notebook: The Who . . . not too old to rock"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Who\u2019s too old to play rock and roll?\u00a0Apparently, not The Who if this past week\u2019s concert at London\u2019s Royal Albert Hall is anything to go by.\u00a0It featured the two core members of the group, 81-year-old lead singer Roger Daltrey and soon-to-be-80-year-old songwriter and lead guitarist Pete Townshend.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Unlike other “senior” musicians and groups like Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones, who have well-oiled touring machines around them, this was more of a one-off (well, two-off, there had been another concert a few days before) for the respected UK charity Teenage Cancer Trust<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

And so it had more than its share of “bumps,” which only made the moments of rock and roll heaven that much more enjoyable.<\/p>\n

Guess what? These guys can still rock, sixty years after their first top-ten hit, if a bit tempered by age.<\/p>\n

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: BRUCE VS BILLY ON NEUTRAL LONDON TURF<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Daltrey had a few of his memorable hand-mic air throws. OK, instead of hurling the microphone in the air vertically for thirty feet, they were more sideways for ten.<\/p>\n

And Townshend, yes, did his windmill guitar stroke movements<\/a>. I did count eight in a row at one time, but for the most part it was more like one or two at a time.<\/p>\n

Nothing was tempered about Daltrey\u2019s voice, despite problems and surgery in the past. It still sailed over the rafters on a range of songs. The high notes of the tune “Love Reign O\u2019er Me” were done with blockbuster bombast.<\/p>\n

And Townshend\u2019s guitar licks could stand up to Clapton\u2019s any day. (The latter also just turned 80, by the way.) Unique, stylish, no flubs.<\/p>\n

The Who (with a good backing band) played a few of their very early stand-outs. Especially ironic: “My Generation.” (Key line: “I hope I die before I get old.” Well . . . maybe not.)<\/p>\n

The rock opera about the deaf, dumb and blind pinball wizard, Tommy, got a bit of a gloss-over, perhaps because of Daltrey\u2019s recent admission that his vision is beginning to go (along with his hearing).<\/p>\n

The follow-up, urban rock opera Quadrophenia, was treated with a deeper dive, maybe plugging the ballet version running in London later this year. It never ends.<\/p>\n

But what many consider their finest album, Who\u2019s Next, got the full treatment. From “Bargain” to “Baba O\u2019Reilly,” from “Behind Blue Eyes” to “Won\u2019t Get Fooled Again.”<\/p>\n

The synthesizer parts might have been pre-recorded . . . but the forceful Daltrey-Townshend<\/a> duet on the key “Blue Eyes” line was utterly telling:\u00a0<\/p>\n

“And if I swallow anything evil, put your finger down my throat. And if I shiver, please give me a blanket. Keep me warm, let me wear your coat.”<\/p>\n

GUNS N\u2019 ROSES\u2019 DRUMMER FRANK FERRER LEAVES BAND AFTER 19 YEARS, NEW MEMBER JOINS TOUR<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

So . . . the “bumps” noted earlier: Townshend acknowledged that he had had knee-replacement surgery a month ago.\u00a0Aside from a few whinges\u00a0(“I\u2019m in agony,\u2019 “I can\u2019t breathe”),\u00a0he seemed to take it in his stride.\u00a0Actually, he took it sitting down through half the songs. (No Woodstock-style jumping scissor kicks for him.) But he admitted that it helped him play better.<\/p>\n

And Daltrey\u2019s earpiece (which, despite that spotty hearing, helps him stay “in tune”) was acting up throughout the night.\u00a0At one point, he stopped the entire band.\u00a0“I\u2019m not hearing the Who,” he said good-naturedly, “it sounds like I\u2019m hearing the Troggs,” referring to an old ’60s British pop band.\u00a0Townshend said in an aside ” . . . it was going so well.”<\/p>\n

In fact, the two of them, known to have had their ups and downs over the years professionally, often resembled on stage an odd couple, snapping at each other from time to time but also warm to each other . . . and the audience.<\/p>\n

Townshend (not necessarily known for his bedside manner) at one point thanking the 5,000-plus Royal Albert Hall crowd for sticking with them all these years, and calling The Who “geriatrics who pretend to be young.”\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The demographics of the crowd, I must admit, were somewhat on the senior side.\u00a0But enough sons and daughters were present and getting into it to give one hope, if not for the future, then at least for the present.<\/p>\n

For we indeed are seeing, sad to say, the tail end performances of the second great generation of rock and rollers.\u00a0 After Chuck, Little Richard and Elvis, came The Beatles, The Stones, Dylan . . . and, yes, The Who.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why it\u2019s more than just fun; it\u2019s an honor to catch these final farewells.<\/p>\n

Along with their punchier later hits like You Better You Bet and Who are You, The Who<\/a> played a song Townshend said they\u2019d never played in concert before.\u00a0Incredible, as it was recorded 54 years ago.\u00a0Amid high critical acclaim.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Called “The Song is Over” (also from the Who\u2019s Next album), it was nothing less than extraordinary. And appropriate.<\/p>\n

As Townshend worked through the riffs and lines. And Daltrey was literally completely slumped over and supported by the standing mic, as if he could go no further, it ended with them singing:<\/p>\n

“The song is over, the song is over. Excepting one note, pure and easy, playing so free, like a breath rippling by.”<\/p>\n

Except,\u00a0I take exception.\u00a0The song, hopefully, is not “over” . . . yet.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

– FOX NEWS<\/p>\n

This article appeared on the website foxnews.com
\nThis article is taken based on Law no. 8\/1996 of Romania. News does not enjoy copyright, so they can be taken, this is our right to take news and information in its entirety and distribute them further. The content was made available to us through the rss mechanism
\nOriginal Content<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Who\u2019s too old to play rock and roll?\u00a0Apparently, not The Who if this past week\u2019s concert at London\u2019s Royal Albert Hall is anything to go by.\u00a0It featured the two core members of the group, 81-year-old lead singer Roger Daltrey and soon-to-be-80-year-old songwriter and lead guitarist Pete Townshend.\u00a0\u00a0 Unlike other “senior” musicians and groups like Bob […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1150,1],"tags":[472,5329,5330,2862,2144,187,123,4121,2,341],"class_list":["post-4784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fox-news","category-news","tag-not","tag-notebook","tag-old","tag-reporters","tag-rock","tag-the","tag-to","tag-too","tag-usersbook","tag-who"],"yoast_head":"\nReporter's Notebook: The Who . . . not too old to rock - 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