It says quite a bit about Roger Daltrey’s help for the Teenage Most cancers Belief that when The Who take the stage on the Royal Albert Corridor it’s the band’s first present for nearly precisely a 12 months – in actual fact, it’s their first since final 12 months’s Teenage Most cancers Belief present. And The Who will probably be again right here once more on Sunday to headline a second night on behalf of the charity. Tonight, a minimum of, Daltrey and Pete Townshend are in wonderful kind, delivering a set filled with hits but additionally containing a substantial amount of heat, humour and character. On the likes of “Love, Reign O’er Me”, “Behind Blue Eyes” and “5.15”, they don’t fairly roll again the years, as a lot as embrace the fact of their age with a heartening defiance.
The Who first performed the Royal Albert Corridor for the Teenage Most cancers Belief 1 / 4 of a century in the past in 2000. On that event, they had been joined by particular company together with Paul Weller, Noel Gallagher, Eddie Vedder and Nigel Kennedy. For final 12 months’s present, they had been accompanied by an orchestra. However this time spherical, it’s simply the band – Pete and Roger, plus 5 others together with Zac Starkey on drums and Simon Townshend on second guitar. “Do you miss the orchestra?” gasps Townshend after whirl-winding his means via “Pinball Wizard”. “I fucking do. After we had the orchestra, I solely needed to faux to play.”
Townshend is feeling notably fragile as he’s simply had his left knee changed – information that’s greeted with nods of sympathy from a crowd that has aged with the band. When Daltrey, now 81 however astonishingly spry, fluffs a line on “I Can See For Miles”, he blames it on a “senior second”. Later he complains of failing eyesight to go together with his poor listening to – “if I lose my voice, I’ll have the complete ‘Tommy’,” he jokes.
That doesn’t appear probably. Daltrey’s voice is a miracle, and he is aware of it. After a pair of looseners to get everyone within the temper – “I Can’t Clarify” and “Substitute” – Daltrey strikes via the gears, with improbable renditions of demanding numbers like “Cut price” and “The Actual Me”. By the point we attain “5.15”, it’s clear he’s singing in addition to ever, and when he hits the prolonged, agonising howl of “looooove” after Townshend’s solo on “Love, Reign O’Er Me”, it brings the gang to their toes. That tune is without doubt one of the highlights, with Townshend delivering a frantic efficiency that has the remainder of the band watching his palms looking for a cue on the place to go subsequent.
The set is a masterclass in giving the followers what they need, from the attractive efficiency of “Behind Blue Eyes”, which at instances is simply Pete and Roger working collectively to fill the tune, to the uncommon airing of “Love Ain’t For Maintaining” after which the quick-fire medley of “My Technology”/“Cry If You Need Me”/“See Me Really feel Me”/“Listening To You”. Townshend will get a few songs on lead vocal: an awesome “The Seeker” and later “Eminence Entrance” – the latter to provide Daltrey’s voice a break because it follows the taxing medley. Between songs, Daltrey praises the charity and urges additional help in elevating funds, with Townshend watching his buddy’s ardour with apparent delight.
The ultimate straight begins with the gang singalong “You Higher You Guess” adopted by “Baba O’Riley” and “Received’t Get Fooled Once more” in fast succession. These two epics draw the very best from all the band, with keyboard participant Loren Gold having fun with his massive second on the intro to “Baba O’Riley” whereas Starkey wallops the drums. As “Received’t Get Fooled Once more” crashes alongside, Daltrey breaks out the harmonica, locking completely into Townshend’s guitar. The remainder of the band then slips away, leaving the stage to “the 2 outdated farts on the entrance” who shut the set along with “Tea And Theatre” from Infinite Wire, a tune concerning the band, what they did, who they had been and what stays: “We play them as one; We’re older now; All of us unhappy; All of us free; Earlier than we stroll from this stage; Two of us”. New knee, outdated associates, a superb trigger and testomony to probably the most unlikely and enduring partnerships in music.
The Who’s set checklist, the Royal Albert Corridor, London, March 27, 2025:
I Can’t Clarify
Substitute
Who Are You?
The Youngsters Are Alright
I Can See For Miles
Cut price
Pinball Wizard
Love Ain’t For Keepin’
The Seeker
Behind Blue Eyes
The Actual Me
5.15
I’m One
Love, Reign O’Er Me
My Technology/Cry If You Need/See Me Really feel Me/Listening To You
Eminence Entrance
You Higher, You Guess
Baba O’Reilly
Received’t Get Fooled Once more
Tea & Theatre
