Concert Review: Legendary Band The Who Defies Time

There are countless time travel-themed films such as "Back to the Future," "Interstellar" and "The Terminator," and many acclaimed time travel-themed books such as "Slaughterhouse Five," "Kindred" and "A Wrinkle in Time." Traveling through time is clearly a universally popular notion. But I always thought it was a purely fictional enterprise. After seeing The Who on Saturday night, I'm not so sure.

The legendary rock band's lead singer, Roger Daltrey, 78, and lead guitarist and songwriter, Pete Townshend, 77, were in impossibly good form when they performed with a full orchestra at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. I was flabbergasted by how youthful they looked and sounded. It literally felt as if they were visiting us from another time.

 

Roger is singing as powerfully and with as much nuance as he did 40 years ago. Maybe even more so. Pete is singing and playing with the energy and passion of a teenager, and still does those trademark windmills. And that alone is inconceivable. Both of these living legends have tremendous energy on stage. It borders on the supernatural.  

 

The most memorable scream in rock and roll history is of course Roger's joyously blood-curdling wail near the end of "Won't Get Fooled Again." I did not expect him to reach the same emotional, eardrum-shattering level as he did back in the day. But he did. It was bloody brilliant!

It was the same raw, gut-punching, emotional roar that I heard the first time I listened to the song from "Who's Next," which could very well be the greatest rock album of them all. I was ten years old when I first heard that record. It is now written into my DNA.

There are basically three untouchables in the history of rock and roll. Three bands who tower above the rest in terms of, well, greatness. There is no real need to name them, but of course they are The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Who. And The Who is the only one of the three that is currently active. 

Yes, original drummer Keith Moon and original bass player John Entwistle are both sadly no longer with us. But Roger and Pete keep the fire burning. 

Townshend's energy belies time and physics. I'd have been happy just to hear these guys sing and play. But what I did not expect was how powerfully and superbly they sang and played, and how much visible, palpable joy they felt as they performed.

With a superb orchestra behind them, the band opened with several songs from "Tommy," the iconic rock opera which of course was made into a wild and wildly acclaimed film of the same name directed by Ken Russell. 

Then the orchestra departed, and the band continued to rock with such favorites as "You Better You Bet," "The Seeker," "Won't Get Fooled Again" (as mentioned above) and "Behind Blue Eyes." 

When the orchestra returned, the band played a few songs from "Quadrophenia," the group's other rock opera and concept album that has been called the "anti-musical," but whose songs are genius. 

They ended the show with two of their epic best: "Love, Reign O'er Me" and "Baba O'Riley," which many refer to as "Teenage Wasteland." 

I guess we all get more sentimental as we grow older. We all begin to sense our own mortality, though I try not to dwell on that. I'm not ashamed to say that I had tears of joy in my eyes for a good portion of the show. 

Music has been a huge part of my life since I can remember. I have an absurdly clear memory of myself at age 5 flipping over plastic buckets and kitchen pans to use as a drum set as I played along with the "I Saw Her Standing There" by The Beatles. And of course I remember vividly when I bought my first guitar at age 14. 

Besides the love of my family and friends, there has been no greater joy in my life than music. And getting an opportunity to see these masters play at such a high level this late in their careers is touching, reassuring and amazing. 

Thank you Roger and Pete for all the music you have given given the world. And thanks, too, for the amazing work you have been doing for teen and young adult cancer patients for the last 30 years with the Teenage Cancer Trust in the UK and for the last 10 years in America with Teen Cancer America. 

The band is giving $2 per ticket to Teen Cancer America on the tour. That’s worth over $400,000 to the charity and makes every fan feel like they are helping young people with cancer.  

The Who rocks, and cares!