The Who
Mon, 20 November 2006:
Fort Lauderdale, FL, Bank Atlantic Arena
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Support Act: The PretendersSetlist
Lineup
|
Roger Daltrey |
Guitar, Harmonica, Vocals |
 |
Pete Townshend |
Guitar, Vocals, Acoustic Guitar |
|
Pino Palladino |
Bass |
|
Zak Starkey |
Drums |
|
Simon Townshend |
Acoustic Guitar, Guitar, Backing Vocal |
|
Brian Kehew |
Keyboards |
Rating
This show has been rated
(3.3 out of 5 with 346 vote(s) total)
Newspaper Review
The Who not equal to past
Miami Herald, 21-11-2006
Four decades ago, the volcanic power of the Who lay in their signature moves -- Roger Daltrey twirling a microphone stand; guitarist Pete Townshend ripping chords in big windmill motions -- performed with the same precision force as their tightly constructed rock 'n' roll songs.
Monday night at Sunrise's Bank Atlantic Center, the near-capacity crowd cheered every time the sexagenarian rockers performed those moves -- seemingly relieved they could do so without falling down or throwing out their backs.
In their heyday, the Who had a manic energy that was almost without peer, in an era when youthful ardor was changing the world. Townshend wrote and Daltrey sang some of the ultimate anthems of the '60s and '70s: My Generation, Won't Get Fooled Again. "The kids are alright," they famously assured. In 2006, though, the geezers are just so-so.
The Who is one of those acts that every few years says farewell. This is the two surviving members' first tour since original bassist John Entwhistle died in 2002. (Amazingly, and somewhat alarmingly, they finished up the tour they were on when he died).
At least this go-round, for the first time in a quarter-century, the seminal British Invasion band has a new album to play. A couple of songs from Endless Wire, their recently released album, sounded even better than on disc: The two performed the anti-clergy rant A Man in a Purple Dress without the other four musicians, with Townshend strumming an acoustic guitar. We Got a Hit, from the "mini-opera" Wire & Glass, was a peppy self-parody, similar to their old hit Substitute.
But most of the meandering new tunes lack Townshend's usual pointed wit and allegorical force. The audience -- dominated by middle-aged men -- tended to swarm the bathrooms every time a new song was played. They were there to hear the songs of which classic rock radio is made.
The Who complied, opening with I Can't Explain; footage of the band as youths ran on screens behind them. In the generous, two-hour show, they dutifully and even lovingly trotted out most of their golden oldies. In a tight black T-shirt and blue jeans, the muscled Daltrey, 62, looked Dorian Gray fit. Balding and gray, Townshend, 61, looked more his age. They interacted little with each other or the rest of the band -- Pete's brother Simon Townshend on guitar, Pino Palladino on bass, Zak Starkey on drum. Usual keyboardist John "Rabbit" Bundrick was absent to tend to a sick wife; his technician ably filled in.
In fact, they barely left their little parts of the stage. Townshend talked to the crowd, recalling how he'd written both their early hit The Seeker and the start of Wire & Glass in South Florida.
Opening act the Pretenders were far more relaxed and engaging, less obviously trying to be something they once were. Chrissie Hynde's voice is getting better with age. She was in a self-described "cheesy" mood, trying to teach the audience an awkward dance. She, too, played her hits -- but she also made fun of the obvious nostalgia value of the bill.
Evelyn McDonnel
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Who show no need for leeway often granted to aging rockers
Aversion Music News - Rock, Punk, Indie, 21-11-2006
The Who's Pete Townshend, clever as ever, was talking to the crowd at BankAtlantic Center on Monday night about aging when he made an observation.
"We hope we die before we get old or something," he deadpanned, a wry smile curling his lip.
"Actually, it's you we're worried about. Are you sure you can keep up the pace?"
The reference to the British rock monster's hit My Generation may have seemed to be coy, but there was a real question whether the crowd could keep up with the 61-year-old Townshend, 62-year-old original bandmate Roger Daltrey and their mates. Their seemingly endless and ridiculously spirited set rolled from hit to new song to bigger hit, with nary a pause and not a bit of hesitation.
And this is true, considering the generous amount of leeway that rock fans tend to give their legends. They expect them to rock, but forgive a little slowing down, a wee amount of creak. Well, other than the fact that Townshend no longer slides on his knees, and that Keith Moon isn't around to blow anything up, The Who don't need your stinking leeway.
From Daltrey's ever-sneering stutter on My Generation, Townshend's wide, boisterous arm windmills that assaulted his guitar, and the general energy, it's clear that the Who will die before they get old, no matter how old they happen to be when that actually happens.
The old and new merged into each other, the newer songs being not quite as memorable as most of the old ones but still better than most new songs by veteran acts. The standout of the newer material, from the band's recent Endless Wire, was the acoustic A Man In A Purple Dress, on which Daltrey waxed bitter and caustic about false idols.
But the old stuff ... well, that's genius. The Who took the stage to the '60s beat of I Can't Complain, with drummer Zak Starkey, son of a certain famous British invasion drummer named Starr, pounding away. Baba O'Riley's momentous chant of "It's only teenage WASTELAND" brought the crowd to their feet, and the aforementioned version of My Generation kept them there.
Leslie Gray Streeter, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
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Fanreport
Mike Starcke
First of all the Pretenders were an awesome opening. Chrissie Hynde is a rock star and her stage presence is huge. The band kicked major ass and most of the crowd was there to watch.
As for The Who. What a f*cking show! Meg, Joyce, Marc and I were third row right in front of Pete, my ears are still humming. Pete had this angry look on his face for the first three songs bringing back the memory of the second MSG show in 2000 when he stayed that way thru the entire show and didn't say a word to the crowd. But, he cracked a smile all of a sudden to someone in the crowd and loosened up.
Him and Roger were as playful together as ever. Roger nixed the glasses and had a tucked in black shirt, he looked 10 years younger and the shit kicker of it all was that his voice was perfection tonight.
It was a full house at the Bank Atlantic Arena, but the crowd sat for the new songs on the most part except for us crazy f*cks in the front rows, but the fact that they sat for the new songs seemed to fire the boys up. Of course, they then stood and went crazy for the old classics.
Baba stands out as a ripping version as well as the fiery extended MG/CIYW jam. The mini-opera fired me up, I just loved it more than ever tonight. Seeker was in the second slot, AAA replacing Substitute. No Black Widow's Eye's which was a slight disappointment but the overall energy of the show overpowered that for me. RGLB was as gorgeous as ever played.
I made up a poster that said: The Boy Who Heard Music to The Endless Wire. It All Started Here (Florida) September 24th 2000. (Pete had mentioned on his diary awhile back that he started writing TBWHM by the Atlantic ocean in West Palm Beach Florida on September 24th 2000). Right after Fragments I held it up and Roger gave me the smile and acknowledgement but then I was trying to get Pete to read it but he didn't seem to look at it and that brought a huge laugh to Roger as brought to my attention by Meg, Joyce and Marc. Pete finally read it and announced to the crowd that there was someone holding a sign and went onto explain how it was true that he had started it(TBWHM) in West Palm Beach.
Someone took the sign from me and had people in the 3 or 4 rows behind us pass the sign around and each person held it up It was a trip!!! I didn't think I was going to get it back because I really want to bring it to Joe's Pub and have Pete sign it. Thankfully Meg got it back for me! Thanks Meg! I'm emotionally and physically drained.
There's just nothing like being up there in the front rows. We wound up watching the encore in the front row with a bunch of rowdy fans. A couple were talking really loud during Tea and Theatre and Roger just stared at them with this wicked glare and I tapped on their shoulders and told them to please be quiet for this song and they obliged and Roger started. Very emotional, really powerful. We forgot to buy the Who tea mugs at the souvenir stand. We were planning on getting them after the Pretenders set and holding them up for Tea and Theatre. We will remember for the next time hopefully. What can be said about Tommy encore? It always shreds!
You really get the interaction with the boys that close. My voice is shot. Overall, we were more than satisfied, it was a rip roaring night for sure!
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Marc Starcke
The Pretenders came on right at 7:30pm and played their usual 50 minute set. They were as great as everyone was telling us from the prior shows. I decided to go into the stands a bit further back to video tape them. I loved Chrissie Hynde's red boots. She took time out to teach the audience a shimmering English style type of dance that she said "Pete would love". 30 minutes later as the show was winding down - she started to do that dance again!
I have never seen Roger smile so much at any Who show ever ... and I've been to 30 of them. He smiled during every song and even invented some really creative dance moves on the stage. As my brother said, his voice was perfect tonight!
My Generation segued into CIYW, but it was one of the longest versions on the tour, incredibly explosive guitar work by Pete which included him singing "let your tears go, let your past go" several times. And Roger's coolest (and a bit funny) dance moves came during this song. And it wasn't the Chrissie Hynde one!
The encore as usual was unbelievable. There's nothing more to say about it! Pete actually did a scissor kick leap like the old days. Matter of fact he seemed to jump more than usual.
During the start of "Tea And Theater" some people in the front row next to us were talking and yelling loudly at each other which caused Roger to glare at them. My brother and I quickly told the folks to stop gabbing and pay attention (and respect) and they did immediately and the song was as emotional as ever.
What a night!! We all agreed that it was better than our previous favorite show of the tour in Boston last September. Oh one more thing. You fuckers in the front row don't belong there. I never saw so many people in the front row who didn't even seem to know what show they were at. They seemed to be waiting for Wayne Newton to show up. It was unbelievable. Joyce, Meg, Mike and myself stood and sang all the words to W&G and you can see Roger and Pete taking notice while the rest of the crowd sat down. And I mean all of them sat down. I pretty much got all the words right except Pete looked right at me when I sang a line wrong and he did a double take and started laughing at me and shaking his head.
We all had some kind of interaction from the band tonight! As Mike said, we ended up in the front row for the encore. Although the 3rd row at that place was as close as you can get without being front row. The fence was the closest I have seen at a venue.
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Record and DVD
Encore 2006: Fort Lauderdale, FL 11.20.06 (2:04:50, DVD)
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Last update: 2007-04-11 20:00:20 - # 5371
