The Who

Ironically, for as much as Pete Townshend has voiced his dislike for the road, The Who have been touring workhorses as of late. With their 50 anniversary jaunt now behind them - one would have thought the band might finally be slowing down or even retiring. But, they are far from done. The band, which performed on July 20, 2017 at the fantastic Mohegan Sun Arena in Uniondale, Connecticut, saw Townsend speaking a couple of times during the night that he has written some "40 new songs"- which almost appears as if we may see at least one more new Who (or at least a solo Townshend) album someday.

While that is yet to be seen, it is certainly not the talk of a band that is slowing down at all. Irregardless, The Who proved once again that they are still one of the greatest live bands and pounded through a near greatest hits set. Opening with early gems "I Can't Explain" and The Seeker" (which Guns N Roses were covering earlier at their reunion shows), which led to an early-in-the-set, but very epic, “Who Are You,” where Townshend, of the Rocks most inventive guitarists, was in full blown power-chord heaven, climaxing the song with his signature guitar windmilling.

While Townshend was a bundle of energy, singer Roger Daltrey, now 73, also showed no signs of fatigue. After briefly visiting the 70’s era with “Who Are You,” the group went back and visited some earlier numbers, ala the two set openers, and ripped through a trio of 60’s nuggets with “The Kids Are Alright,” “I Can See For Miles,” and the iconic “My Generation” (which was extended a bit, as Daltrey rattled off a ditty from 1982s “It’s Hard” record, “Cry If You Want,” in the middle of the song, before again returning to “My Generation,” and closing it out epically).
Townshend, who was fairly vocal all night, remarked that he had hoped the audience had “stolen” their tickets, in jest to the high, yet now very common, ticket prices.

The band revived their plea of all-out manic devotion to win a womans affection with “Bargain,” before a breathtaking “Join Together,” and their sole US hit from 1981s “Face Dances,” “You Better You Bet.”
Hardcore Who fans were treated with “The Relay,” though its familiarity was lost on some audience members. Starting off a mini Quadrophenia set (Townshend is touring Quadrophenia, sans Daltrey, who was also absent from the stage during the first two numbers form the Rock opera, later this summer) with “Drowned,” which glided into some brilliant double guitar dueling with Townshend and his brother (and second guitarist) Simon Townshend on “The Rock,” before Daltrey returned for a marvelous take of “Love Rein O'er Me,” and proved his husky voice is still in tact, effortlessly, but fiercely, hitting the songs last note/scream.

While the band has performed selections from “Tommy” so much, you would think it must be getting old for them: but the 4 song selection was energizing and one of the highlights of the night. “Amazing Journey,” where Daltrey pulled out his dual tambourines, then morphed into the instrumental “Sparks,” until Townshend unleashed one of the greatest opening guitar licks of all time with “Pinball Wizard,” and they closed the mini-set out with the euphoric “See Me, Feel Me.”

The now expected, but always quintessential ending “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” was galactic. The fans did want more, but the Who no longer does encores. And after 50+ years, they have certainly earned the right not to. While The Who will be taking up a residency at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas in a few days, it looks as if the group, akin to their peers, the Rolling Stones, will most likely not be retiring anytime soon. And, as this near sold out night showed, their fans are far from done with them as well.