Review from Portsmouth's The News

[Brian Cady <brianinatlanta2001@yahoo.com>]

Review from Portsmouth's The News
available on line at:
http://newmedia2.ppp.co.uk/thenews/features/news/newsdaily1.cfm?featid=261

MEET THE OLD BOSSES ...
 
The Who, Portsmouth Guildhall. Review by Barry Rutter
 
A BAND living in the past, or the masters of giving
the fans what they want? Judging by the smiles and
awed comments afterwards, it's not a tough decision.

They opened with a trio of '60s classics  I Can't
Explain, Substitute, Anyway Anyhow Anywhere - and it
was immediately obvious we were in for a treat.
Timewise things didn't move on much beyond the '70s,
but the quality never shifted either.

Pete Townshend still plays a mean windmill stroke on
his guitar  even if his famous leaps are a lot nearer
the ground these days  and the riffs he bangs out
still make the (grey) hairs on the back of your neck
stand on end.

John Entwistle was resplendent in white jacket, black
stacked heels and a magnificently coiffured grey hair
and beard, and won some of the biggest cheers of the
night for his driving bass solo on 5.15.

Singer Roger Daltrey seems to have worn best, moving,
sounding and looking extremely youthful  for a
57-year-old, and from the balcony, anyway.

The euphoria of I'm Free, the harmonies of Who Are You
and the sheer anthemic joy of Won't Get Fooled Again
would be difficult for anyone to match.

An epic encore saw them burst through The Kids Are
Alright, give a severe reworking to Summertime Blues,
and bring the house down with My Generation, rounded
off by townshends ritual demolition of his guitar
(the first of the new millennium, as Daltrey pointed
out).

There wasn't even the hint of a smile on Daltrey's
lips as he sang 'hope I die before I get old', but
then if they're still this good, maybe they can stay
ageless for a few more years yet. 


=====
-Brian in Atlanta
The Who This Month!
http://www.thewhothismonth.com
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