Review of RAH from Music365

["Brian Cady" <cadyb@home.com>]

Available on line at:
http://www.music365.co.uk/autocontent/live_51496.htm

Veteran rockers 'put a little bit back' with an all-star celebrity cast

Those cultural commentators who maintain that men are undergoing a crisis of
masculinity have obviously never been to see The Who. Tonight the usually
genteel audience at the Royal Albert Hall has been replaced by a few thousand
receding Ray Winstone look-alikes who've cast aside their suit jackets for the
night in order to swear, shout, eye up the small amount of women in attendance
and basically roll back the years in the company of 'The 'Oo'.

It's a mere two weeks since the legendary rockers last graced a London stage,
but tonight is different in that firstly, all proceeds are going to charity
(specifically the Teenage Cancer Trust) and secondly the band have press-ganged
a gaggle of their millionaire rock star buddies to help blast out their greatest
hits.

It's sweet to see today's rock aristocracy reduced to the status of blushing
school boys in the presence of The Who. Noel Gallagher looks fit to burst with
excitement as he squeals out the guitar solo on 'Won't Get Fooled Again' while
Paul Weller is like a little puppy dog as he plonks down on a stool alongside
Pete Townshend to deliver an understated 'So Sad About Us', a song previously
covered by The Jam. And Eddie Vedder, who Townshend informs us "has flown 9,000
miles from a surfing holiday in Hawaii" to be here has to be practically coaxed
from hanging back beside the drum riser as he contributes achingly beautiful
vocals to 'I'm One' and 'Getting In Tune'.

There are other notable moments too. Bryan Adams delivers a fine 'Behind Blue
Eyes' and Kelly Jones belts out 'Substitute', the lyric "I look pretty young but
I'm just back-dated" never seeming more appropriate.

As tonight's epic set closes with Vedder, Adams and a group of teenage cancer
sufferers joining The Who for 'See Me Feel Me' and 'Listening To You', hulking
blokes right around the building jump up and down like pop kids lost in music. A
bizarre night all told, but with a tidy million generated for the Teenage Cancer
Trust, a worthy night too. Nice one geezers. Rating 8 out of 10.
Paul Brannigan

Eyewitness Report: During his lengthy introduction to 'Bargain' Pete Townshend
is heckled by a bloke telling him to "get on with it."
"F**k off," Townshend retorts. "I've probably paid 40 or 50 times what you've
paid to be here. But then I can afford it." This, let's not forget, is the man
who battered 60s hippie Abbie Hoffman off the Woodstock stage with his guitar
during the era of peace and love.

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         The Who This Month!
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