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Roger's voice 2002 tour vs CFNYC



In a message dated 2/12/2003 6:53:01 AM Eastern Standard Time, TheWho-Digest-Owner@igtc.com writes:
> I didn't attend the tour because of John's> death and, frankly, I thought Roger sounded awful in the concert for NYC,> although the band totally rocked.  I basically didn't want my final Who> concert to be disappointing.  I just got the Masfield II set yesterday (my> local venue), and I couldn't have been more wrong.  Yes, Roger's voice has> been showing some age in the last few years, but Pete's renewed vigor would> have more than made up for that.  One of life's great lost opportunities for> me, I guess.  The only comforting thing was hearing Pete > yell "WE WILL BE> BACK" before launching into ICE.
I went to the CFNYC (yet another mention.  I'm up to 34 by last count) and it was actually very hard to hear Roger over the crowd and the band.  I agree that his voice was ragged.  He sounded real good on Who Are You, and decent on BOR after the "fight for" and "back," which he butchers nowadays, but he deteriorated after that.  I chalk that up to being out of shape to sing.  He had been concentrating on acting and other ventures and I'm sure he had not been keeping up with his singing.  All reviews of the UK shows in Jan and Feb had his voice sounding very good.  I saw seven shows on this tour, and only once was his voice noticeably sub-par (Dallas).  And even with that one, after a rest with eminence front, and singing YBYB, which is always right in his wheelhouse, he recovered and sounded flat awesome the rest of the way.  Remember, he is singing songs which were written for a 20s Roger, who had probably the most remarkable voice range in the business.  He is now singing the same songs at 58, so he has to work much harder to nail the notes, and doesn't always succeed.  I don't mind, because it simply means he's human, and I appreciate him even more for laying it on the line for us even when he's not at his best.  That's a professional.
mc